The New Forest 

The New Forest is best discovered by foot or on a bicycle from the charming towns that are dotted throughout the area. Formally a hunting paradise, much of the woodland in The New Forest has been cleared for agriculture and settlement. Take your time on 150 miles of car free open road from where wonderful camping opportunities and remote walking is plentiful.

The New Forest was created by William the Conqueror in 1079, in a time when forest simply meant an area in which to hunt. William the Bastard, as he was sometimes known, was an avid huntsman and destroyed 22 Saxon villages in the creation of his royal hunting preserve.

• Lyndhurst is the home to the informative New Forest Museum and Visitors centre and should be first stop on exploration to the area. The "beautiful place" Beaulieu was one of the UK's most influential monasteries (with a gruesome past) and now a history field trip in the land of the Montagu family estate.