National Trust: Best Worcestershire and Herefordshire walks

Whether it is a sunny day spent meandering along tree-lined paths or taking a peaceful stroll through historic grounds, there is a walk that is perfect for the whole family to enjoy. 

Visitors can also relax on grassy lawns and reflect by ponds and lakes with a picnic and a good book. 

Each garden is looked after by a team of National Trust staff and volunteers with the plants not only used to add colour and interest but to support wildlife. 

To celebrate the relaxing days of early summer, the National Trust has pulled together a list of the best places for a serene stroll in some of the most beautiful gardens close to you.

Lavender-lined paths (Image: National Trust Images/Susan Guy)

Worcestershire

Greyfriars House & Gardens

The garden at Greyfriars is a peaceful oasis located right in the heart of Worcester. Look out for the display of bright white petunias blooming in the raised circular bed, and see the red roses reach up and climb the walls of the timber-framed house.

Make the most of summer in the city by relaxing on the garden terrace with a drink and a slice of cake from the Old Oak Café, or admire the colourful flowers as you wander across the sun-drenched lawn.

Hanbury Hall

Explore the beautiful, recreated eighteenth-century formal garden at Hanbury Hall this summer.

Don’t miss the Parterre filled with vibrant calendulas and French marigolds set within the carefully clipped topiary hedging.

The borders in the Walled Garden will be bursting into life with sunflowers, sweet peas, cosmos, and dahlias as big as dinner plates. Visit the produce stand to take a bunch home with you in return for a donation.

You can also join a Medicinal Garden Walk with a knowledgeable guide on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 12.30pm and 2pm to discover the amazing healing properties of plants.

Take a walk through a wildflower meadow (Image: National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor)

Herefordshire

Brockhampton

Only a short drive from Worcester, Malvern, Bromyard, Leominster, with accessible hard-standing paths, it’s a perfect place to soak up the beauty of nature. 

Nestled within the Brockhampton estate, a moated medieval manor house sits beautifully in the surrounding landscape which includes the prettiest cottage garden, as well as wooded valleys, streams, and the largest orchards in the National Trust’s care.

With climbing roses, lily-pads floating serenely in the moat, and cottage garden flowers blooming in profusion, the garden around the manor house makes an idyllic spot for a picnic.  

Berrington Hall & Gardens

Berrington has an internationally significant garden. It’s the final landscape garden project completed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown featuring a walled garden, flower borders, a pleasure ground and the ‘Curve’, the intriguing architectural feature that remains of the curved garden.

During the summer it’s filled with a riot of colourful flowers, a thriving produce garden, a fruitful orchard surrounded by wildflowers, deck chairs and hammocks to relax in and picnic spots galore.

Whether you want to relax in a garden with the prettiest flowers or would like to explore how the garden team at Berrington plant, grow and care for a huge variety of plants, this is a place to soak up the joy of gardening and gardens.

Croft Castle & Parkland

The gardens at Croft Castle are full of romantic charm. Faded wooden doors in old brick walls lead you into a jam-packed walled garden which is bursting with colour in summer. 

Blue globe thistles, yellow giant scabious, spectacular cornus, the prettiest roses, an impressive vineyard and so much more. 

With views from the walled garden towards Croft Castle, there are plenty of spots to relax with a picnic and soak up the old-fashioned charm of this enchanting space while watching the birds who thrive in this habitat.

The Weir Garden

The dappled shade along this spectacular, landscaped riverside garden makes a wonderful walk on a summer’s day. Look out for the distinguished foliage of many acres, the rockery garden, ancient trees, a boathouse, and winding paths leading to incredible views across the Wye Valley.

Further back from the riverside, you’ll find an unusual walled garden with only three sides to make the most of the rising and setting sun.  In summer it’s filled with beautiful flowers, delicious fruits and a variety of vegetables.

Its restored 1920s glasshouse basks in this sunny spot, casting patterns of light across the lush green foliage inside. Just outside Hereford, this is a garden that’s perfect for a sunny day.