Lyndhurst is a village at the heart of the New Forest, where ponies and cattle roam freely across the open heath and woodland.
Lyndhurst is a village at the heart of the New Forest National Park, which covers 220 square miles. The New Forest National Park Authority says the grazing of ponies, cattle and pigs shapes the landscape, and that about 20,000 different species are found in the park. The forest is home to around 5,000 New Forest ponies owned by commoners. The authority publishes visitor information, including its information points and centres, on its website.
Brockenhurst station, a few miles from Lyndhurst, is managed by South Western Railway and has lifts and step free access to all platforms. New Forest District Council runs car parks in Lyndhurst and across the district, and takes pay and display tickets, the parking clock and RingGo. Check the council's car park pages for the charges and opening times before you drive. The council's website lists its car parks by name and postcode, so you can find the one nearest your destination.
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0A free museum run by an independent charity in the middle of Lyndhurst, telling the story of the New Forest, its people, traditions and ancient laws, and how its wildlife is looked after today. A highlight is the 7.5-metre New Forest Embroidery, made by Lady Belinda Montagu and 60 volunteers to show 900 years of the Forest's history.
Photo: Chris Wimbush, CC BY-SA 2.0A 12-acre woodland garden in the village of Minstead, with rare shrubs first gathered from places such as India, China and Tibet by early 20th-century plant hunters. It is run as a charity, with the gardens, nursery and thatched tea rooms cared for by gardeners with learning disabilities supported by Minstead Trust.
A family-run working farm on the edge of the New Forest where a daily timetable of hands-on activities includes bottle-feeding kid goats and calves, duck feeding and sessions in the Animal Encounter Barn. Donkeys, horses, alpacas, Kunekune pigs and cows live on the farm, with indoor and outdoor play areas alongside.
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0A free museum run by an independent charity in the middle of Lyndhurst, telling the story of the New Forest, its people, traditions and ancient laws, and how its wildlife is looked after today. A highlight is the 7.5-metre New Forest Embroidery, made by Lady Belinda Montagu and 60 volunteers to show 900 years of the Forest's history.
A family-run working farm on the edge of the New Forest where a daily timetable of hands-on activities includes bottle-feeding kid goats and calves, duck feeding and sessions in the Animal Encounter Barn. Donkeys, horses, alpacas, Kunekune pigs and cows live on the farm, with indoor and outdoor play areas alongside.
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0A free museum run by an independent charity in the middle of Lyndhurst, telling the story of the New Forest, its people, traditions and ancient laws, and how its wildlife is looked after today. A highlight is the 7.5-metre New Forest Embroidery, made by Lady Belinda Montagu and 60 volunteers to show 900 years of the Forest's history.
Photo: Stuart Logan, CC BY-SA 2.0A Forestry England site on an old coaching route west of Lyndhurst, with some of the oldest Douglas fir trees in the New Forest, the earliest dating to about 1860. Three waymarked circular trails lead from the car park through ancient and ornamental woodland, and the longest passes a deer viewing platform where fallow deer are often seen.
