A winter escape to the New Forest

After some changes to holiday plans, we decided to book a long weekend in the New Forest. When I think of a winter holiday, my mind usually goes to either snow or escaping to warmer climes, but I was pleasantly surprised with just how lovely the New Forest is in winter.

I had been dreaming of staying in the likes of The Pig Brockenhurst or The LimeWood, but after assessing the costs, we realised it just didn’t make sense to us. And it was lucky, because we found such a gorgeous AirBnb that felt like staying in a luxe hotel, but with our own kitchenette. The Goat Shed is one of three gorgeous studios available on Rachael’s quaint rural property near the village of Hyde, on the western edge of the New Forest. The room was as gorgeous and well presented as it looks in the photos and surrounded by fields and rural lanes. From here, we could easily walk to nearby pubs, cycle or drive further into the New Forest.

Before checking into our accommodation, we went to the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary, a free walking trail with the possibility of spotting deer. It’s recommended to visit in the afternoon when the deer are most likely to feed. We arrived around 3pm and while we did see some deer further along the trail, there weren’t any viewable from the dedicated platform. There are three walking trail options, one which takes you straight to the platform, one that goes further into the forest (the trail we took) and a longer path.

The Saturday was looking decidedly grey so instead of heading on an outdoor adventure, we drove to Lymington to explore the Saturday market and have a wander. Lymington is quite a substantial-sized town compared to the smaller towns in the centre of the New Forest. The Saturday market has a bit of everything, from locally made preserves to clothes and art. There are also plenty of cafes and hotels to explore. After strolling up and down the market, we visited Lounges of Lymington for a generous serving of tea, scones and cake.

We spent the first half of Sunday out exploring on mountain bikes, which came free to use with our AirBnb. We didn’t really have an agenda or do too much research, beyond browsing some brochures that our host had left. After setting out on a cycle, we found that some of the paths we thought we could cycle on are closed to bikes, so we ended up cutting across and by chance, found the Frogham to Fritham path. The path is ideal for mountain biking, it’s wide and gravelled the whole way through, starting with a large section of moors filled with wild ponies and cattle before winding into a wooded area and ending at The Royal Oak in Fritham.

We spent an evening at the Chewton Glen spa, which was truly relaxing. We chose the Twilight spa evening, which included access to the hot spas and a 45 minute treatment. All of the staff were incredibly friendly and both the massage and facial were excellent.

On our final day, we checked out of our cute AirBnB and headed to the Tall Trees Trail at Blackwater for a walk and a quick visit to Brockenhurst, before having lunch at The Pig. The lunch was absolutely delicious and I definitely recommend it if you find yourself in the New Forest, just make sure to book ahead as The Pig is popular. The decor is gorgeous, with a greenhouse-style extension on the exterior side of the restaurant, overlooking the garden, beautiful furniture and plants throughout to make it really feel like you’re connected to the source of the food. The menu is designed around ingredients found within a 25-mile radius and changes daily. We each had three courses from their lunch menu, and all dishes were amazing.

Where we ate

We had lunch earlier at the cosy New Forest Inn Lyndhurst on our first day, which had a wide variety of options for lunch. This is also relatively close to Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary.
We had dinner at The Royal Oak on our first night, which has a very cosy atmosphere and a nice dinner menu, including generous steaks
We had lunch the The Foresters Arms after our mountain biking between Frogham and Fritham
We had breakfast at The Potting Shed Hyde on the Saturday morning. This cute location is very popular with locals, but I found my breakfast to be over-salted so its worth requesting for minimal/no salt. They also had amazing looking cakes in the cabinet.
Our final lunch was at The Pig, Brockenhurst