20 Attractions to Explore Near Barton Springs

A beautiful nature reserve that has a large population of the rare pasque flower and several other rare plants are present in the downland, including greater pignut and fleawort. This post is also flourished with different verities of butterflies and the occurrence of springs and a chalk stream at the foot of the valley increases the beauty of this area. Between April and August is the best time to visit this paradise.

Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit is a 79-hectare nature reserve in Pegsdon in Bedfordshire. It offers some of the best views in the county. In spring, moschatel, or town-hall clock, named after the arrangement of its flowers, can be found in the woodland, while dingy and grizzled skipper butterflies flutter around in the grassland.

Wrest Park is a real treat for the senses. Explore the 92 acres of award-winning gardens, gold winner of Anglia in Bloom Awards 2017. The park ranges from From dazzling parterres and fragrant borders, to sweeping views and woodland walks. There is also an ornate marble fountain, the 18th century Bowling Green House and a striking Chinese Bridge and Temple.

Wardown House, Museum and Gallery is situated in the beautiful landscaped Wardown Park, on the outskirts of Luton town centre. The house was formerly the home of the Scargill family, then a military hospital and is now a museum and gallery. It was one of two free admission museums situated in Luton which are part of the charitable trust, Luton Culture.

Wardown Park is one of seven district parks in Luton, providing a green refuge within walking distance of the town centre. It provides the setting for Wardown Park Museum and offers a wide range of opportunities for formal and informal recreational activities. With its outstanding features and is one of the most visited parks in Luton. It provides an oasis of calm within walking distance of the town center.

The De Grey Mausoleum is attached to the mid-15th-century parish church of St John at Flitton, Bedfordshire. It was first built in the early 17th century, before being expanded in 1704.The mausoleum contains a remarkable collection of funerary monuments spanning three centuries. The mausoleum is possibly the largest and most magnificent sepulchral chapel attached to an English church.

Oughtonhead Common is a Local Nature Reserve with a wide variety of wildlife habitats. The River Oughton flows alongside the common. Park seats are installed at various locations by the riverside making it a pleasant place to relax and enjoy. The site has a variety of habitats, including wet and dry woodland, the river margin and fen areas. Willow, reed and rush were formerly grown and harvested in the wetter areas, and there was a corn mill at the eastern end. Birds include kingfishers, water

Cainhoe Castle remains as a prominent earthwork on the north side of the road from Clophill to Shefford. The castle was of the motte and bailey type. The motte was the mound, on which would have stood a wooden tower. The bailey was the open area enclosed by a bank, ditch, and wooden wall. The castle was of the motte and bailey type. The motte was the mound, on which would have stood a wooden tower. The bailey was the open area enclosed by a bank, ditch, and wooden wall.

Houghton Hall was commissioned as a private estate in 1700 by Alice Brandreth, it was part of a much larger land holding of one Henry Brandreth who once owned all of what is now Houghton Regis. It now presents as a path running around the periphery of a number of large fields. Some are mowed and others are left to grow, presumably in order to support small wildlife: butterflies and such.

The British Schools Museum in Hitchin bills itself as the 'Home of the Education Revolution', a bold claim but one that has a great deal of truth about it. The museum is built around an authentic early Victorian school established in the 1830s and is remarkably unaltered since it was opened. It includes a monitorial schoolroom based on the educational theories of Joseph Lancaster for 300 boys, which opened in 1837, and a rare galleried classroom, dating from 1853.

There’s so much to discover at Stockwood, which includes Beautiful gardens, interactive exhibitions and the largest carriage collection in Europe. The discovery centre displays collections of local social history, archaeology, geology and rural crafts. It also houses the biggest collection of horse-drawn carriages in Europe, the Mossman Collection.

Someries Castle is one of the biggest and earliest surviving brick buildings of this type in England and is therefore of great significance. The house is unique in that it is regarded as one of the first brick buildings in England. Demolished in the 1700s, the fine brickwork can still be seen in the remains of the gatehouse. A unique place to visit and you can spend some good time in the history of England.

Stockwood is a public park made from the grounds of what was a stately home from 1740-1964. The former walled vegetable garden now has a set of well-maintained period gardens'. They include a Victorian garden, a cottage garden and a knot garden. The surrounding landscape garden has a sculpture by Ian Hamilton Findlay. The park was originally the estate and grounds to Stockwood House, which was demolished in 1964.

Hitchin Lavender is a lavender farm attraction close to both London and Cambridge. The farm has some spectacular views of rural Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and there are many interesting walks in the surrounding area. It attracts a lot of tourists here and also this picturesque spot is also a good venue for film shoots too.

Houghton House is a ruined mansion house in the parish of Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire. It was built in the early 17th century by Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, as an elaborate hunting lodge. The house is reputed to have been the model for the ‘Palace Beautiful’ in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, published in 1678.

Icknield Way Trail is a long distance footpath in East Anglia, England. It is unique among long-distance tracks because it can claim to be "the oldest road in Britain". It runs from the end of the Ridgeway Path at Ivinghoe Beacon, near Tring, to the start of the Peddar's Way at Knettishall Heath.

Woodside Animal Farm in Slip End Village, near Luton, is a great day out. Plenty of Animals on show and lots to see and do, including a Fun Fair and Crazy Golf. It has exotic animals to see and feed. Children are encouraged to get 'touchy-feely' with many, including rabbits, goats, chicks and ducklings. It proves to be an ideal environment for group and educational visits.

The Icknield Way Trail passes along an ancient chalk ridge but there is a variety of landscapes to view including flat fenland and rolling chalk downland, as well as picturesque villages and ancient beech woodland. It is generally said to be one of the oldest roads, the route of which can still be traced, being one of the few long-distance trackways to have existed before the Romans occupied the country.

Luton Hoo Estate is a traditional privately owned Country Estate that continues to trust in its history and values. A traditional Estate that once included one of England's finest stately homes. Today, the Estate boasts an arable farm (with environmentally-friendly systems incorporated within its techniques), parkland, residential properties, commercial units, a historic model farm and a local food hub.

St Paul's Walden Bury is a notable landscape garden, laid out in the early 18th-century, covering about 50 acres. It is the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The surrounding estate, with its arable and livestock farm and its ancient woodland, is a traditional country estate set in the heart of the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside.