Beaulieu £24.80, Hurst Castle £9.50, Buckler's Hard village free. Twelve New Forest days out with prices checked this week, before VAT goes back up.

Two dates are worth knowing before you book anything. The government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme cut VAT on attraction admission from 20 per cent to 5 per cent between 25 June and 1 September 2026, and New Forest attractions have passed it on. Beaulieu’s adult advance ticket is £24.80 now and £28.35 from 2 September. Exbury Gardens is £11.42 now and £14.50 from 2 September. If a paid day out is on your list, it is cheaper this month than next.

The other date is 20 April 2026, when Forestry England started charging at 129 New Forest car parks. The forest itself is still free to walk in. Leaving the car there is not.

Every price and opening time below was checked against the venue’s own website in August 2026.

What a family of four actually pays

Cost of a New Forest day out for two adults and two children, ten attractions compared Horizontal bars showing the admission cost for two adults and two children at ten New Forest attractions in August 2026. Paultons Park from £180. Beaulieu £63.02 booked in advance. New Forest Wildlife Park £56.50. Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum £40. Exbury Gardens £31.42. Hurst Castle £30 plus the Keyhaven ferry. Furzey Gardens £26 as a suggested donation. Buckler's Hard museum £17, with the village itself free. St Barbe Museum in Lymington £16. Walking at Bolderwood in the open forest £5, which is four hours of Forestry England car parking and no admission charge at all. A New Forest day out costs £5 or £180, and the £5 one is the forest itself Admission for two adults and two children, August 2026 prices, checked on each venue's own site. Paultons Park Beaulieu NF Wildlife Park Sammy Miller Museum Exbury Gardens Hurst Castle Furzey Gardens Buckler's Hard museum St Barbe Museum Bolderwood walk from £180 £63.02 £56.50 £40.00 £31.42 £30.00 £26.00 £17.00 £16.00 £5.00 day ticket, per person from £45 advance; £70.02 on the gate rises to £39.90 from 2 September castle only, ferry from Keyhaven extra suggested donation, pay what you like the village itself is free to walk round under-5s free, 5 to 17 cost £1 each no admission charge: this is four hours of car parking Where a venue sells a family ticket on different terms, we have priced two adults and two children from its published rates. Prices reflect the 5% VAT rate that applies until 1 September 2026. Several venues have already published higher prices for 2 September onwards. Paultons Park is at Ower, just outside the district boundary, and its headline price is per person rather than per family.
The gap between the cheapest and the dearest New Forest day out is a factor of thirty-six.

The open forest, which is still the main event

Bolderwood is the easiest introduction. It sits on an old coaching route off the Bolderwood Ornamental Drive, holds some of the oldest Douglas firs in the forest, some planted as far back as 1860, and has waymarked trails of different lengths straight from the car park. Deer are often on the lawn south of the car park in the early morning and evening.

There is no admission charge anywhere on the open forest. What changed in April 2026 is the parking. Forestry England now charges £1.50 for an hour, £3 for two, £5 for four and £8 for longer, at 129 car parks including this one, paid through the RingGo app. Only about 16 of the busiest have card machines, so sort payment before you lose signal. Parking is permitted from 4am to 11pm. Forestry England national membership at £8 a month or £96 a year covers parking at all of them.

Beaulieu

The big one. A single ticket covers the National Motor Museum, Palace House and Gardens, Beaulieu Abbey, the Secret Army Exhibition, Little Beaulieu and unlimited monorail rides.

  • Adult £24.80 in advance, £27.56 on the day. From 2 September: £28.35 and £31.50.
  • Child aged 4 to 16: £14.57 advance, £16.19 on the day. Under 4 free.
  • Family from £55.12 advance (priced on one adult and three children).
  • Open from 10am every day of the year except Christmas Day.

Gift Aid your ticket at no extra cost and it converts into an annual pass to the National Motor Museum, which is the charitable part of the estate. If there is any chance you will come back, take it.

Buckler’s Hard

Two miles down the Beaulieu River from the village, an 18th-century shipbuilding hamlet where warships for Nelson’s navy were built. Two things make it good value: the village itself is free to walk round, including the Shipwright’s Cottage, St Mary’s Chapel and the Agamemnon Exhibition, and the paid parts are cheap.

  • Maritime Museum: adult £6.25, senior £5.75, child 4 to 16 £4.45, under 4 free.
  • River cruise: adult £8.50, senior £8.00, child £6.50, bought on the boat.
  • Summer opening 10am to 5pm, 28 March to 4 October 2026. Car park opens at 8.30am.
  • Parking is pay and display, with an annual parking pass at £28.

Exbury Gardens

Two hundred acres of Rothschild woodland garden on the Beaulieu River, best known for rhododendrons and azaleas but worth a walk at any point in the season.

  • Now: adult £11.42, child 3 to 15 £5.12, family £31.42. Under 3 free.
  • From Wednesday 2 September to Saturday 31 October: adult £14.50, child £6.50, family £39.90.
  • Steam railway £7.50 per person, family train ticket £28.50.
  • Open daily until 31 October, 10am to 5.30pm, last admission 4.30pm.

