Brockenhurst is a hub for walkers – not least because it sits on the main rail line from London Waterloo. It was the railway which first brought Victorian visitors to the village in the 1860s to take in the fresh air and rural delights of the New Forest.

Roydon Woods, south of the village encompasses 950 acres of protected woodland which is managed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.  Meanwhile to the north, heading out across Black Knowl past the village allotments takes you towards New Park and Aldridgehill Inclosure.

For a more long-distance walk, you can follow the course of the old Dorchester railway line, known as Castleman’s Corkscrew. Now a shared cycle route – it reaches as far as the village of Burley, or you can use part of its length to walk to Sway village.

Heading north out of the village along the A337 takes you to Balmer Lawn. The Balmer Lawn Hotel looks out over the village cricket pitch as well as the ‘Brockenhurst Beach’ – a shallow stretch of the Lymington River popular as a family bathing spot in the summer. You can access more forest tracks at nearby Standing Hat along Balmer Lawn Road.

Our Lyndhurst-Brockenhurst Loop walk takes you as far as Lyndhurst via Whitley Wood and Brick Kiln Inclosure before returning through the woods on the other side of the A337.

As well as having a mainline train station, Brockenhurst is also on the Bluestar 6 bus route between Lymington and Southampton. The New Forest Tour open-top buses operate during the summer months.