The New Forest

Facts checked October 2026 against operator sources. Prices and times change, the booking page wins.

The New Forest starts ten miles west of the docks. Brockenhurst, the main station in the forest, is 13-16 minutes from Southampton Central, with ponies on the village green and cycle hire by the station. Beaulieu, with Palace House, the abbey and the National Motor Museum, is a short drive from the Western Docks.

	Detail
Brockenhurst by train	13-16 minutes from Southampton Central
Beaulieu tickets from 2 September 2026	adult £30 at the gate, £27 in advance; child 4-16 £18.50 / £16.65; includes Palace House and the abbey
Lyndhurst	New Forest Heritage Centre, by bus or car
Exbury Gardens	spring rhododendrons, steam railway, by car

Timing

Beaulieu needs three hours for the motor museum, Palace House and the abbey ruins together; the monorail and veteran bus inside the grounds are included. Brockenhurst to Lyndhurst by bike along the forest tracks is five miles and mostly flat; allow a full day for the loop with lunch. Trains from Southampton Central to Brockenhurst run two or three times an hour, so there is no need to plan the return in advance.

Without a car

Train to Brockenhurst, hire a bike at the station and ride the forest tracks to Lyndhurst or Beaulieu; the New Forest Tour open-top bus runs in summer. With a car the whole forest and the coast at Lepe and Lymington are within 40 minutes.

What to expect

The New Forest is heath, woodland and open lawn rather than dense forest, grazed by about 5,000 ponies that have right of way on every road; the 40 mph limit is enforced and the ponies are not to be fed. Brockenhurst, Lyndhurst and Beaulieu are the three villages with everything a visitor needs within walking distance of the bus or station. The Beaulieu river runs down to Buckler's Hard, the 18th-century shipbuilding village where Nelson's Agamemnon was built, 2.5 miles from Beaulieu on foot along the river path.