Our Tips About the Area
If you’re looking for things to do in the New Forest, you’ll find everything from walks straight from the cottage and wildlife spotting to charming villages, local pubs and outdoor adventures. Staying at Undercastle Cottage puts you in the heart of it all, with easy access to some of the New Forest’s most beautiful and lesser-known spots.
Where to Eat Out
There are so many great pubs and restaurants in the area that we look forward to visiting when we are down at the cottage. They’re perfect pitstops when we are out walking with the dogs. We’ve enjoyed many a summer lunch time in a beer garden or heading to one of our lovely pubs on a winter walk, and warming up with a pie and a pint in front of a log fire.
New Forest Pubs We’d Recommend
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Woodgreen: The Horse & Groom Pub in the centre of the village is only a twenty-minute walk from the cottage and is visited by most of the guests and their dogs who stay at the cottage. It serves properly cooked, feel-good food. Inside is a toasty log fire and a flower-filled beer garden with plenty of parasols in the summer. We’ve never had a bad meal there.
North Gorley: The Royal Oak is a lovely traditional thatched pub with good food. It’s one we go back to again and again.
Whitsbury: The Cartwheel Inn is consistently up there in our favourite pubs of all time, and they have a fantastic vegetarian menu.
Fordingbridge: The George overlooks the river and the town's 'Great Bridge'. It serves traditional pub fare done really well.
The Horse & Groom Pub, Woodgreen
​Fine Dining, We’ve Tried and Love
Christchurch: For superb fish and seafood, you need to go to The Jetty on Christchurch Harbour, headed up by the well-known chef Alex Aitken. The meals we’ve had have always been out of this world – faultless.
Cranborne: Go to La Fosse for delicious tasting menus and classic seasonal dishes. A firm favourite of ours, and they never disappoint.
Nomansland: Les Mirabelles, as you would expect, is magnificent French cuisine. We always head home after a meal, talking about what we’ve eaten and planning our next meal there.
For Coffee, Cake and Cream Teas
Breamore: The Pantry at Breamore House is one of the prettiest little cafés around. Everything is homemade, from the cakes to the light lunches. We often stop here after a walk to the medieval Miz Maze at the top of the hill.
Landford: The New Forest Lavender Farm Tea Rooms are in a beautiful three acre cottage garden, next to the plant shop. The menu is simple but lovely with light lunches and, of course, plenty of lavender-inspired sweet treats.
Hyde: The Potting Shed is one of our favourite walks from the cottage if we want to stop somewhere for lunch. They serve huge portions of delicious homemade food, and it’s fully licensed, too.
South Gorley: Hockey’s Farmyard Cafe is part of the farm shop. Go for coffee, cake or lunch, and afterwards you can wander around the small farm area to see the goats, sheep, alpacas and pigs.
Rhinefield House Hotel: Book ahead for an afternoon tea in the oak-panelled restaurant or sit in the formal gardens. Dine on four courses of savoury and sweet delicacies presented on tiered stands - served with or without Champagne!
Woodgreen Community Shop
Popping to the Shops
You can walk twenty minutes or so, or jump in the car to our nearest village, Woodgreen. It has the most wonderful village shop, which is packed with delicious homemade food, local produce, baked goods, gifts, and a post office.
Slightly further, Fordingbridge is just 4 miles away and has a good selection of shops, including a Tesco Express and a full-sized Co-op. Ringwood, 9 miles south, is a pretty market town with a quaint high street and is home to a wide selection of shops and stores. You’ll find a large Waitrose and Sainsbury's as well as a weekly street market on Wednesdays and a Farmers Market on the last Saturday of each month in The Furlong shopping centre. The magnificent cathedral city of Salisbury is lovely for mooching. Galleries, independent boutiques and shops, plus Waitrose and Sainsbury's, and a weekly market on Saturdays in the historic Market Place.
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Of course, if you'd rather not be cooking or shopping on your break, we offer a wonderful selection of food and drink from out local chef that you can order before your stay so that it's ready and waiting on arrival.
Horse Riding with Arniss Equestrian
Local Activities
Many of the guests staying at the cottage stay put and simply watch the world drift by. But, if you decide to venture out, you’ll find no shortage of places to see and things to do nearby. These are places we’ve explored ourselves and are always pleased to revisit and recommend.
Horse riding
For novice to experienced riders, Arniss Equestrian is a mile down the road, has direct access to the forest. They have super-friendly and experienced instructors who really look after you and incredible horses for all abilities.
Golf
Hamptworth is one of the best courses in the south of England, say our friends who come to stay, and nearby Bramshaw has two exceptional courses.
Bushcraft, archery, etc.
We’ve had great fun medieval axe-throwing with a company near Fordingbridge called Insight Activities. We paired it with some archery, and they also do crossbow shooting as well.
