Lyme Park

Lyme Park is located in Stockport. I never thought I’d find something so beautiful and picturesque so close to home. And it’s dog friendly too, hurrah!

As soon as we drove through the gates we hit the queue to get in – which we were sat in for 30 minutes! It may have just been the day we visited (which was a Sunday, around 12pm). I’d recommend just getting there for opening.

Once parked up in the big car park, you look up and can see the beautiful building and gardens that you are going to be walking in. At the carpark you find a coffee shop before walking up a slight hill to enter the courtyard, which takes you into the building. After entering the building, it opens up into another mini courtyard that is surrounded by eateries, shops and a few queues to venture inside the building – we gave this bit a miss as we had our dog with us, and we wanted to enjoy the fresh air while we could.

The other side of this beautiful house is were the immaculate gardens start. Straight ahead of you is the lake that you will have seen in photos, or in Pride and Prejudice. Now, I don’t think it is totally pram-friendly – we visited with our baby in the back carrier – and we did notice a lot of steps here and there, so I imagine it being a little difficult at times with a pram due to obstructions. Never-the-less, it is great here for a lovely garden walk, seeing beautiful flowers, walk ways, and views over the gardens.

In the midst of our walk we came across toilets, with baby changing facilities. I didn’t notice toilets at the start, although with this being a National Trust, there probably was, but you can always count on the toilets in the garden.

Once we had walked around the grounds and gardens, and took a million and one photos, we walked over to The Cage – which was just a short walk out of the building grounds. It allows for phenominal views over Cheshire, seeing Manchester City Centre in the distance – very similar to the views at Alderley Edge. The Cage was once used as a hunting lodge and/or watch tower. If the weather is nice you should definitely walk out to this building because the views are worth it!