Tickets & Opening Hours

Book your visit to Hestercombe

To keep both staff and visitors safe, on arrival you must have your booking reference ready before entering the Visitor Reception.

We are delighted to announce that Hestercombe is now fully open for visits. Bookings to the gardens and shop must be made via the 'Book your visit' button below before arriving.

We are open daily (7 days a week), from 10am - 6pm (last entry 4.30pm). Visits can now be made to the Plant Centre and Café without making a booking ~ just turn up between 10am and 4.30pm.

Tickets will be released every fortnight on a Friday morning (Fridays 21st May, 4th June and so on).

Opening Times

Hestercombe is open daily ~ if you are visiting the gardens, house or gallery you must book a ticket online before you arrive. Please see our Coronavirus updates page for more information.

Gardens

10am – 6pm, daily (last entry 4.30pm)

The Stables Restaurant & Café

The Stables Restaurant will be reopening on Monday 17th May for inside dining, serving a brand new menu of fresh, locally sourced food and drink for you to enjoy.

Tables are first come, first served. From 1st June, you will be able to pre-book a table for the Stables Restaurant by calling 01823 414197 between 10am - 5pm.

Free to enter ~ no booking required. Seating for the cafe is available on the Marquee Lawn and Picnic Area.

Plant Centre

Daily, 10am – 5pm

Free to enter ~ no booking required.

Gift Shop & Secondhand Book Shop

Open daily 11am - 5pm

You must pre-book gardens admission in order to visit the Gift Shop and Secondhand Book Shop.

Hestercombe House & Gallery

Reopening Monday 17th May, open daily 11am - 5pm

See what's coming up in the Gallery

The Column Room Restaurant

Permanently closed. Please contact our Visitor Reception if you have a voucher that you'd like to use.

Visit Hestercombe with peace of mind

Hestercombe has been accredited as part of Visit Britain’s ‘Good to Go’ and 'Safe Travels' schemes: we have followed government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, have a risk assessment in place and a process to maintain cleanliness and aid social distancing.

Please help us keep Hestercombe safe by wearing your face covering in all areas of the Visitor Centre, including the Visitor Reception, Stables Cafe and Plant Centre.

Please note: these prices are valid for entry from 31st March 2021

Accessibility

Tramper Mobility Scooter £6.00 (per 2 hour slot)

Ring 01823 413923 or email ahead to book before booking an admission ticket (payment required to secure booking).

Tramper scheme operated by Countryside Mobility, non members of the scheme will be required to join for a fee of £2.50.

**Please read our accessibility webpage for further information to help you plan your visit.

*Gift Aid

If you're a UK taxpayer and you make a Gift Aid donation when you enter of 10% more than the admission price, the UK Government will give Hestercombe Gardens Trust an extra 25% of the full admission price.

If you do not wish to make the donation, then please advise our ticket staff accordingly. Admission prices without a donation are: Adult £12.50; Child £6.25; Family Savers £19.00 and £31.50.

Dog-friendly

Dogs are very welcome on a lead throughout the gardens, Plant Centre, Stables Café, and parts of Hestercombe House, including the Second-hand Bookshop and Gift Shop (but not the Gallery).

A complimentary dog treat is provided upon arrival for Very Good Dogs.

Guided Tours

If you’re unable to get to Hestercombe for a visit, or if you’d like a guided tour when you get here, please download the Candide UK app.

Guided audio tours are available for free for both the Landscape Garden (with Chief Executive, Philip White), and the Formal Garden (with Head Gardener, Claire Greenslade).

Help us by shopping

Do you shop online at John Lewis, Amazon, eBay, Argos, Expedia, booking.com, Tesco or Sainsbury’s? By signing up to Give As You Live you can earn us charitable donations at no extra cost to yourself, and help us maintain and develop Hestercombe’s estate for the benefit of future generations.

Groups and Tours

Groups and tours enquiries are very welcome – please see our Groups information for further details of what we can offer you.

Have you visited recently?

If you’ve visited Hestercombe recently, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please take a minute or two to share your feedback in our quick survey and help guide our future.

Important information

For details about how we’re managing visits, please read our Coronavirus information.

• If you wish to visit the gardens, House, Gallery, Gift Shop or Second-hand Book Shop at Hestercombe, you must book a ticket online by clicking the 'Book your visit' button above.
• Fortnightly on a Friday we open gardens admission bookings for the following two week period.
• Upon arrival, all visitors (including members) must have their booking confirmation email ready (as a print out, or on a phone). Same day bookings are accepted.
• Bookings are non-refundable, and non-transferable.
• Visits to the Stables Café & Restaurant or Plant Centre are free, and do not need to be booked.

• If you're booking using a Microsoft (Hotmail, Live, Outlook) email address, you may not receive an email confirmation. In this case, when you have completed your booking, please note down your booking reference number, date and time of visit, and bring this along – a screenshot of your booking confirmation is also acceptable.
• Partner Gardens members and BBC Gardeners’ World offer-holders must bring their membership cards or vouchers with their booking references in order for their tickets to be valid. Our Partner Gardens are The Bishop’s Palace, Wells, Kilver Court, Forde Abbey and Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens.
• Hestercombe is an RHS Partner Garden, and RHS membership cards are valid for entry from 1st October to 31st March. See the RHS website for further information. We no longer participate in the Historic Houses scheme.