Spring Hill Wild Camping

What a handy location this is, 45 minutes’ drive from the New Forest National Park for outdoor activities like archery and canoeing and 25 minutes’ drive from walks in the South Downs National Park. On the edge of the South Downs, Jane Austen's House (25 minutes) has been turned into a living museum dedicated to the author’s life in the 17th-century cottage. Back the Wessex Downs, it’s not all about hiking and cycling, as lovely as these may be (especially over the chalk ridge of the long-distance path The Ridgeway, approximately 40 minutes' drive). At Highclere Castle (15 minutes), you’ll get to wander rooms used as the setting for Downtown Abbey and peer around the old cellars. Avebury (50 minutes) is also home to Europe’s largest Neolithic stone circle. If you have time, stop by in Basingstoke (half an hour), where there’s a museum with antique cars and an old candy store, as well as a local gallery and a Tudor mansion.