Excellent value membership as the gardens are open all year round. The afternoon tea is excellent served in more formal dining setting. They also do lunches ideal for a treat or celebration. The cafe in the stables is good too for more informal snacks and meals. There is always something different to see in the gardens. Ideal place to walk off Christmas excesses

Always good for lunch and usually something interesting for the children to do. Gardens themselves are truly beautiful - a hidden gem!

Hestercombe is split into three areas. The formal gardens, the open garden area and the house. The open gardens give very pleasant walks of various lengths and difficulty.

Dog friendly and a lovely place to visit to explore the vast gardens.
£10.50 per adult is a little steep just to walk around so was expecting a lot more from the house but rather a disappointing gallery exhibition - not exactly what we were expecting.

Have been here may times over the years but it's really nice to revisit and see what new things have been discovered. Sat at the top looking at the view is lovely. One thing I would say, it would be nice to have a toilet somewhere up the top because it's a long way to trek back down with kids.

Our new favourite day out. We first went in September, and were delighted to be able to take our little dog ( who is very much part of the family) around all the gardens and into one of the 2 cafes with us. We followed one of their excellent garden trails, which although aimed at younger children than mine (12 & 15) are a great way to explore the extensive gardens. We were so impressed that we joined as members for the year and have already been back countless times. Can not recommended Hestercombe highly enough.

This is a lovely place to go for medium to short walk. Pram friendly. The restaurant has some lovely food but a little expensive.

We had a family visit to Hestercombe and enjoyed some food and a round of cakes.
Having visited before we knew what expect but everyone agreed that the food has come up a level we asked one the waitresses if the there was a change in the Kitchen and while she didn't say she did point out Matt as working in the kitchen.
Good work keep it up please.

We visited the first day of the Xmas Fayre, many stalls all with excellent variety of quality wares on sale, Superb for pre Xmas shopping. Lovely, friendly Café with excellent choice of snacks through to main meals. adequate seating and reasonably priced

We arrived one afternoon to find the garden quite empty of visitors. We enjoyed a leisurely few hours walking and sitting in the sunshine looking at all the plants and trees. It was a wonderful day. Part of the 2 4 1 with the Gardner's World magazine. Will be back!

This place is lovely . Although I think expensive for viewing the gardens. Their Christmas fair is brilliant and so is the ice skating at Christmas. Thus is mainly for kids.
Lunch... As ladies do lunch!!! .food was excellent although took a little time as they were busy. We didn't mind as we were talking!!
Would I go again... Yes many times!

We've been here many times and although it's not cheap to get in, there are often events on for kids that makes it worth it. We also attended a wedding fair there - it's such a good location for an event. The cafe is always good too, I've had many a chocolate brownie there! Not great for rainy days as it really is about the gardens but it's stunning in the summer with great views and walks to take.

We spent a happy couple of hours wandering round the lovingly restored formal garden and park and the house. The house is imposing, with a bookshop, cafe, restaurant and gift shop. Staff - mostly volunteers - were all very welcoming. The formal garden is beautiful, and there are easy walks around the small lake and park. It's always particularly enjoyable to discover an attraction run by an independent trust - the whole place has a very special and intimate feel to it.

If you haven't been to Hestercombe for a few years it is worth a visit to see how it has changed. The industrial mill has been restored and there is a cafe and shop. The gardens are a mixture now of restored formal and meandering paths around less formal areas. Worth a visit.

Our visit greatly exceeded our expectations - interesting walks,beautiful gardens,really good cafe!

We'd known of the gardens for some years when staying in Somerset with friends however never made the effort to visit, I only wish we had - a really enjoyable few hours.

Of particular note was the welcome,in the lower lake,from the resident kingfisher!

So good also not to feel 'ripped off' in an attraction's cafe - here we met friendly,helpful staff serving very good food at reasonable prices.

We'll be back!

(Our Somerset friends were so impressed they took out a season ticket!)

Firstly, Hestercombe is not owned by the National Trust but by its own small independent charity. It is a lovely, somewhat undiscovered, gem with a mixture of landscape gardens, formal gardens and woodland walks. At each turn there is a different view, something else to look at and a variety of plants to explore. It is different at every season so it does not matter when you come here - there are always delights to see. I have brought family members of all ages here ranging from age 5 up to 85 and all have enjoyed the experience.
For the young there is a small play area, witches hut, swan, ducks and fish to feed and plenty of space to run around. A lot of the gardens are wheel chair friendly, although it was not designed with accessibility in mind back in the 18th century so there are some areas that are not accessible. You are able to borrow wheel chairs and there is also a motorised cross country disabled scooter for hire.
The house is now a contemporary art gallery with varying exhibitions on. Sadly it is suffering from the ravages caused by previously being owned by a local authority and only slowly managing to get back to a little of how it may once have looked. There is a second hand bookshop, and a most excellent tea room which is open for lunch and afternoon tea. This is the Column Room restaurant and serves a more upmarket menu than that available in the cafe at the main visitor centre.
The visitor centre has a gift shop, plant centre and an excellent cafe serving hot and cold food, all prepared to order, and excellent home made cakes. My wife and I had lunch here and she declared that the food was "just as good as on the Orient Express" - high praise indeed!
This makes for a lovely day/afternoon out no matter what the season and what I like is the friendliness without the "educational" element that you get at a National Trust property. Very much recommended.

This is a great place to visit for people of all ages, whether it's a sunny day or a crisp winter morning. It's also good fun at Christmas and Halloween.

The restaurant is also good, although it can make for an expensive visit if all four of us go in for tea and cake. I wish they'd make the cakes a little smaller and charge a little less.

We had a lovely walk up winding pathways, with several follies and amazing views across the gardens and valleys. Garden influenced by Gertrude Jekell

Reminded me of Helligan, as this garden has been lovingly restored. Good plant shop, plus garden related items for sale. Also enjoyed tea in the courtyard, plus scrumptious chocolate cake.

This is a lovely place to visit and browse plus the fact you can have a coffee and a slice of cake or other choice of food

Beautiful gardens, no matter what time of year, the views are stunning. Cafe lovely, as is the shop.

This is a beautifully laid out garden, a lovely place to visit on a sunny day. There are laid gardens and a lot of walks through trees and lakes. The views are great and when we were there they had a wedding in progress The old house had a gallery showing an exhibition of photographs. They have a nice cafe at the entrance for refreshments and in the house they have a formal restaurant serving afternoon teas.

nicely kept. tidy gardens but not an attraction i would come back personally for as i found it a bit boring

We have been numerous times to the gardens. They are worth the entry fee but if you are more than a couple of visits I would suggest an annual pass as its more cost effective. There is a great cafe that is dog friendly and the gardens are flea pot for dogs as long as on leads.

After a late lunch in the rather expensive cafe (£6 for an albeit very nice baguette and £2 for a small bottled water), we decided to walk around the gardens. However, as it was by then 3.30pm, we decided against paying the £10.50 per person entry fee! Surely later in the day the rate should be halved?

Shame, as a walk would have been nice and at least the charity would have received some entrance fee from us but not at over £40 for the four of us for a couple of hours visit.

If you visit, ensure you go for the whole day, and if on a budget, take a picnic.

Nice place..nice walks. Nice coffee but the price of the cakes takes the piss

Great for dogs and would recommend but still not the cakes