Bowood House & Gardens

I met a friend who had travelled to Wiltshire to visit Bowood House and Gardens. We enjoyed the walled garden, spending much time discussing plants, finding ourselves very interested in the dry garden. Sign of the times and gratifying to see that we both had some of these heat tolerant perennials. We picnic-ed in the arboretum. A lovely day. The young man at admissions was both respectful and polite.

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The place is definitely stunning and does bring a sense of serenity and tranquility. There are play areas for children. Staff are very nice and kind. And will give their personal opinion if you manage to strike a conversation. Its a must to de-stress and enjoy with family and friends on a quiet day. Plenty of parking.

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We stayed at the Bowood Hotel for several days and ended up visiting the house and gardens more times than we'd planned, simply because there was too much to fit into one trip. The gardens are genuinely huge, and while the adventure playground and pirate ship area were a massive hit with the younger kids in our group, there's just as much for adults, from the terrace garden down to the lake. The house itself was a real surprise; beautifully kept, and the mix of history packed into one building is quite something, from the Adam interiors to the room where oxygen was first discovered. What really caught us off guard was the Napoleon connection upstairs, his actual death mask sits among the family's collection, brought into Bowood through a 19th-century marriage. It doesn't feel like a single-story stately home, more like several centuries overlapping in the same place. Between visits we stopped at the cafés and the restaurant, and there's a gift shop too, so it's easy to turn a couple of hours into most of a day. Staying on-site definitely helped, since we could go back whenever the weather or the kids' energy allowed rather than trying to see everything in one go. Well worth it for families especially, but honestly there's enough variety here for anyone.

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Despite living just a few miles from Bowood, it's taken me over 20 to visit. This is mostly dye to the massive entry fee. At time in writing, that's £18 per adult. So the positive is the grounds are very well kept with nice walks around formal gardens, lake, lawns and a very cool adventure playground for the kids. It also includes the impressive Bowood House. The guide in there was extremely knowledgeable. If you take a picnic, you can easily spend the whole day wandering around. But their are some negatives. The obvious is the cost. I managed to get a buy-1-get-1 offer but there is no way I'd pay £56 for 2 adults. We purchased 2 coffees from the cafe which cost £3.60 for a black americano and an extra 20p each for a dash of milk. So the Roman Baths or Bowood for almost the same cost?

· via Google