Within an hour's drive of the house there are so many attractions that we can only give a flavour here. We have a separate document for our exchange partners that contains a comprehensive list and web site links plus a few suggestions of our favourites.
Within a 20 minute drive you can reach Winchester, an attractive historic cathedral town, Southampton - a modern port and commercial city and several attractive Hampshire market towns. A half hour's drive will take you to many places of interest such as: the naval port of Portsmouth where you can explore historic ships, Southsea which has a range of attractions on the seafront and the New Forest with its walks and wildlife.
Within an hour's drive you can reach several sea-side resorts: Bournemouth- for a day on the beach, Brighton for the pier and pavilion, Poole- windsurfing, Worthing and Chichester. If you head inland you can reach Salisbury (Stonehenge, cathedral), Oxford and the outskirts of London. Interspersed between the various towns and cities is some beautiful countryside with many well defined walks along the coast, rivers, woodland and chalk downland. Our area has interest for: leisurely viewing of historic houses (including Highclere Castle, the set for Downton Abbey) gardens and sites of interest, more active hiking, biking and golfing and many attractions for younger folk - for whom a separate activity folder is available.
There are many country pubs within an easy drive of our home. These offer a good range of food and drink and we will suggest some in the welcome folder. Of course, Winchester and Southampton are rich with eating places.