Water park
Head to the New Forest Water Park if you are feeling energetic or have youngsters with you who need to let off some steam. The New Forest Water Park is home to a huge Wibit. It’s like a floating inflatable obstacle course with slides, climbing walls, and balance challenges. You can hire wetsuits there. All good fun and exceptionally tiring! They also do wakeboarding on a cable system – which we haven’t tried, but they do offer lessons.
Breamore House
Attractions Worth Visiting Close By
Here are some of our favourite attractions that we have visited more than a few times over the years, so feel confident recommending them to our guests.
Breamore House
We adore this Elizabethan mansion in the next village. Not only is it a wonderfully interesting property to view, but it also has a seriously well-done countryside museum with artefacts depicting life in the countryside post WWII. We often take a picnic with us and walk up the hill behind the house to a medieval Miz Maze and take in the beautiful views.
Dorset Heavy Horse Farm Park
We enjoy seeing these 20 well-loved, friendly giants! The owners give interesting talks about the horses, their background story and the role horses have played in history. If you have children, there are tractor, trailer and horse wagon rides, and farm animals to see.
Beaulieu National Motor Museum and Palace House
A historic house, formal gardens, Abbey and world famous National Motor Museum. It’s one of the forest’s biggest attractions. You really don’t need to be a petrol head to enjoy it. There are lots of vintage and famous cars, and the bits we particularly like are the Top Gear exhibition and the World of Cars from film and TV.
Buckler's Hard
Just a few miles from Beaulieu, Bucklers Hard is a hamlet of houses and a living museum of its former life in shipbuilding. It’s really worth a visit. It was here that Nelson's Naval boats were built for the Battle of Trafalgar. Top Tip - we usually pop into the Master Builders pub at the bottom of the village for lunch, which overlooks the river.
Paultons Park, home of Peppa Pig World
Your children may love you forever if they are fans of Peppa Pig. We’ve visited this family theme park lots of times, and whilst it’s aimed at the under-10s, the rides certainly seem to have an appeal to older brothers and sisters. It's hugely popular.
Kingston Lacy
We’re regular visitors to this National Trust country house. The views from the sweeping grounds change throughout each of the seasons, but it’s the Edwardian Japanese Tea Garden that wins our hearts. Make sure to see the artworks and Egyptian artefacts, which are fascinating.
Mottisfont
Another National Trust property, but this one has an exquisite walled rose garden as well as a wonderful house and grounds to wander. Also known as Mottisfont Abbey, its roots go back to the 1200s, with interiors full of history. A calendar of events and exhibitions keeps us going back time and time again.
Exbury Gardens
We’ve been to Exbury a lot, not just for the 200 acres of gardens, but to attend some of the many events they host throughout the year. We always go in the spring to see the huge collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. There are also lots of themed gardens, huge displays of flowers, rare trees and beautifully planted ponds and streams. There’s also a cute narrow-gauge steam railway with little station stops dotted along a one and a half mile track.
Stonehenge
We don’t need to explain too much about the instantly recognisable UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and only 20 miles away.
Furzey Gardens
These gardens are small in comparison to Exbury, being only 10 acres. But it’s layered with exquisite and colourful plants from around the world and lots of things for little ones, like the fairy door trail, dinosaurs, and play areas.
Knoll Gardens
If you love gardens as much as we do, you’ll feel inspired by 10 Chelsea Gold Medals winner, Neil Lucas’s prairie style planting. The gardens are attached to a specialist nursery famous for its selection of ornamental grasses. Absolutely stunning!
Hiller Gardens and Arboretum
We’ll spend all day exploring the 180 acres of the mixed gardens and arboretum. Colourful and full of interest in every season. The wide and varied collection of champion trees on display at Hillier is one of the best in the UK.
Heale Gardens
Set around the 17th century Heale House, the eight acres of gardens consist of pretty planting around streams, bridges, flower and apple tunnels and meadows. You’d be forgiven if you thought you’d seen a fairy!
Corfe Castle
Places to Visit within an Hour of the Cottage
Corfe Castle
We love the view of this iconic castle, topping a steep conical hill in the Purbecks. It was built by William the Conqueror, and surrounded by a historic village of pretty houses dating from the 1600s.
Monkey World
The hit TV series Monkey Life was filmed at Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre. Everyone, whatever their age, loves seeing these furry guys and girls, including us. We’ve been many, many times over the years.
The Bovington Tank Museum
Tanks and war vehicles aren’t usually our thing! But this museum adds lots about human stories, set designs and info which is fascinating.
Winchester
This cathedral city is packed with history. The Great Hall, which is home to the legendary Round Table, is just one highlight, closely followed by Wolvesey Castle and Winchester College. Wandering about is an easy mix of culture and superb independent shopping. Don’t miss the famous Winchester Christmas Market.
Longleat
Visit the majestic stately home and manicured gardens of the 8th Marquess and Marchioness of Bath in Wiltshire, and its famous drive-through safari park. With plenty to see indoors and in the grounds, you can easily spend a full day there.
