The Best Picnic Spots in Somerset: A Local's Complete Seasonal Guide
Let me tell you something about Somerset.
It will not ask you nicely. It will not send you a calendar invite or give you a heads up. It will simply do something extraordinary with the light at 6pm on a Tuesday in October, and you'll be standing at the school gate in your winter coat thinking: I need to be outside. With a blanket. Today.
I've lived in this county my whole life and it still does that to me.
I grew up in Nunney — yes, the village with the castle and the moat, which sounds made up but very much isn't — and I've been picnicking across Somerset ever since I was old enough to pack a bag and escape into a field. Through four children, too many cold flasks of tea to count, and a completely unreasonable accumulation of blankets, this county has been the backdrop to some of the best moments of my life.
Which means I have opinions. Quite strong ones.
This is my complete seasonal guide to the spots I return to, year after year, in every weather and every mood — from the dramatic frost-tipped moorland of Exmoor in January to bluebell-lit gorges in April to long golden evenings by the water in July. Because Somerset isn't just a summer county. It's extraordinary in all four seasons, if you know where to look.
“The best picnic isn't the one with the most perfect weather. It's the one you actually went on.”
I've organised everything by season, because where you want to be in February (dramatic, misty, thermos mandatory) is a very different conversation to where you want to be in June (golden, unhurried, something cold to drink). Each section has my favourite spots, what I'd pack, and a link to the full dedicated guide if you want to go deeper.
But first: a quick note on the whole thing. Picnics aren't just lunch outside. They're permission slips. Permission to slow down, to gather, to put your phone away for an hour and actually be somewhere. Science backs this up — we are measurably happier when we're present, outdoors, and sharing food with people we love. Not marginally happier. Properly happier.
Somerset, it turns out, is an extraordinarily good place to be properly happy. Right. Let's go.
🌸 SPRING — March, April & May
The season of: blossom, bluebells, and optimistically leaving the coat in the car (you'll need it).
There is nothing on earth quite like a Somerset spring. The orchards come into blossom and it's the kind of beautiful that makes you pull the car over and just stand there looking, slightly gormless, like you've never seen a tree before. The bluebells in late April are a full event. The light starts staying longer. Everything smells like possibility and damp earth.
Spring picnics require a certain spirit of adventure. It might be warm. It might not. There will almost certainly be a moment where someone says 'oh it's fine' about the cloud and then it isn't fine. Bring layers. Bring a groundsheet. Bring the good flask. Go anyway.
1. Ebbor Gorge, near Wookey Hole
This is Somerset keeping a secret. A limestone gorge tucked into the Mendips, ancient woodland, the kind of quiet that makes you lower your voice without knowing why. In late April the bluebells here are frankly ridiculous — the good kind of ridiculous, where you keep stopping to take photos that will never do it justice. The walk up is short enough to be manageable, steep enough to earn your sandwiches.
What I'd pack: Something celebratory — bluebell season deserves it. Sparkling something, good bread, local cheese. A Godminster wedge if you can get one.
2. Montacute House, near Yeovil
The Ham stone glows in spring light like it was built specifically for April afternoons. The formal gardens are extraordinary at this time of year — the topiary yews clipped to perfection, the borders coming into their own — and the parkland beyond is generous enough that you can find a quiet corner and feel entirely alone in a few acres of one of Somerset’s finest houses. In wisteria season the house façade is something quite extraordinary. Go and see it for yourself.
What I'd pack: Something that matches the grandeur without overthinking it. Good cheese, good bread, strawberries when they’re ready. Something sparkling if the occasion calls for it. It usually does.
3. Nunney Castle
I grew up here. The moat, the ruins, the ridiculous charm of a proper medieval castle in a tiny Somerset village — I've been picnicking in its shadow since I was small enough that the castle seemed enormous. In spring the moat fills with reflections of blossom and everything turns quietly, impossibly pretty. I've brought my own boys here now and watched them do exactly what I did — run ahead, find a stick, completely ignore the sandwiches until they're hungry enough to stop.
It's a small spot. It's not dramatic. It is completely perfect.
What I'd pack: Sandwiches and something homemade. Simplicity is entirely the point here.
For the full spring guide — best bluebell walks, what to pack for an unpredictable April afternoon, the farm shops worth stopping at on the way: -> The Best Spring Picnic Spots in Somerset
☀️ SUMMER — June, July & August
The season of: long evenings, local strawberries, and the discovery that Pimm's travels better than you'd think.
