Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
Beth Cruse

West Country village short drive from Bristol is one of UK's 'most beautiful'

A village 40 minutes from Bristol has been named one of the most beautiful places in the UK to visit.

Iford, situated in a valley outside Bradford-on-Avon, is a 'tiny hamlet' with medieval architecture and its own Grade I-listed gardens.

It is number 14 on the list of the UK's most beautiful villages according to Conde Nast Traveller, a publication renowned for listing some of the most incredible destinations in the world.

Also read: Bristol's 'unfair' private renting market 'is breaking up communities'

Iford's entry reads: "Hidden in a valley outside Bradford-on-Avon is this tiny hamlet, so lovely you’ll be glad you made the detour from nearby Bath’s big-hitting sights.

"Iford Manor takes centre stage (with its Grade 1-listed Peto garden), the River Frome flows in front of it and Britannia stands proudly on top of the medieval bridge."

Conde Nast recommends a walk through the valley to The Inn at Freshford to enjoy a drink in the beer garden, or to the the mobile artisan pizzeria at The Freshford Village Memorial Hall.

Also read: Village less than an hour from Bristol named one of the most beautiful in the UK

Accommodation-wise, it suggests a stay at The Pig near Bath, which is a 30-minute drive away.

It continued: "It’s a joy to sleep here, in the 29 pretty bedrooms that have turned a former family country house into a boutique hotel. It also has the largest kitchen garden of all The Pigs, making dining here a lure for Bath locals as well as the hotel’s guests."

Also on the list is Mells in Somerset, which ranked 7 out of 20 on the list. Conde Nast suggests a: "Meander through this sleepy Somerset village and marvel at the 15th-century New Street, which runs to St Andrew's Church, where the great war poet Siegfried Sassoon is buried."

The list also features destinations such as Helford in Cornwall, Cartmel in Cumbria, Nether Compton in Dorset, Southrop in Gloucestershire and even Portree in the Isle of Skye.

The full list is as follows:

  1. South Pool, Devon
  2. Cartmel, Cumbria
  3. Portloe, Cornwall
  4. Nether Compton, Dorset
  5. Beaulieu, Hampshire
  6. Ullapool, Ross and Cromarty
  7. Mells, Somerset
  8. Powerstock, Dorset
  9. Lurgashall, Sussex
  10. Solva, Pembrokeshire
  11. Oxford, Suffolk
  12. Helford, Cornwall
  13. Southrop, Gloucestershire
  14. Ilford, Wiltshire
  15. Burnham Market, Norfolk
  16. Hambleton, Rutland
  17. Kinsale, County Cork
  18. Portree, Isle of Skye
  19. Alnmouth, Northumberland
  20. Hutton le Hole, North Yorkshire

Sign up for our weekly What's On in Bristol newsletter packed with essential stories to help you make the most of living in the city

READ MORE: Cheapest ways to travel from Bristol to London by each mode of transport

READ MORE: The 20 best things to do in Bristol whether you live here or are just visiting

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.