Lovely gardens. My son loves it here. There was plenty in bloom when we visited. Cafe was run by a lovely lady - we had the macaroni cheese and a jacket potato, all good quality cafe style lunches. The ice cream selection is great - local New Forest brand which was good quality and nice to see local produce being stocked (they also had a selection of local jams and other things in the gift shop). I only gave 4 stars as I think they could do with a bit more accessibility info about - I walk with a stick and when we went to try to find the pigs it felt like we'd walked miles (up some slightly difficult terrain) and we still couldn't find them. I would probably hire a scooter next time as I definitely overdid it but didn't want my son to miss anything. Another thing to note if you have small children - make sure they go to the toilet before you venture into the gardens... We'd been there all of 20 minutes and had to walk all of the way back to the entrance where the toilets are as I couldn't find any others in the garden (there may be some in the restaurant but I wasn't sure if we were allowed to use those). Overall a lovely sunny day spent there with plenty of benches (apart from at the back near the pig bit) and plenty of shady spots. My son particularly enjoyed the sound garden and the treehouse with slide.

Beautiful and EXTENSIVE. Most Nat Trust and similar gardens you can be round in an hour; this took 3 without hanging around or cafe etc. And you won't want to rush anyway; it's so nice and there's a lot of it.

Visited during Christmas holiday and absolutely loved it! Cant wait for the next year. Absolutely stunning gardens with an incredible variety of plants and seasonal colours. Sir Harold Hillier Gardens is peaceful, beautifully maintained, and perfect for a relaxing walk.

Brilliant spot for a proper weekend walk. The grounds are massive, meaning you can easily get a few miles in and actually avoid the crowds. The plants are well kept, if you're into that sort of thing. I will warn you, though: the coffee is absolutely dreadful. Bring a flask if you want a decent brew. Still giving it five stars, as the gardens themselves are spot on. Apart from that I cannot complain.

Love coming here at different times of the year. Right now the autumnal colours are amazing. Love seeing how the garden changes throughout the season. Good selection of walks for all ages and some accessible for all. Children can run care free too and has a number of activities for them. Gardens are so peaceful, you can immerse yourself and forget your daily troubles and see how beautiful nature is