The historic village of Beaulieu is at the centre of the Montagu family’s Beaulieu estate which covers 9,000 acres of the southern part of the New Forest.

In 1204 a group of Cistercian monks was given land by King John on which they founded a monastery. Their abbey complex became the largest in England. It had churches, a farm and even a fishing fleet and port on the river. It was eventually all-but-destroyed during the reign of Henry VIII. The abbey’s refectory which is now the village parish church.

The picture-postcard village high street has a number of artisan gift shops as well as cafes for hungry walkers.

The riverside path along the Beaulieu River is one of the most picturesque in the forest. Great for bird spotters and history buffs alike, this walk finishes in the famous shipbuilding village of Buckler’s Hard.

A few miles from the village is Beaulieu Road station and the start of a walk across Shatterford Bottom to Denny Wood. Across the road from the station is the New Forest’s famous Beaulieu Road Pony Sales yard.