Lady’s Guide to a Day Trip to the New Forest

Today I want to bring you my guide to a New Forest day trip. This area in southern England is home to a national park and lots of wild heathland. It’s the perfect place for a day out in the English countryside.

New Forest, England

When I was a child my favorite musical was Into the Woods. The plot borrowed elements from a number of Brothers Grimm fairy tales, while the cast was plucked from stories like Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel.

Stir it all together, add an enchanted forest, and you have yourself several hours of entertainment.

I bring up this particular musical not because I saw it, but because I actually experienced it on my New Forest day trip.

New Forest Day Trip

My boyfriend and I spent Sunday in the New Forest National Park, which is about two hours south of London. William the Conqueror established the forest as a royal hunting ground in 1079, and it featured in the Domesday Book.

Today this part of southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire remains one of the biggest areas of unenclosed pasture land, heathland, and forest in southern Britain.

We rented a car and drove down from the capital, arriving in the late morning ready to explore the ancient wilderness.

We were expecting to spend our New Forest day trip walking through the trees and admiring the fall colors (this is one of the best places to travel in autumn in the world and one of the top places to visit in the UK in autumn, after all).

Instead we found ourselves thrown into the mix of a strange and enchanting fairy tale.

Lyndhurst, Hampshire

In the opening scene, we arrived in the town of Lyndhurst. With its quaint clutch of thatched-roofed cottages and its tiny historic high street, Lyndhurst was straight out of Hansel and Gretel.

The largest village in the area, Lyndhurst is known as the capital of the New Forest. In a nod to the fairy-tale theme, its Royal Manor has been visited by monarchs throughout the centuries.

Lyndhurst’s parish church of St Michael and All Angels also has stained-glass windows designed by William Morris and a fresco by Frederick Leighton.

We arrived at noon hungry, so we found a place in town where we could get some lunch to fuel us on our New Forest day trip.

When we walked in, I noticed a girl sitting at a table in the back corner sipping a cup of tea. The strange thing was that she was dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

Before I had time to wonder why a Disney character was sitting in the restaurant, the Little Mermaid walked up and asked if she could seat us.

Suddenly Tinkerbell floated up from behind the counter, followed shortly by Pocahontas. Minnie and Mickey Mouse served our food while Captain Jack Sparrow took orders. Bizarre.

Country Walk on a New Forest Day Trip

Our enchanted New Forest day trip had more on offer than just Disney protagonists, though. In the second scene we took a two-hour country walk through the woods.

We spotted a huge group of deer and a frolicking herd of wild ponies, all of which were plucked right out of a scene from Fantasia. The New Forest is known for its ponies, which are renowned for their hardiness.

As the scene continued, the holly trees showed off their bright red berries while vines wound a cage around almost every tree in the woods.

If not for the plethora of North Face-clad walkers in our midst, I might have thought we were on the set of Little Red Riding Hood.

Brockenhurst and Beaulieu

In the next scene of our New Forest day trip, we stopped quickly in Brockenhurst on our way to the lovely village of Beaulieu.

This place came complete with a huge old stately home, quaint historic buildings, and a beautiful lake full of birds.

Overcome by an enchanted spell, my boyfriend chased a pheasant with the same fervor displayed by The Little Mermaid‘s Louis (the chef) as he ran after Sebastian (the crab).

Best New Forest Day Trip

In the closing scene of our New Forest day trip, the afternoon sky darkened and the rain began to pour.

Feeling like we were under Maleficent’s curse from Sleeping Beauty, we drove out of the enchanted New Forest as quickly as we could.

As soon as we were outside the boundaries of the park, the curtain of rain mysteriously closed behind us, ending the production and leaving the cast from our fairy-tale day in the woods behind.

It was an enchanted end to a surreal day, and I’m glad we got to discover the New Forest in all its spellbinding beauty. I can’t wait to return someday to stay a night and be captivated by its magic all over again.

Find this post helpful? Buy me a coffee!

New here? Join thousands of others and subscribe to the A Lady in London blog via email.

Pin it!