The best gardens to visit near The Firs in summer

Two of the finest gardens in East Anglia are an easy drive from The Firs — Helmingham Hall and Somerleyton Hall — both open through the summer and glorious in full bloom. A garden visit makes a gentle, beautiful day out from our countryside retreat. We're 2 hours from London and 45 minutes from Norwich.

Helmingham Hall Gardens surround a moated Tudor house completed in 1510 and tended by the Tollemache family for over 500 years. The Grade I-listed gardens are spectacular: a walled kitchen garden with deep herbaceous borders, two rose gardens, an Elizabethan-style knot garden and a classic parterre framed by the moat, all set in a 400-acre deer park. They're open through the summer season with a lovely programme of events, and there's a café and shops on site. Check days and tickets at helmingham.com. It's about 45 minutes from The Firs.

Somerleyton Hall, near Lowestoft, opens its 12 acres of gardens from spring to October. Highlights include one of the finest yew hedge mazes in Britain (planted in 1846), a walled garden, a rose garden with over a thousand roses, a sweeping arboretum and a Greenhouse Café for lunch. Families love the maze. Details at somerleyton.co.uk.

And don't overlook the gardens at The Firs itself — four acres of grounds, a kitchen garden, the hens and the moat, all yours to wander at the slowest of paces.

For summer UK stays that suit garden lovers, this countryside stay is a perfect base. Come home from a day among the roses to your own wood-fired hot tub and a long, light evening.

Planning a summer garden break? Check availability and book direct.