The quintessential UK break home to top theme park & chocolate-box village

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There are also walks aplenty, but the joy of one town is its quaint high street
There are also walks aplenty, but the joy of one town is its quaint high street

I’M not sure who’s wearing the biggest grin, my husband Andy or our kids Poppy, five, and Raffy, two, as we ride the miniature steam railway through Exbury Gardens.

But this quintessential British break is proving to be a winner. 

We took the miniature steam railway through Exbury Gardens in the New Forest eiqrrirdiddqprw
We took the miniature steam railway through Exbury Gardens in the New ForestCredit: Instagram/Albero, Getty Images, Shutterstock
Wander the chocolate-box village of Beaulieu
Wander the chocolate-box village of BeaulieuCredit: Instagram/Albero, Getty Images, Shutterstock

Exbury is huge – home to more than 1,000 types of rhododendron in 200 acres of woodland.

After exploring, we’ve earned the first home-made scone of the weekend at its eatery, Mr Eddy’s.

Entry costs from £13 for adults, £5.50 for over-threes, and train rides are £6.50 (Exbury.co.uk). 

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The full monty

We’re staying at The Montagu Arms in the New Forest’s chocolate-box village of Beaulieu, just a few minutes’ drive away.

The plush, spacious courtyard suites have egg baths, rain showers, Nespresso machines and wooden board games.

You'll love your stay at the beautifully decorated Montagu Arms
You'll love your stay at the beautifully decorated Montagu ArmsCredit: Instagram/Albero, Getty Images, Shutterstock

Donkey biscuits, flapjacks and sloe gin – all home-made – await too, along with the afternoon sun that bathes the sweet vegetable garden.

The hotel’s pub, Monty’s Inn, serves perfectly cooked dry-aged rib eye, £38, alongside flavoursome guinea fowl with lemongrass rice and Asian slaw, £22.

For breakfast, delectable smoked salmon and creamy scrambled eggs are a real treat.

The National Motor Museum lies on the village’s outskirts.

Here we find vintage cars, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the World of Top Gear, which has many of the show’s ludicrous inventions, plus an excellent new playground.

Rides on the monorail and retro open-top bus also delight the kids.

Entry costs from £24.50 for adults and £13.50 for over-fives (Beaulieu.co.uk).

Brilliant bakes

There are walks aplenty, but the joy of Beaulieu is its quaint high street.

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We stop by The Beaulieu Bakehouse for a devilishly chocolatey brownie, £3.25, and end up ordering breakfast hashes of fried potatoes, sausages, pepper, spinach and eggs, £9.75 (Thebeaulieubakehouse.co.uk). 

A few doors down, we watch masterpieces being created at the tiny Beaulieu Chocolate Studio, before hitting its choc button bar, where there are 20 different flavours – including delicious honey – to pick from, £3.25 per 100g (Beaulieuchocolatestudio.co.uk).

Further up is Fairweather’s Garden Centre with its array of gifts, and Steff’s Kitchen serving more moreish scones (Fairweathers.co.uk).

Plus don’t miss fab vintage homeware at Bellalocus (Bellalocus.com).

Pigging out

For our final day, we visit Paultons Park 20 minutes away, which is home to Peppa Pig World.

I may not be a fan of the show, but we all have a blast here.

Albero is the perfect neighbourhood Italian
Albero is the perfect neighbourhood ItalianCredit: Instagram/Albero, Getty Images, Shutterstock

Rides like George’s Dinosaur Adventure are a hit, and Poppy and Raffy drive cars, race down water slides and scream their way around the rollercoasters.

Tickets cost from £43.50 per person over 1m tall (Paultonspark.co.uk).

In nearby Brockenhurst, Albero is the perfect neighbourhood Italian.

We feast on polpettini pizza topped with venison meatballs and caramelised onions, £16.50, as well as thick ribbons of bucatini all’Amatriciana smothered in a tomato sauce studded with smoked pork cheek, £18.50.

The kids scoff pizza topped with ham hock, £8.50, and I finish with a Nutella hot chocolate of dreams (Alberobrockenhurst.com).

If this weekend is the high that forest bathing gives you, sign me up!

Exbury's excellent gardens - home to more than 1,000 types of rhododendron
Exbury's excellent gardens - home to more than 1,000 types of rhododendronCredit: Instagram/Albero, Getty Images, Shutterstock

Catherine Bennion-Pedley

Southampton, Hampshire, Travel Deals, The Sun Newspaper, Staycation tips and ideas, Longtail, Fab Mag, Children parenting and family life

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