Longleat

Top choice in Wiltshire


Half ancestral mansion, half wildlife park, Longleat was transformed into Britain's first safari park in 1966, turning Capability Brown's landscaped grounds into an amazing drive-through zoo populated by a menagerie of animals more at home in the African wilderness than the fields of Wiltshire. There's a throng of attractions, too: the historic house, animatronic dinosaur exhibits, narrow-gauge railway, mazes, pets' corner, butterfly garden and bat cave.

It's just off the A362, 3 miles from Frome. Save around 10% by booking tickets online.

Longleat was the first English stately home to open its doors to the public. That decision was prompted by finance: heavy taxes and mounting post-WWII bills meant the house had to earn its keep.

The house itself contains fine tapestries, furniture and decorated ceilings, as well as seven libraries containing around 40,000 tomes. The highlight, though, is an extraordinary series of paintings and psychedelic murals by the present-day marquess, who was an art student in the ̓60s and upholds the long-standing tradition of eccentricity among the English aristocracy – check out his website (www.lordbath.co.uk).

Longleat is open until 7pm on many summer weekends.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Wiltshire attractions

1. Stourhead

5.99 MILES

Overflowing with vistas, temples and follies, Stourhead is landscape gardening at its finest. The Palladian house has some fine Chippendale furniture and…

2. King Alfred's Tower

6.7 MILES

A 50m-high folly with wonderful views. It's part of the National Trust property Stourhead, some 8 miles south of Frome.

3. Tithe Barn

10.86 MILES

This vast 14th-century stone structure originally belonged to monks from Shaftesbury Abbey, and was used to store tithes (a 10% produce tax) during the…

4. Prior Park

12.71 MILES

Partly designed by the landscape architect Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the grounds of this 18th-century estate on Bath's southern fringe feature…

5. Gold Hill

13.02 MILES

The often-photographed, painfully steep, quaint cobbled slope, lined by chocolate-box cottages, that starred in a famous TV advert for Hovis bread.

6. Shaftesbury Abbey

13.02 MILES

These hilltop ruins mark the site of what was England's largest and richest nunnery. It was founded in 888 by King Alfred the Great, and his daughter,…

7. American Museum in Britain

13.09 MILES

Britain's largest collection of American folk art, including First Nations textiles, patchwork quilts and historic maps, is housed in a fine mansion a…

8. Old Wardour Castle

13.23 MILES

Six-sided Old Wardour Castle was built around 1393 and suffered severe damage during the English Civil War, leaving these imposing remains. The views from…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "england/southwest-england/wiltshire/attractions/longleat/a/poi-sig/1218513/359030",
      "destination": "Wiltshire",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "England",
      "region": "Wiltshire",
      "position": "superzone"
    }