Somerset in summer is everything. The farm shops are heaving with the best of the county — strawberries, local cider, cheeses that don't need anything else. The evenings go on forever. There are approximately fourteen things happening in every village simultaneously: fetes, shows, cricket on the green, someone's bees escaping.
And the light. The light at 8pm in July on the Quantock Hills — golden and low and completely indifferent to your to-do list — is enough to make even the most committed homebody pick up a blanket and go outside.
Summer is also peak picnic season, which means the secret spots are worth knowing. I'll share mine.
1. Stourhead, Stourton
Summer Stourhead is an entirely different experience to the golden-autumn version. The canopy is fully out: deep, lush, impossibly green, reflected in the lake below in long shimmering columns. The temples peep through the trees. The hydrangeas up near the house put on a display so spectacular it stops you mid-sentence. Go late afternoon when the day-trippers thin out, the light softens, and suddenly it’s just you and the geese and the golden reflections on the water. Stay for the golden hour. You won’t regret it.
What I'd pack: This warrants the effort. A proper cheese board, good bread, something cold and sparkling. Strawberries. A blanket worth lying on. This is a lingering picnic, not a grab-and-go.
2. Tarr Steps, Exmoor
An ancient clapper bridge on Exmoor, built — according to local legend — by the devil, who apparently still holds the sunbathing rights on the central stones. In summer the river is warm enough for paddling, the circular walk through ancient oak woodland is properly lovely, and the Tarr Farm Inn next door has a terrace. Picnic by the river, pub for a drink, damp children, very happy adults. The formula is perfect.
What I'd pack: Something portable and unfussy — good sandwiches, fruit, something for the children. You’ll be walking and paddling so keep it packable. The pub handles the rest.
3. Burnham-on-Sea
Not every summer picnic needs to be elegant. Some need to be loud, slightly sandy, with children running at the water’s edge and everyone slightly disbelieving the sun is doing this. Those days need Burnham. Wide flat sands, a cheerful seafront, fish and chips that are exactly what you came for. We’ve been going since the children were tiny. We’ve never once come home wishing we’d done something different.
What I'd pack: Honestly? The Co-op on the way. Sandwiches, crisps, something cold. Then fish and chips from the seafront. Some days the picnic is just the snack that gets you to the fish and chips. There is nothing wrong with this.
For the full summer guide — eight spots, golden-hour timing, village fetes, and why the Somerset summer is worth every uncertain forecast: -> The Best Summer Picnic Spots in Somerset
🍂 AUTUMN - September, October & November
The season of: golden light, fewer crowds, and finally being vindicated about soup in a flask.
Autumn is my season. I will not be argued with on this.
The light goes golden and low and stays that way all afternoon. The crowds go home. The farm shops fill with cider apples, pumpkins and the kind of root vegetables that make you want to cook something slow and proper. Everything smells of woodsmoke and wet leaves and something that can only be described as autumn.
There's also something about picnicking in autumn that feels more deliberate. You're not outside because it's obvious. You're outside because you chose it. That intentionality changes everything — the food tastes better, the conversation feels slower, the whole afternoon has a quality that summer, for all its ease, sometimes doesn't.
1. Cheddar Gorge
In October the cliffs are framed in amber and gold and the summer crowds have departed, leaving the gorge to the people who actually live here. This is when Somerset shows off. We've had some of our most memorable family picnics at Cheddar — last October, cheese sandwiches (Cheddar, obviously, anything else would be a missed opportunity), warm cider, and some homemade pumpkin bread while the boys charged ahead up the trail. The views from the top in autumn light are spectacular in a way that photographs simply do not capture.
What I'd pack: Cheddar cheese sandwiches (non-negotiable), warm cider, pumpkin bread if you're feeling ambitious. Strong tea. Layers.
2. Ham Hill Country Park
Big sky, sweeping views, and sunsets that look like someone turned the contrast up too high. One of Somerset's largest country parks and somehow never feels it — there's always a quiet corner and a view worth sitting down for. We once did a sunset picnic here entirely by accident: we'd planned to walk, stayed too long, pulled out the scones and the flask as the sky turned orange and pink, and watched the clouds roll in from the west. The boys were asleep in the car before we reached the main road. Perfect.
What I'd pack: Scones, a proper flask of tea. Let the sky be the entertainment.
