Tours And Experiences Around North Hampshire
Why not treat your loved one to one of Hampshire's many interesting tours and experiences? We look at some great opportunities for an outing.
North Hampshire is well endowed with memorable places to visit, where you can blend an informative historical background with a really rewarding personal experience.
Whether you enjoy guided tours, finding your own way around historical places, or just visiting the tea rooms or gardens, we’ve got something here for you.
Alternatively, if you’re not keen on going out today, many establishments now offer virtual tours accessible via a computer or smart TV at home.
Bombay Sapphire Distillery
Do you enjoy a refreshing G&T? World famous Bombay Sapphire gin is made exclusively at Laverstoke Mill, located west of Basingstoke between Overton and Whitchurch. Situated on the River Test, the site has a long history – in the Domesday Book it is recorded as accommodating a corn mill, and it was used for the production of bank note paper for over 200 years. The mill was bought by Bombay Sapphire in 2010 and converted into a state of the art distillery, and opened to the public in October 2014.
The Bombay Sapphire Distillery offers a range of attractions, including a distillery tour, interactive sessions to learn the tricks of cocktail creation, a sensory Gin Connoisseur experience to expand your knowledge of gin, and the Ultimate VIP experience revealing the craft behind iconic gin production.
Also open to visitors are the striking glasshouses with Mediterranean and tropical plants (pictured) – well worth a visit.
After a tour, quench your thirst at the Mill Bar where you can enjoy your drink by the river, or visit the Mill Café for tea and cake. Naturally there is a gift shop, so you can take away a memento of your visit.
The Bombay Sapphire Distillery is located at Laverstoke Mill, London Road, Whitchurch RG28 7NR. Tel 01256 890 090.
Jane Austen's House
A statue of Jane Austen stands in Basingstoke’s Market Place, unveiled in 2017 to mark the 200th anniversary of her death.
Born in nearby Steventon, Jane knew the area well. She and her family used to frequent the old Assembly Rooms, and she would meet friends at The Vyne, Oakley Hall and Ashe House. Her family then moved to the charming village of Chawton, south of Basingstoke in 1809, where she lived for the rest of her life and wrote or finalised her six acclaimed novels.
The old cottage where Jane lived is now a museum. Events are held throughout the year including period dramas, village walks and an early-morning “waking up the house” tour where you can share the secrets and stories of Jane’s house followed by a tea & toast breakfast.
For the less mobile, there is a wealth of information online, including a 360° virtual tour of the house, outbuildings and garden, at Jane Austen’s House Virtual Tour
For a non-professional virtual tour of the nearby grand old Chawton House, which was owned by Jane’s older brother Edward, as well as Jane’s house itself, you might be interested in: A Tour of Jane Austen’s House – YouTube
The all-important tea room, Cassandra’s Cup, is directly opposite Jane Austen’s cottage. Cassandra was Jane’s sister.
Jane Austen’s House is on Winchester Road, Chawton, Alton GU34 1SD. Tel 01420 83262.
Milestones Museum
Milestones is Hampshire’s museum of living history, spanning early Victorian times to more recent decades.
Visitors can explore a network of Victorian tram-lined cobbled streets with life-size recreated homes, shops and factories, brought to life by demonstrators in period costume. Exhibits include teddy bears, household gadgets, vintage vehicles, and the Milestones Pier and Penny Arcade.
There are plenty of refreshment opportunities to keep you going as you explore. The Rooftops Café serves a selection of hot meals and light bites, including sandwiches, cakes and ice cream, whilst The Baverstock Arms is a traditional British pub set in the Victorian streets offering a refreshing pint, teas, coffee, soft drinks and bar snacks. At weekends and school holidays you can drop in to the Vintage Tea Tent, and experience a 1940s sweet ration at Abrahams Sweet Shop.
Tickets are bookable online and valid for a year, and include entry to themed events; disabled visitors can bring a carer free.
Milestones can be found at: Basingstoke Leisure Park, Churchill Way West, Basingstoke RG22 6PG. Tel 01256 639 550.
The Vyne
The Vyne is a Grade 1 listed Tudor country house built in the early 1500s for William Sandys, Lord Chamberlain to Henry VIII.
After the Civil War it passed to the Chute family, who reduced and remodelled it in a more classical style, before it was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1956.
The Vyne was used to house evacuated schoolboys in the Second World War. Film buffs might be interested to know that the 1964 horror film “The Black Torment” was filmed there.
It’s a great place to visit, where you can tour the mansion and its Tudor-style chapel, then stroll in the grounds which include a 17th century summerhouse (pictured), walled garden, orchard, bird hide, wetlands and ancient woodlands.
The Brewhouse is a great little tea-room serving light lunches, hot drinks and cakes, and don’t forget to visit the gift shop housed in a former coach house.
A narrated virtual video tour is available for those unable to visit in person.
The Vyne can be found on: Vyne Road, Sherborne St John, Basingstoke RG24 9HL. Tel 01256 883 8858.
Andwell Brewery
The Andwell Brewing Company, established 2008, started in a potato shed behind Newlyns Farm in North Warnborough, brewing “Resolute”, then “Gold Muddler” and “King John” ales. It was relocated in 2011 to a peaceful setting in an old trout smoking house by the Lyde River, now with a brewhouse shop, bar and café.
Learn how they brew their range of real ales, IPAs and lagers with a 90-minute guided tour – see the floor-malting and fermentation processes, meet the team, and relax afterwards in their café and bar with views across the river. Their online shop offers free local deliveries.
The brewery can be found on Andwell Lane, Andwell, Hook RG27 9PA. Tel 01256 761 044.
Home Instead’s relationship-based home care services in Basingstoke and the surrounding areas could include taking your elderly loved one out for more opportunities to discover local history, enjoy nostalgia, or just get out of the house.
For more information please:
give us a ring on 01256 840 660,
email us at basingstoke@homeinstead.co.uk,
visit: Home Care in Basingstoke
or click on the enquiry button below.