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If you’ve ever seen the Kiera Knightley film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, you’ll have seen the beautiful gardens of the Stourhead estate. Located in the southern English county of Wiltshire, Stourhead House and Gardens consist of an 18th century mansion and a sprawling estate consisting of beautiful gardens, lakes, bridges and temples.
Stourhead is now owned by the National Trust and makes a great day out for families, couples or solo travellers alike. This is also a great day trip from London if you’re looking for something a little different to the typical tourist attractions in the capital.
Having heard fantastic things about Stourhead in the autumn, we decided to make the trip one October weekend. At this time of year, the trees at Stourhead burst with stunning colours, making it an easy choice when picking a destination for a chilly autumnal stroll. (And when I say chilly, I mean that it was freezing today! I definitely didn’t dress properly for winter!)
Scroll on for our photo diary of the day, visiting Stourhead House and Gardens in October.
The walk through the gardens is centered around a beautiful lake, meaning that the russet and amber colours of the trees reflects against the clear blue sky. The walk is a nice, easy stroll through trees, over bridges and under stone archways passing by historical buildings of significance, that once belonged to the family that once owned the estate.
Autumn is the busiest period here due to the stunning scenery so if you want to escape the crowds, it may be best to visit on a weekday outside school holidays.
Stourhead is situated only 2 hours drive outside of London, so if you’re visiting London and looking to get out of the city to see more of England, you can totally do this in a day trip.
But as is often the case, we tend to take these beautiful places for granted and feel that we need to travel further afield to countries other than our own to see anything worthwhile. At the moment though, I’m saving for a month-long trip to Australia, meaning I won’t be able to take any other trips for the next couple of months. This gives me the perfect opportunity to explore some of the hotspots closer to home, of which there are many! So, look out for these posts over the next couple of months, as I get to know my home country a little better.
Is there anywhere you think I should check out in the South West? I’d love to know your recommendations for natural beauty spots, hikes, attractions and events. Feel free to leave me a comment below.
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you so much! It was a beautiful day.