Stowe Landscape Gardens

You'll spend your first ten minutes at Stowe just getting your bearings - the scale of it is genuinely disorienting. This isn't a garden in the sense of flower beds and herbaceous borders; it's 300 acres of 18th-century parkland redesigned by some of the greatest landscape architects in history, with temples, monuments and water features dotted across valleys and hilltops like a three-dimensional painting. Walk it properly and you're looking at a good three hours, though you can easily do a shorter loop if the weather turns or energy levels dip.

The gardens were created for the wildly wealthy Grenville family, and it shows - Temple of Concord, the Palladian Bridge, the Chinese House. They're architectural follies really, but they work brilliantly as reasons to explore further into the grounds. History enthusiasts will recognise the hand of Capability Brown and other names that matter in landscape design. Families with older kids (eight plus) will enjoy the walking and spotting the various buildings; younger ones might find 300 acres a bit of a slog.

It's National Trust, so expect modest entry fees and typical opening hours, though it's worth checking before you go. The nearest town is Buckingham, about three miles away. If you're basing yourself at Hedgehog Retreat, just up the road, Stowe fills a day brilliantly without feeling touristy or exhausting. Best in spring or autumn when the light through the trees is proper good and you're not overheating on the exposed bits.