Dorset and The New Forest's wide variety of historic houses and gardens has something for everyone.  

Near Dorchester, Athelhampton House, a 15th century family home, contains fine furniture and extensive gardens with pavilions, fountains, a topiary, toll house and dovecote. www.athelhampton.co.uk

Kingston Maurward Gardens nearby run to 35 acres of lakeside parkland and lawns which sweep around the Georgian House. Visit the croquet lawn, rose garden and herbaceous borders. There are many intimate gardens and designed vistas, as well as nature trails and animal park. www.kmc.ac.uk/gardens/

Mapperton Gardens in West Dorset are a delightful Italianate terraced gardens beside a Tudor manor, church, stable and dovecote, with on the upper levels, a croquet lawn, orangery, fountains, topiary, grottoes, ponds and borders. Specimen shrubs and rare trees are found on the lower levels. www.mapperton.com

Forde Abbey, founded in 1146, was one of the most significant Cistercian monasteries in England.   Using the legacy of the eighteenth-century landscape and nineteenth-century trees, two generations of the Roper family have made a garden worthy of the house that it surrounds www.fordeabbey.co.uk

Minterne Gardens near Cerne Abbas offer 20 acres of woodland walks set in a valley created by the acclaimed landscape designer Capability Brown, which rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias towering over lakes, streams and cascades.

Bennetts Water Gardens offer one of the most outstanding displays of water lilies in Britain, surrounded by huge pond and moisture loving plants, native trees, palms, wild plants and flowers. A ‘Site of Nature Conservation Interest’, the gardens, ponds and reed beds are home to abundant wildlife.  www.waterlily.co.uk

On the west Dorset coast, Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens is a magnificent 20-acre Grade I listed garden, established in 1763 and blooming with exotic and rare plants from all over the world. It is particularly famous for its camellia groves, magnolias, rhododendrons and hydrangeas. www.abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk

Moving further east, Kingston Lacy House, owned by the National Trust, lies at the end of an idyllic beech-lined avenue, in acres of parkland. The house itself is known for its outstanding paintings, exhibition of Egyptian artefacts, and its dramatic Spanish Room hung with gilded leather. Many outdoor nature events are held in the parkland in the springtime, most notably the snowdrop walks.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk

A little further north, Chettle House, a beautiful Queen Anne family home and gardens in its own village, and the Larmer Tree Gardens, the Victorian Pleasure Gardens of General Pitt-Rivers containing a wealth of colonial and oriental buildings, offer a superb day out on the edges of the stunning landscape of the Cranborne Chase. www.larmertreegardens.co.uk

Towards Wimborne, the Knoll Gardens, with its tumbling waterfalls and water gardens, formal 'Dragon' garden and Mediterranean Gravel Garden and national collections, and Stapehill Abbey Crafts and Gardens, set in a 19th century Abbey with nuns' cloister and chapel, with an award-winning garden , musuem and working craftspeople, offer a rewarding day out. www.knollgardens.co.uk

Further south, Compton Acres Gardens, set in 10 acres with spectacular views over Poole Harbour and the Purbeck Hills, takes the visitor on a garden journey around the world. Ten distinctive gardens make this one of the world's most renowned gardens to visit. www.comptonacres.co.uk

Exbury Gardens also offers world-famous displays, of rhododendrons and azaleas, in 200-acre grounds. Fantastic spring and autumn colours help to make Exbury the well-loved garden that it is today. www.exbury.co.uk

Furzey Gardens, across The New Forest, is a smaller informal garden, known also for its azaleas and rhododendrons, lake, sensory garden, arts and crafts galleries and thatched cottage. www.furzey-gardens.org

Breamore House is a fascinating Elizabethan family manor house with wonderful collections of pictures, furniture and needlework, with a countryside museum and 'life-sized' recreated shops. www.breamorehouse.com

In the heart of The New Forest is Beaulieu.  Formerly the 14th century Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House is set in glorious grounds and gardens with immaculate spreading lawns and walkways overlooking the Beaulieu River.  www.beaulieu.co.uk