For a slower kind of afternoon, Godinton House & Gardens is hard to beat. It’s a striking Jacobean mansion set in twelve acres of formal gardens, surrounded by ancient parkland studded with oaks and chestnuts, just a short drive from the barn. Guided tours take you through six hundred years of history, furniture and curiosities inside the house, while the gardens outside are the real draw for us — terraces, topiary, a wilderness garden and a kitchen garden all worth wandering at your own pace.
The gardens open for the season from mid-March through to mid-October, and throughout that time there’s usually something on: half-term trails for families, open-air theatre and music evenings, an annual plant fair and a sculpture exhibition dotted through the grounds. It’s the sort of place that rewards a whole afternoon rather than a quick stop.
Spring is glorious here, with snowdrops and daffodils giving way to bluebells through the wilderness garden, but early summer is equally lovely once the borders are in full bloom. Pack a flask, take your time, and treat it as the countryside pause it’s designed to be — much like a stay with us.
