Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the comfort and safety of your car. Alternatively, see the animals by train, for a railway
adventure, or ride on a safari boat around the park's lake to view hippos and feed sea
lions. The park provides some low-key theme-park amusements as well, including an
Adventure Castle and a Hedge Maze.
Insider tip:
Beware summer weekends, which
can get very busy.
Warminster, Wiltshire.
&
01985/844400.
www.longleat.co.uk. Admission to Longleat House £12
adults, £8 seniors, £6 children 3-14; Safari Park £12 adults, £9 seniors, £8 children; special exhibitions
and rides require separate admission tickets; passport ticket for all attractions £24 adults, £19 seniors,
£17 children 3-14. Feb 11-Feb 18 & Apr-Oct Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5:30pm; Mar weekends
only 10am-5pm. Closed Nov-mid-Feb. From Bath or Salisbury, take the train to Warminster; then take
a taxi to Longleat (about 10 min.). Driving from Bath, take the A36 south to Warminster; then follow the
signs. From Salisbury, take the A36 north to Warminster, following signs to Longleat.
Stourhead
GARDEN In a county (and country) of superlative gardens,
Stourhead stands out as perhaps the most celebrated example of 18th-century Eng-
lish landscape gardening. More than that, it's a delightful place to wander—among
its trees, flowers, and colorful shrubs are tucked bridges, grottoes, and temples.
The house at Stourhead, designed by Colen Campbell, a leader in the Georgian
neoclassical revival, was built for Henry Hoare I between 1721 and 1725. The Hoare
banking family subsequently oversaw the creation of 33 hectares (100 acres) of land-
scaped gardens to complement it. Henry Hoare II (1705-85), known rather immod-
estly as “Henry the Magnificent,” contributed greatly to the development of the
landscape of his estate.
The
Temple of Flora
was the first building in the garden, designed by the archi-
tect Henry Flitcroft in 1744. The
Grotto,
constructed in 1748, is lined with tufa, a
water-worn limestone deposit. The springs of the Stour flow through the cold bath,
where a lead copy of the sleeping Ariadne lies. The
Pantheon
was built in 1753 to
house Rysbrack's statues of Hercules and Flora and other classical figures. In 1765,
Flitcroft added the
Temple of Apollo
to the route that leads you over the public road
via a rock-work bridge constructed in the 1760s. Every corner you roam to brings a
new angle on this magical creation. Although Stourhead is a garden for all seasons, it
is at its most idyllic in summer, when the rhododendrons are in bloom.
Stourton.
&
01747/841152.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead. Admission to house and gardens £12
adults, £6 children 5-16, £29 family ticket; gardens only £7.30 adults, £4 children, £17 family ticket.
House: mid-Mar-mid-July and Sept-mid-Oct Fri-Tues 11am-4:30pm; mid-Jul-Aug and mid-Oct-Nov 6
daily 11am-5pm; also decorated for Christmas and open Dec Fri-Sun 11am-3pm. Garden: daily 9am-
6pm. Getting to Stourhead by public transportation is difficult; you can take the train from Bath to
Frome, or from Salisbury to Gillingham (both 30-min. trips). From the former it's a 10-mile taxi ride,
from the latter 7 miles.
8
BATH
115 miles W of London; 13 miles SE of Bristol
Few cities in England are as elegant as Bath. Set in the leafy Avon Valley, the town
boomed in the 18th century, when England's high society flocked here to “take the
waters.” The spa town's ravishing Georgian architecture, Palladian mansions, and
aged pubs have been virtually untouched by modern development, making this one
of the most enticing destinations in the country; it's also one of the most popular.
Bath's historical roots are commemorated at the
Roman Baths and Pump
Room,
sensitively restored and now an illuminating window into the lives of
Roman Britons.
Majestic Bath Abbey
is the other major draw, but the city's
