Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway — Attraction in New Forest

Exbury Gardens are stunning to behold. I don't know where to begin with this 200-acre garden. We went down for the Azaleas and the Rhododendrons and were not disappointed. There was so much variety to see.

When we first arrived, we met the lovely car park attenant and went in. This was the only bit I was a bit miffed at. It was that we didn't know which entrance to queue for as we had prebooked tickets, and there were 2 queues but no signs. In the end, I guessed that the smaller queue would be prebooked tickets, and I was correct. We then went through the very small shop and had the tickets scanned, which also doubled as an exit and entrance, which made getting through a tad difficult.

However, once we were through, everything was very relaxed. We found a map and started exploring. We walked along a tarmac path and over the Gilbury bridge, and it was gorgeous everywhere we looked. We went past the old bell and descended into the labyrinth of foleage. We we went through twists and turns of colour, which I loved as it felt we were getting lost but in a beautiful place.

We made it down to the top pond, which I remembered a long time ago had fish but instead had lots of tadpoles. It was probably my favourite bit of the garden as we went down the cascades and over bridges and hopped from stone to stone. It was actually surprisingly accessible for prams despite the warnings of rough ground. Eventually, we made it down to the stunning Azalea bowl, which was breathtaking. So tranquil and colourful.

As we went back up the hill, we went through the daffodil meadow to the newish centenary garden and the sundial garden. Both with their unique looks with the Wisteria out in the sundial garden and the amazing layout of the centenary garden, which had a detailed map for where each plant was located in it. Quick pit stop off at the loos and on we continued past countless flowering Azaleas and Rhododendrons.

We went down lovers Lane and did a loop of the Witchers wood. Then, after seeing countless flowers, we decided to have a spot of lunch up at the Sakura Cherry Orchard's picnic tables. That's another thing I would love to mention. There was so much seating provided all around, which really helped my family as not everyone can hike for hours without sitting down, so we greatly appreciated it.

We then went back on ourselves over the Glbury bridge and then went left down to the boardwalk, which isn't really like how it looks on the map. On the map, it's a weaving path. However, in reality, it is like a T junction with 2 sides having steps, so we went in one side and then just went back on ourselves due to a pram.

Down, we went to the Jubilee pond, which had gorgeous flowers growing beside its stream, which I didn't know the name of, but they were very pretty. We continued round the outskirts of Exbury past the Augustinii Corner, the American Garden, and the Doomsday Yew. We finally came to the prestigious rock garden, which didn't disappoint. In fact, most of my group exclaimed it was their favourite garden. It was hard to disagree due to all the smells and visuals that were presented there. There are so many different looking plants, too, like a climbing hydrangea and weird looking bamboo. Really loved it, and it felt like an adventure traversing the rocky path.

We made our way past the bog garden to the train station where we somehow came across what we believe was an old English sheep dog owners meet up as there were around 16 different old English sheep dogs all with different owners around by the train station. It was very odd but cute. Anyway, tangent over, we went aboard the train and went on our little ride around and saw some brilliant animal sculptures.

We were exhausted and hot after such a long day out, so we treated ourselves to ice creams. We then went back to a very hot car and went home.

Overall, I really loved exploring Exbury and will definitely come back next May. Hopefully, next time, I won't have a pram so I can explore more of the labyrinth of Azaleas and Rhododendrons....

This is a true first class and an absolute masterclass of a garden with a fabulous collection of Azaleas and Rhodenderons amongst others and a great ride on a steam train. The Garden houses the best and finest collection of Azaleas and Rhodenderons of any garden with a stunning array of dazzling different dotted around all areas of the garden and they dominate it in such a great way and the sheer stunning array of colour also blows your mind. The idea of the Rhodenderons and Azaleas was Lionel de Rothschild who brought them with him to the garden from abroad and it has turned out to be a brilliant introduction of any flower to the UK. The size of the garden is fairly vast and these include The Winter Garden, Daffodil Meadow, Home Wood, Witcher's Wood, Yard Wood, Bog Garden, Rock Garden, American Garden, Herbaceous Borders and Azalea Bowl and all of these feature stunningly beautiful Azaleas and Rhodenderons. The Sundial Garden also has some stunning flower borders along with that of the Herbaceous Borders and the main highlights of the Garden include the Rock Garden as the Rhodenderons and Azaleas blend in beautifully with the rocks, Palm Trees and other Rockery plants and also the Azalea Bowl which is the best as the Azaleas look absolutely breathtaking in their Lakeside setting and it has a lovely relaxed feel to it. There is the Viewpoint and the Arrowmanches Plaque where you can see a Plaque in tribute to the D-Day Landings and also enjoy amazing views across the Beaulieu River. As you wander around the garden you can see some useful information points about the history of the garden, which are together with the different map points and these are very interesting and insightful. There is also house at the heart of the site which is privately owned is pretty awesome and in pristine brilliant condition. In addition to the stunningly amazing Gardens there is a lovely Steam Railway where you can enjoy a fantastic relaxing ride on a steam train around the Rock and American Garden areas and you can smell the nice aroma of the steam train as you ride around and also see the different areas of the garden from a different perspective and there is the stop at the Dragonfly Halt where you can get off and have a walk around the gardens. The Steam Railway provides an amazing accompaniment to the Gardens and the steam trains are in absolute amazing condition and the steam train you can enjoy are Naomi and Rosemary and the trains rides run at various times throughout the day and these are 11am, 11:45am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:15pm and 3pm. Other areas that deserve a mention is The Bambooserie where you can see a great collection of Bamboo and also the Hydrangea Walk where you can see some lovely Hydrangeas. There is a cafe selling a great range of refreshments at reasonable prices and also a shop selling a lovely range of souvenirs at great reasonable prices. Overall this an absolute gem and a truly amazing stunning place to visit, which makes for a enjoyable and truly memorable and pleasurable day out. Definitely well worth whilst in the area of...

The gardens are simply stunning at the beginning of May. The Azaleas and Rhododendron shrubs and trees are out of this world. As are many of the larger tree specimens. You can easily spend a good few hours wandering around. There are many little paths and small detours to take off the main path if you want too. It's a unique and magical place with a romantic feel. We went with a baby in an off roading pushchair and we managed fine. Some of the paths are gravel and bumpy but many of the main paths are smooth so you can still see the main bits if you have mobility issues. Tons of shade so it worked well on a hot day.

I really liked that it didn't feel like it was busy walking around due to the size of the area and the meandering paths. However we got there at 11 and the carpark was almost full. It's a popular place. If you can, go in the week and get there when it opens.

There were many lovely, quiet spots where you could picnic or chill in the sun or shade with lots of grassy areas and woodland copses and glades.

Very clean and tidy. Lots of photo opportunities and views.

There were a small number of minor issues.

There are benches but nowhere near enough but plenty of places they could add a few more. We walked around for several hours and there weren't many and they were all taken so it was difficult to find one to sit on. I would bring a picnic blanket next time.

They could also have done with a few more picnic tables around the cafe areas and some of the tables didn't have umbrellas which is difficult on a hot day. They also need more couple sized tables. They were almost all 4, 6 or 8 person so many of the large seating areas were taken up with couples, so it was hard to find a spot to sit outside.

The area in the garden to the north has started getting taken over by bamboo and needs attention.

We will definitely visit again. If I lived nearby I would probably buy the membership and go regularly for picnics and...