Exbury

Exbury is a tiny estate village tucked into the south-eastern edge of the New Forest, where quiet lanes wind between ancient oakwoods and the tidal reaches of the Beaulieu River before opening out onto the Solent at Lepe. It is not a place many holidaymakers stumble upon by accident; you come to Exbury because you already know what is here, or because someone has told you about the gardens, and you leave wondering why more people do not make the trip. The village itself is minute, really just Exbury House, a scatter of estate cottages, a small church and the entrance to the gardens, but the surrounding parish stretches down to the shingle of Lepe Country Park and takes in the hamlets of Lower Exbury and Inchmery along the way.

What sets Exbury apart is the extraordinary garden created here by the Rothschild family, which has turned an unassuming pocket of New Forest woodland into one of the great plant collections of England. The combination of acidic soil, sheltered valleys and the moderating influence of the Solent gave Lionel de Rothschild exactly the conditions he needed when he bought the estate in 1919, and the results still draw visitors from across the world every spring. Beyond the gardens, this is a landscape of oak woodland, grazing marsh and saltings, with the Beaulieu River sliding past on its way to the sea and views across to the Isle of Wight from the shore at Lepe. It rewards slow exploration on foot or by bike rather than a quick drive-through.

Top things to do in Exbury

Exbury repays a full day out, and most visits are built around the gardens, but there is more to the area than a single attraction.

• Exbury Gardens - The centrepiece of any visit: 200 acres of woodland garden created by Lionel de Rothschild from 1919 onwards, home to the Rothschild collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and rare trees, with different areas coming into their own through spring and into summer.
• Exbury Steam Railway - A narrow-gauge miniature railway within the gardens, built at the instigation of Leopold de Rothschild and opened in 2001, running a twenty-minute round trip from a replica Victorian station through woodland, over a bridge and past the Dragonfly Pond.
• Beaulieu River - The tidal river that forms Exbury's western boundary, lined with saltmarsh and mudflats that are excellent for birdwatching, with the river itself a popular route for sailors heading down to the Solent.
• Lepe Country Park - A short drive from the village, this stretch of shingle beach and coastal heath was a major embarkation point for Mulberry Harbour construction ahead of the D-Day landings, and today offers a waymarked coastal walk, a cafe and views across to the Isle of Wight.
• The Lepe Loop - A roughly five-mile circular walk linking the coast at Lepe with the inland woods and farmland around Exbury, taking in a good cross-section of this quiet corner of the New Forest.
• Beaulieu village and the National Motor Museum - A few miles upriver, Beaulieu combines a handsome estate village with the National Motor Museum, Palace House and the ruins of Beaulieu Abbey, all easily combined with a day around Exbury.
• Solent birdwatching and sailing - The mix of tidal river, saltmarsh and open water makes this stretch of coast a draw for both birdwatchers and small-boat sailors, with dinghies and yachts a constant feature on the Beaulieu River.

Getting to Exbury

Exbury lies down a network of minor lanes off the B3054 between Beaulieu and Fawley, in the far south-east of the New Forest National Park. By car it is around 20 minutes from Lyndhurst and roughly 30 minutes from Southampton, crossing the M27 at Junction 2 and following signs for Beaulieu and then Exbury. The lanes narrow considerably in the final stretch, so a little patience is needed for oncoming traffic and the occasional New Forest pony wandering across the road. There is no railway station in the village itself; the nearest mainline stations are at Southampton Central and Brockenhurst, both around 20-30 minutes away by car, with Brockenhurst also giving access to local bus services that run into the wider New Forest. Public transport directly to Exbury is limited, so most visitors arrive by car or bicycle, and cycling from Beaulieu or Hythe along quiet lanes is a popular way to reach the gardens in good weather.

Best time to visit Exbury

Exbury is at its most spectacular in spring, roughly from late March through to early June, when the rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias that made the gardens famous are in full flower and the woodland floor is carpeted with bulbs. May in particular tends to be the peak, though the exact timing shifts a little from year to year depending on the weather. The gardens also put on a strong show in autumn, when the maples and other specimen trees turn colour, and this quieter season suits visitors who prefer to avoid the busiest spring weekends. Summer brings warm, settled conditions that are ideal for the Beaulieu River, Lepe beach and longer walks along the coast, while winter is the quietest time in the village itself, though the surrounding New Forest woodland and coastal paths remain open and atmospheric for a bracing walk whatever the season.

Where to stay in Exbury

Accommodation in Exbury itself is limited, reflecting its size as an estate village, so most visitors base themselves nearby in Beaulieu, Lymington or the wider New Forest and drive or cycle in. Beaulieu offers everything from country house hotels to traditional inns, all within easy reach of Exbury, while Lymington to the west has a wider choice of hotels and guesthouses along with its own harbour and Georgian high street. For something closer to nature, campsites and glamping sites around the New Forest and along the Beaulieu River give easy access to Exbury Gardens and Lepe, letting visitors make the most of early mornings and quiet evenings in the woods before the gardens open to the public.

Food and drink in Exbury

Exbury Gardens has its own tearoom and cafe for visitors, serving light lunches, cream teas and cake in a garden setting, which for many is as much a part of the day out as the planting itself. For a proper meal, the nearby village of Beaulieu is the obvious next stop, home to the Montagu Arms Hotel, whose Terrace Restaurant has long held an AA Rosette for its modern British cooking, alongside the hotel's more relaxed Monty's Inn for pub classics and forest-sourced dishes. The Pavilion Arms in Beaulieu offers a further gastropub option with a good range of Butcombe beers and a pleasant beer garden. Down at Lepe Country Park a small cafe serves drinks, snacks and simple meals with sea views, ideal after a walk along the shingle, while Fawley and the surrounding villages have a scattering of further pubs for those exploring the wider Waterside area between the New Forest and Southampton Water.