One honest caveat: the garden railway is currently being worked by the diesel engine rather than the steam locomotive because of fire risk, so if the steam engine is the reason you are going, ring first.

New Forest Wildlife Park

At Ashurst, close to the A35, with otters, wolves, lynx, bison and deer in woodland enclosures rather than a formal zoo layout.

  • Adult £17.95, child 3 to 15 £13.95, senior over 60 £16.50, family £56.50. Under 3 free.
  • Registered disabled adult £16.50 with one carer free.
  • Open 10am to 5.30pm, last entry 4pm. You cannot book a specific date; parking is first come, first served.

Hurst Castle

Henry VIII’s artillery fort at the end of Hurst Spit, guarding the narrowest point of the Solent. Getting there is the point: there is no vehicle access, so it is either the ferry from Keyhaven or a two-mile walk along the shingle spit.

  • Adult £9.50, child 5 to 17 £6.50, family (2 adults and 3 children) £30.00.
  • English Heritage members free for the castle, but ferry charges apply to everyone including members.
  • Open 28 March to 23 October 2026, 10am to 5.30pm.

A section of wall on the 19th-century east wing collapsed in February 2021 after the sea undercut its foundations, and restoration work has been running since. Check before you go if a particular part of the castle is what you want to see.

Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum, New Milton

One of the best motorcycle collections in the country, built up by the former trials champion whose name is on the door, with a farm and a tea room attached.

  • Adult £16.00, junior 7 to 16 £8.00, senior 66+ £14.00, family (2 adults and 2 children) £40.00. Under 7 free.
  • Open seven days a week, 10am to 4.30pm. Winter hours start in November.
  • No need to pre-book. Allow at least two hours.

Furzey Gardens, Minstead

Ten acres of informal woodland garden run as a charity, with thatched buildings and a tea room that provides training and work for people with learning disabilities.

  • Suggested donation: adult £9.50 online or £10 at the gate, child £5 or £6, family (2 adults and up to 3 children) £26 or £30. You can give a different amount, or nothing.
  • Gardens and tea rooms 10am to 4pm, gates locked at 4.30pm.
  • Pre-booking is essential at peak times and in school holidays.

St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington

The district’s local history museum with a serious contemporary art programme, in the middle of Lymington and a two-minute walk from the quay.

  • Adult £7.00, Blue Light card £6.00, young people 5 to 17 £1.00. Under 5 free.
  • Open daily 10am to 4pm, including Sundays through the summer holidays until 6 September.
  • A Gift Aid ticket costs the same to you and is worth 25 per cent more to the charity.

Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World

At Ower, just over the district boundary in Test Valley, but it is where most New Forest families go for a theme park day.

  • Day tickets from £45.00 per person. Short breaks from £53 per person for a family of four; annual passes from £172.
  • Prices vary by date, so the “from” figure is the floor rather than what you will pay on an August Saturday.

Getting around without the car

The New Forest Tour open-top bus runs three routes, Red, Green and Blue, from Saturday 4 July to Sunday 13 September 2026, operated by Morebus. Bikes travel on board, so you can ride one way and catch the bus back, and it saves paying for a forest car park.

From Lymington Pier the Wightlink ferry crosses to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, with the train from Brockenhurst running right on to the pier. That makes a day on the Island possible without a car at all: see our trains to London and around the district page for the connections.

The Hythe ferry to Southampton is not running. It has been suspended since 2024 and the operating company went into liquidation. The Hythe Pier Company bought the assets in June 2026 and wants to restart the route, but has said that does not mean an immediate return to service. Do not build a day around it.

Frequently asked questions

What is there to do in the New Forest for free?

Walking on the open forest costs nothing, and neither does the village at Buckler’s Hard, Lymington Quay or the beaches at Milford on Sea and Barton on Sea. The catch since April 2026 is parking: Forestry England charges £1.50 to £8 at 129 forest car parks.

How much does Beaulieu cost?

£24.80 for an adult booked in advance and £27.56 on the day, with children aged 4 to 16 at £14.57 and £16.19. Those are the reduced-VAT summer prices. From 2 September 2026 they go to £28.35 and £31.50 for an adult.

Is the New Forest good for a rainy day?

Yes, and cheaply. The Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum at New Milton (£16 adult) and St Barbe Museum in Lymington (£7 adult, £1 for under-18s) are both indoors, and Beaulieu’s motor museum halls are undercover.

Do you have to pay to park in the New Forest?

At Forestry England car parks, yes, since 20 April 2026. It is £1.50 for an hour, £3 for two hours, £5 for four and £8 for longer, paid by the RingGo app at all 129 car parks. Annual membership at £96 covers the lot.

Can you get to the Isle of Wight from the New Forest?

Yes, from Lymington Pier on the Wightlink ferry to Yarmouth. The branch line train from Brockenhurst runs on to the pier, so you can do it without a car.

When do New Forest attraction prices go up?

2 September 2026, when the temporary 5 per cent VAT rate on attraction admission ends and the rate returns to 20 per cent. Beaulieu and Exbury Gardens have both already published the higher prices.

Sources

Prices and opening times were checked in August 2026. Attractions change both, so confirm on the venue’s own site before you set off.