Painshill

The 18th-century landscape garden at Painshill, just outside Cobham, is one of those places that rewards a proper wander. What you're looking at is the vision of one man, Charles Hamilton, who spent decades crafting a 158-acre estate from scratch in the 1750s. He carved out valleys, dammed streams, planted thousands of trees, and scattered follies and grottoes about to create these manufactured vistas that somehow don't feel false at all.

Walking the grounds takes a good couple of hours if you want to take it in properly. There's a ruined abbey, a Chinese bridge, a Temple of Bacchus, and a glass-roofed grotto stuffed with shells and flints - the sort of theatrical touches that were all the rage back then. It's genuinely clever landscape design rather than just "stick a stone ruin here and call it art."

History buffs will eat this up. Families with teenagers might enjoy the walk and the slightly gothic atmosphere, though younger kids could find it a bit slow after the novelty of the follies wears off. The place asks you to engage with what you're seeing, not just march past it ticking boxes.

If you're based at one of the nearby campgrounds - Chessington World of Adventures Resort is closest at 4.5 miles - Painshill makes for a proper change of pace from the theme park crowds. It's the sort of day out that lingers in your head longer than you'd expect. Check ahead for opening times and admission fees before you go.