Lymington

Lymington's hotels make the most of its Georgian High Street and working harbour, with several traditional coaching inns and boutique properties within a short walk of the quay and the shops. Staying in the centre puts the Saturday market, the antique shops and the ferry terminal for the Isle of Wight all on the doorstep, and many of the town's pubs and restaurants are an easy stroll away for evening meals. It is a compact town, so even a hotel a few streets back from the water is rarely more than ten minutes' walk from the marina.

For a quieter stay, there are also smaller hotels and guesthouses on the edges of Lymington and in the surrounding New Forest villages, which suit visitors planning to spend their days walking or cycling in the forest rather than around the town itself. These tend to offer easier parking and more space than central options, while still keeping Lymington's shops, restaurants and the ferry within a short drive. Wherever you stay, Lymington's position on the Solent means sea views and glimpses of yachts under sail are never far away, and the town's compact scale makes it easy to get around on foot once you have arrived.

Lymington rewards a slow wander more than a tick-list, but there is a genuinely good spread of things to see and do for a small town.

• Lymington Saturday Market — a street market has traded along the High Street since the 13th century, and every Saturday morning stalls selling food, flowers, antiques and local produce still stretch from the quay up to St Thomas's Church.
• The Georgian High Street — a cobbled, sloping street lined with independent shops, antique dealers, cafes and pubs, one of the best-preserved Georgian high streets on the Hampshire coast.
• Wightlink ferry to Yarmouth — passenger and car ferries cross the Solent to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight in around 25-40 minutes, making Lymington one of the easiest jumping-off points for a day on the island.
• Lymington and Keyhaven Nature Reserve — nearly 740 hectares of tidal mudflats, lagoons and salt marsh managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, with a coastal path out towards Hurst Castle that is one of the best birdwatching walks on the south coast.
• Lymington Town and Royal Lymington Yacht Club marinas — two large marinas and a strong sailing club scene make this one of the most active small-boat harbours in the country; watching the water on a summer evening is entertainment in itself.
• St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery — a small museum on New Street telling the story of Lymington and the New Forest coast, from its salt-making and shipbuilding past to its yachting present, alongside a changing programme of art exhibitions.
• The New Forest — Lymington sits right on the southern edge of the national park, so ancient woodland, open heath and free-roaming New Forest ponies are within easy reach for walking, cycling or riding.
• Hurst Castle — a Tudor artillery fort at the end of a long shingle spit, reachable by a coastal walk from Keyhaven or a short ferry crossing, with views across to the Isle of Wight's Needles.

The quay and High Street are well stocked with places to eat, from casual harbourside cafes to more formal dining. The Kings Head Inn on Quay Hill is a long-standing fixture down by the water, while the High Street has a good run of independent cafes, bakeries and restaurants that make the most of local Solent seafood and New Forest produce. The Saturday market is also a good place to pick up local cheeses, cured meats and baked goods to take away, and several of the town's pubs make a point of stocking ales from Hampshire breweries.

Lymington makes a good base for camping thanks to its position between the open heath and woodland of the New Forest and the tidal creeks and salt marshes of the Solent coast. As with the rest of England, wild camping is not legal here without the express permission of the landowner, so it is worth using one of the established campsites and Camping and Caravanning Club sites dotted around the New Forest villages of Pennington, Sway, Brockenhurst and Beaulieu, several of which are within easy cycling distance of Lymington itself. Many sit on the edge of the open forest, where free-roaming ponies, cattle and donkeys wander right up to the pitches, a distinctive feature of camping in this part of Hampshire.

The terrain around Lymington is gentle and mostly flat, a mix of heathland, ancient woodland and coastal marsh rather than anything rugged, which makes it well suited to family camping and to combining a pitch with cycling or walking. The Solent shoreline can be exposed to wind, so sites tucked into the forest fringe tend to be more sheltered than those right on the coast. The best camping season runs from late spring through to early autumn, when the forest tracks are dry underfoot and the long summer evenings suit sitting out; the New Forest can get busy with visitors over the summer holidays and on bank holiday weekends, so booking ahead is sensible at that time of year. Midsummer also brings a reasonable amount of midge and horsefly activity in the shadier parts of the forest, so it is worth packing insect repellent.

For those who would rather not pitch a tent, glamping has become well established across the New Forest, with options ranging from bell tents and shepherd's huts to safari tents and pods, many on small farm sites that back straight onto open forest or fields with grazing ponies. These tend to suit visitors who want the feel of camping with a proper bed, and are a good option outside the warmest months when a canvas tent alone might feel exposed. Whichever type of pitch is chosen, the New Forest's network of cycle-friendly gravel tracks and Lymington's own coastal path make it easy to explore both forest and shore without needing a car every day.