Gardens in and around Somerset

Dramatically sited on a wooded hill, Dunster Castle is a place of dramatic vistas and subtropical gardens near Minehead in Exmoor. The terraced garden displays varieties of Mediterranean and subtropical plants leading to the tranquil riverside wooded garden below.

A beautiful and intimate 18th-century landscape garden in Bath, undergoing a major restoration on its historic dams. Set in a sweeping valley above Bath, it's a place of magnificent views and wide open lawns, with one of only four Palladian bridges in the world.

One of the few Elizabethan houses in England to have retained its setting within a compartmented garden, Montacute is complete with herbaceous borders, a magnificent fountain, orchard and parkland.

As winter arrives, the garden temples take pride of place offering wonderful view-points across the lake. Look out for the fiery orange of the willows on the island closest to Pantheon which add a pop of colour to the wintry scene.

Winter is the perfect time to stretch your legs in the gardens and parkland at Tyntesfield. Relatively unchanged since 1900, the garden is widely varied, ranging from large open lawns and formal terraces, to a historic Orangery and working Kitchen Garden.