Marwood Hill Gardens

The gardens sprawl across 20 acres of Devon countryside just outside Ilfracombe, and they're genuinely brilliant if you're after a proper walk with actual plants to look at rather than just a manicured Instagram spot. You'll find rare specimen trees, winding paths through woodland, and genuinely interesting collections - there's a bog garden, a water garden, and loads of unusual shrubs that make botanists get properly excited.

Walkers love this place because you can spend two or three hours here without it feeling forced. The grounds are laid out so you're always discovering something new - a quiet bench overlooking a pond, a grove of Japanese acers in autumn, the kind of corners that make you understand why people get obsessed with gardening. It's not manicured Disney stuff; it's a proper plantsman's garden that's been going since the 1920s.

Admission's a few quid - very reasonable - and it's free to park. Summer's the obvious choice but autumn's equally good if you time it right. Come in late September and the colours are something else.

From Stowford Farm Meadows or Hidden Valley, both within a few miles, this makes an easy half-day outing. Pair it with a walk into Ilfracombe's town centre or a coastal ramble. If you're the type who gets excited about specimen plants rather than rose gardens, you'll rate this far higher than the typical tourist gardens.