Butleigh

Butleigh isn't a village built around large hotels, and that's part of its charm — accommodation here tends to be smaller-scale and more personal, from characterful bed and breakfasts in converted farmhouses to self-catering cottages tucked along the lanes towards Butleigh Wootton. It suits visitors who want a genuinely rural Somerset base rather than a resort experience, with the option of walking straight out of the door onto the Levels or up towards the Hood Monument.

For a wider choice of hotels, guesthouses and inns, Glastonbury is only a few miles away and offers everything from budget guesthouses to boutique stays reflecting the town's distinctive character, all within easy striking distance of the Tor and abbey. Street, home to the Clarks Village outlet shopping centre, adds a further set of options nearby, while the market towns of Wells and Somerton, both under half an hour's drive, provide more traditional coaching inns and small hotels for those who prefer a livelier base with more choice of restaurants and shops on the doorstep. Wherever you stay, Butleigh's central position in this part of Somerset makes it an easy day-trip radius to Glastonbury, Wells Cathedral, Street and the wider Somerset Levels.

Butleigh's attractions are mostly the unshowy, exploratory kind — a church worth lingering in, a monument worth the climb, and a landscape best appreciated on foot. Here are the best of them:

• Church of St Leonard, Butleigh — A 14th-century church built on Anglo-Saxon foundations, remodelled in the 19th century for George Neville-Grenville with a striking hammerbeam roof by architect John Chessell Buckler. Look for the fragments of much older stonework said to survive in the doorway.
• Admiral Hood Monument — A soaring 110-foot Tuscan column on the hill above Compton Dundon, raised in 1831 to the design of Bath architect Henry Goodridge in honour of Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, a contemporary of Nelson. It was once linked to Butleigh by a mile-long avenue of cedar trees, and the walk up still rewards with wide views across the Levels.
• Butleigh Court grounds and parkland — The former seat of the Neville-Grenville family, whose grounds once hosted the 1906 Butleigh Revel, a historical pageant re-enacting scenes from Glastonbury legend performed before thousands of spectators. The estate's parkland and mature trees still give a sense of that Victorian grandeur.
• Butleigh Wootton — A tiny, quiet hamlet on the edge of the parish, surrounded by the wide, ruler-straight droves of the Somerset Levels — good territory for a gentle bike ride or an evening walk with big skies overhead.
• Dove Arts Centre — A local arts and crafts venue in the village, useful for exhibitions, workshops and a taste of the area's creative community.
• Cider orchards — Butleigh has a documented cider-making history, with one 19th-century estate owner known to have experimented seriously with the craft. Traditional orchards still dot the parish, and blossom time in April and May is a particularly good reason to visit.
• Glastonbury Tor and Abbey — Just a few miles north-west, Glastonbury's iconic Tor and its ruined medieval abbey (once Butleigh's own feudal overlord) make an easy and essential day trip from the village.

The centre of village life is the Rose and Portcullis on Barton Road, a traditional country pub known for its Sunday roasts made with locally sourced meat, a solid range of ciders, ales, wines and gins, and a warm, unpretentious atmosphere that draws regulars and visitors alike. It's the obvious spot for a meal after a walk up to the Hood Monument or along the Levels. For more variety, Glastonbury's High Street is only a few minutes' drive away, with its well-known mix of cafés, independent restaurants and health-food shops reflecting the town's alternative reputation, while Street offers further everyday options for a bite to eat.

Camping around Butleigh means trading crowds for orchards, church bells and the huge, open skies of the Somerset Levels. As in the rest of England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is not legal here, so plan on a proper campsite or a farm pitch that welcomes tents — thankfully this part of Somerset has a good spread of them, from simple, low-key fields to smarter glamping set-ups with yurts, shepherd's huts and bell tents already pitched and ready. The Levels themselves are famously flat and low-lying, a drained wetland landscape criss-crossed by rhynes (drainage ditches) and long straight droves, which makes for easy, level walking and cycling but also means the ground can turn soft and waterlogged in winter and after heavy rain — worth bearing in mind when choosing a pitch or planning routes.

The best camping season here runs from late spring through to early autumn. May and June bring the tail end of the cider orchard blossom and long, light evenings for exploring on foot or by bike; midsummer is glorious for watching the sun set behind Glastonbury Tor from the surrounding hills, though it's also worth noting that Glastonbury Festival, held at nearby Pilton in June, can make local accommodation and campsites busier than usual. September and early October bring the cider apple harvest and a mellow, golden landscape that's arguably the most atmospheric time to camp in the area, before autumn rains set in.

For those who want the Somerset countryside experience without packing tent poles, glamping is well established across this part of the Levels, with options ranging from simple canvas bell tents to fully-equipped shepherd's huts with wood-burning stoves — a good compromise for anyone visiting outside the warmest months. Whichever way you camp, Butleigh's position close to the Hood Monument, the Levels' droves and Glastonbury itself makes it a genuinely useful base, and campsite owners locally are generally a good source of tips on the quieter walking and cycling routes that don't appear on the main tourist maps.