Montacute House, Montacute, Somerset
This magnificent Elizabethan Renaissance mansion (NT) in South Somerset is an absolute gem, with its towering ham stone walls and glowing leaded glass. See the Tudor and Jacobean paintings in the Long Gallery, currently on loan from the National Portrait Gallery; stroll through the gardens and admire the rose border in the North garden, full of old fashioned scented roses; enjoy a scone and a pot of tea in the Courtyard Café. You can bring your four legged friend along too – Montacute House welcomes well behaved dogs (to be kept on leads) in the garden and parkland.