New Forest villages

	Lyndhurst High Street

Villages in the New Forest offer all the facilities expected of popular visitor destinations. Pubs serve real ale and real hospitality. English, French, Indian, Chinese and Thai restaurants offer a wide choice of food, whilst hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast establishments cater for every level of accommodation need.

And, of course, there’s a multiplicity of shops and all the other trappings of modern life.

But New Forest villages have more to offer than that, for all have an incredibly rich heritage that deserves to be explored.

Nestling in the midst of the Crown lands, the villages usually occur on islands of relatively fertile soil set amongst generally poor, acidic New Forest soils. Here, settlement histories almost invariably date back many centuries, and have left on the landscape indelible traces that often remain for all to see.

	A Beaulieu traffic jam

Within the pages of the New Forest Explorers’ Guide, village history is brought to life in words and pictures, using old prints, postcards and maps that all graphically depict the New Forest as it was in days gone-by.

Walk routes, too, are included that take the traveller past many of the features mentioned.

Enjoy and appreciate all the New Forest villages. Travel slowly, preferably on foot. Absorb the unique atmosphere, and experience the spirit of life in earlier times.