It’s time to unearth your picnic hamper from the cupboard under the stairs! This year, the Sophie Allport team are laying out their best blankets and packing themselves a summer feast to devour on sandy beaches, beautiful lawns and beneath the shade of mature trees. But, have you chosen where you’re going to throw a picnic with your friends and family? Well, with miles of rugged coastline and acres of lush, green countryside in England, you'll have something close to home... Here are five of Sophie Allport’s favourite picnic spots to spark your imagination!
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Burghley Park, Stamford - Burghley Park is Sophie’s local stomping ground and makes the perfect spot for a summer picnic. With acres of greenery, Burghley Park is home to beautiful sculpture gardens, tranquil deer gardens and even a ‘garden of surprises’, as well as the magnificent Elizabeth manor house, of course! Visitors are made welcome all year round, but we particularly like setting up camp on a golden summer’s evening, plating up our picnic under a tree and sitting back to enjoy the sight of Stamford’s spires in the far-off distance. It’s absolutely beautiful.
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The Norfolk Coast - If you are close by then the north Norfolk coast has so much to offer. A favourite place for many members of the Sophie Allport team, this part of the UK is picturesque and punctuated with ancient woodland, sandy shores and pebbled beaches. We recommend taking a trip to Sheringham before walking through the woodland to the sand dunes at Holkham.
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Wastwater, Cumbria - Are you based a little further north? If so, consider devouring a picnic on the shores of England’s deepest lake – Wastwater. Winner of Britain’s Best View, Wastwater is the centrepiece of some of the most awe-inspiring views in all of Cumbria and is surrounded by peaks (including England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike) on almost all sides. On a clear day, the lake becomes a mirror to reflect its neighbouring majestic mountains, and we find that it’s a picnic spot best enjoyed at dawn or dusk if you’re hoping to conjure up a sense of romance!
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Stowe Gardens, Buckinghamshire - Further south into England is the rolling green gardens at Stowe, peppered with tranquil patches of water and belts of handsome trees. With over 250 acres to choose from you’re bound to find a quiet spot to settle down for a picnic, and best of all, dogs are welcome to explore the gardens and parkland too. You may need to book in advance at the moment, so check out their website before you visit.
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Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, Cornwall - Finally, if you fancy escaping throngs of tourists during the south-west’s busiest months, why not head out to Porthmeor beach? You can watch the sunset below Porthmeor’s shallow cliffs, or get down onto the shore itself and enjoy your sandwiches with your toes buried deep into the beach’s golden sand. It’s a picnicker’s paradise, and we’d be packing our picnic bag to make sure our seaside picnic is every inch as Cornish as it should be!
If you've found the perfect picnic spot near you but need the picnicware to match, then check out our range of picnic bags, blankets, melamine and more!
Love a picnic? Check out our blog on 5 Picnic Hacks for Picnic Season. Let us know your favourite picnic location in the comments below.
1 comment
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Cromer East Beach , “Sanctuary “ sit all day under a big blue sky ,have a Picnic, miles of secluded beach , BBQ of. a evening , Watch the Sun go down over Cromer Pier , See the lighthouse flashing ,wonder back from beach through Bluebells in Spring, Wild Garlic in Summer , grab a Crab ! and roll up my “What a Catch” picnic blanket for another day , perfect x
Lorraine Gwilliam on
