Summer isn’t over yet! Whip up a box of your favourite sarnies and treats, shake out your picnic rug and venture into the great outdoors for a relaxed, alfresco lunch.
Here’s a selection of places within easy driving distance to meet family and friends for fun in the fresh air.
1. Visit Dunham Massey for a picture-perfect picnic
While the National Trust house is filled with treasures and stories for you to discover, the surrounding parkland is picture-perfect for your summer picnic.
Escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and slow down amongst ancient trees and fallow deer. Avoid the crowds and enjoy a stroll in over 300 acres of parkland and open grassland.
If you want to work up your appetite before you dig into your picnic, enjoy a walking trail through the ancient trees. With easy terrain, this dog-friendly circular walk is 2.5 miles long and takes a little under two hours to complete.
Fancy a day out, minus the effort of packing a picnic? Don’t sweat it. Tuck into a stone-baked pizza from the pizza trailer and follow up with an ice cream from the Parlour.
Visit the Dunham Massey page on the National Trust website for more information.
2. Get back to nature and enjoy quiet contemplation in Tatton Park
In Knutsford, make the most of 1,000 acres of parkland with an abundance of space for peace and long walks.
Try a spot of forest bathing, an ancient Japanese practice of spending contemplative time beneath trees, thought to boost health and happiness. Connect with nature through your senses: listen to the breeze rustling through the trees; hear the leaves sway on the branches; smell the earth and the woody bark of the ancient trees; touch the grass, take off your shoes and socks and feel the earth beneath your feet; feel the clean fresh air in your nose and on your skin.
Breath nature deep into your soul and find calmness and a simple sense of wellbeing as you let your senses take over and feel your brain slow down as you appreciate the simple pleasures of being outdoors and away from the busy modern day-to-day grind of life.
If that all sounds too slow for your liking, walk, cycle, or run in the 1,000 acres of open space. Or visit the 40-acre working farm and meet the animals before or after your picnic lunch.
Want to picnic minus the hassle? Order your summer picnic box to collect at your convenience from the Stables Restaurant. Including tasty treats such as venison and pork sausage rolls, beetroot and tomato salad, and chocolate brownies there’s lots for your entire family to tuck into.
Visit the Tatton Park website for more information.
3. Picnic while you play at RHS Garden Bridgewater
Set on the former site of Worsley New Hall in Salford, this Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) garden is a “heritage landscape that’s being transformed” by landscape architect, Tom Stuart-Smith.
The outdoor space offers “gardens within a garden” and blends history with world-class horticulture. There’s something for all the family to enjoy with a choice of three specific gardens:
- The Kitchen Garden
- The Chinese Streamside Garden
- The Paradise Garden
There’s also 70 acres of woodland in Middle Wood, yet more peaceful woodland surrounding Ellesmere Lake, and Victoria Meadow, a tranquil open space abundant with wild flowers and wildlife.
For the young, and young at heart, visit the adventure playground, located conveniently close to a designated picnic spot.
The play area is set in Middle Wood and includes low rope courses set among the sycamores, and a hide-and-seek trail among massive beech trees and rhododendron bushes. And, for young botanists, there’s a bog garden – ideal for pond dipping.
Visit the RHS website for more information.
4. Relax in the informal gardens of Hare Hill
With a walled garden at its heart, historic parkland surrounds this informal wooded garden. And provides the perfect spot to roll out your picnic blanket.
Beware, Hare Hill only permits assistance dogs, so if you’re bringing your four-legged friend(s) along, pick a different spot.
Visit the Hare Hill page on the National Trust website for more information.
5. Fantasise by the lake or enjoy fantastic walks in Lyme Park
If you relish the drive as much as the destination, and fancy venturing further afield, the 1,400-acre estate of Lyme Park is well worth the slightly longer journey.
Nestled on the edge of the Peak District, the reflecting lake at Lyme featured in the famous Pride and Prejudice scene where Mr Darcy jumps into the lake for love.
The idea of visiting the location for what became known as the “lake scene” (and sealing Colin Firth’s status as a sex symbol) might be all the motivation you need to pack your picnic and jump in the car, but there’s plenty more on offer.
Highlights include a medieval herd of red deer, fantastic walks, and stunning views. The garden is at its best in summer with flowering plants everywhere you look. Although the gardens suffered during the floods in July 2019, which damaged paths in the Italian garden, it’s now reopened to the public so you can enjoy the perennials in full flower.
Visit the Lyme page on the National Trust website for more information.