3. Lytes Cary Manor
A National Trust gem in the Somerset countryside — formal gardens, stone walls, the meadows beyond the hedges. In autumn the last of the summer flowers mingles with the turning colours in a way that feels almost too beautiful to be real. We set up near the stone step and gate most times, thermos of soup, blankets, the children somewhere nearby being feral in the best way. There's a slowness to Lytes Cary that I don't find everywhere, a sense that the afternoon is in no hurry. Neither am I.
What I'd pack: Homemade soup in a good thermos. Crusty bread. Seasonal fruit. Something for the children that buys you twenty minutes of peace.
For the full autumn guide — eight spots, personal memories, what to pack and how to do a proper Somerset autumn spread: -> The Best Autumn Picnic Spots in Somerset
❄️ WINTER — December, January & February
The season of: flasks, layers, and being very smug about going outside when everyone else didn't.
Winter picnics have a terrible reputation and I am on a one-woman mission to fix it.
The assumption is: cold, miserable, why would you. The reality is: the landscape is extraordinary, the spots are empty, the flasks taste twice as good, and there is a specific quality of satisfaction that comes from being outside in January while everyone else is on the sofa. It's not for everyone. It is absolutely for me, and if you've read this far, probably for you too.
A winter picnic isn't about sitting on frozen grass eating sad sandwiches. It's about proper flasks, excellent layers, good bread, and the decision to actually go.
1. Glastonbury Tor
There is nowhere in Somerset quite like the Tor in winter. The mist sits in the valleys below like it's been placed there. The wind is a character in its own right. The walk up is your warm-up — brisk, satisfying, the kind of exercise that feels like an achievement rather than a penance — and the views from the top, when you get them between the cloud, stretch across the Levels to the coast and beyond. I've picnicked here in snow, in mist, in bright January sunshine. All of it is different. All of it is worth it.
What I'd pack: Parsnip and apple soup in the best thermos you own. Crusty bread. Spiced apple muffins. Strong tea. This isn't a summer spread — build for warmth.
2. Wells Cathedral Green
In winter the Cathedral Green has a quality of quiet that feels almost sacred — the Gothic towers against a grey sky, the whole place hushed and unhurried in the way that tourist seasons don't allow. It's also extremely practical: the nearby shops mean you can top up provisions, and the Green itself is one of the most quietly magnificent settings for a winter picnic in the whole county. Arrive on a weekday morning and you'll practically have it to yourself.
What I'd pack: Warm sausage rolls, mini quiches, hot chocolate that is actually hot because you brought a proper flask. Something from a local bakery for the sweet end.
3. Porlock Weir
For when you need the sea. The harbour at Porlock Weir in winter is rugged and ancient and bracing in a way that makes you feel very alive and slightly heroic for having driven there. The winter skies are extraordinary. The sea air is the kind that gets into your lungs and rearranges things slightly. Bring the good flask, bring something worth eating, and stay long enough for your cheeks to go pink.
What I'd pack: Fresh fish and chips from the village if you can get them. If not: something hearty, portable, and warming. This is not the spot for a delicate spread.
For the full winter guide — five spots, what to pack for a cold-weather picnic, and why you absolutely should go in January: -> Must-Visit Picnic Spots in Somerset: Winter Edition
A few things I know to be true after a lifetime of Somerset picnics
The best spot is never the most obvious one. The car park viewpoint is busier than the field ten minutes further down the lane. The ten minutes are always worth it.
Every season has something the others don't. I used to think summer was the only proper picnic season. I was so wrong that it's almost embarrassing to admit.
The food matters less than the decision to go. A piece of good cheese and half a baguette in the right spot will do more for your soul than the most carefully curated spread eaten inside.
Go when you say you're going to go. The picnic you keep planning for a better weather window, a less busy weekend, a time when the children are older — that's the picnic you never have.
“You don't need the perfect weather, the perfect basket, or the perfect occasion. You just need the blanket and the decision.”
Somerset will meet you wherever you are. In January frost or July sunshine, in a mood for an adventure or a mood for sitting very still and eating something warm — this county has a spot for you.
Go and find it. I'll be out there too.
With love from Somerset,
Gemma x
The Complete Somerset Seasonal Picnic Guide
Stay a while . . .
Something happens in September that I can't entirely explain. The light drops a degree or two and suddenly everything looks like it's been edited - golden, warm, slightly melancholy in the best possible way. The farm shops fill up with cider apples and pumpkins and the kind of root vegetables that make you want to cook something slow.