I am guilty of dreaming of faraway destinations, jumping on planes and trains to explore further afield and constantly looking for European getaways, but what I sometimes forget is that some of the greatest treasures to explore are on my doorstep, just a small car ride away.
As a National Trust member, I’ve been keenly ticking off each property over the years – determined to see all of the ones I’ve circled in the handbook. Some of my favourites so far include Stourhead, Knightshayes, Drogo Castle and Greenway to name a few. This weekend we travelled to Dunster Castle to tick another off the list.
Dunster Castle and Watermill have quickly jumped to the top of my list, with a stunning castle, quaint village, subtropical garden and reservoir to explore – we spent the whole day just soaking in the sun and walking around in awe of the scenery.
On arrival at the castle, we parked up and instead of heading straight to the castle, we took the circular walk around the village, browsing the cute little trinket shops and marvelling at the cosy cottages with flamboyant gardens with blood-red tulips, wisteria trees and bluebells. Whilst you’d think a day like this would be of no interest to a 2-year-old, instead, my son was mesmerised by everything he saw. We were lucky with the weather, enjoying the sunshine and a light breeze as we explored the churchyard, old priory gardens and on down to the Watermill.
Stopping first of course at the tea room, sitting out among the blossom tree devouring homemade Victoria sponge and a frothy coffee. We were joined by a little robin who took cake crumbs from under our chair, a friendly little fellow indeed!
Walking from the village back up to the castle we were pleasantly surprised by the gardens on the ascent, bright flowers and towering trees with the castle peering out above us. We toured through the castle rooms, a little faster than we would have liked as I spent the majority of the time running after my toddler so that he couldn’t sit on chairs he wasn’t allowed to sit on or touch the displays.
Exiting the castle we found ourselves back at the car park, ending the route perfectly and just in time for the little one to have a much-needed nap on the way home!
It’s days like this – as we trundled out of Somerset back towards home, that I realised we don’t always need a holiday aboard to feel like we’re taking a break. A simple day trip from home had us feeling refreshed, happy and relaxed for hours after.
