Best Places to See Autumn Colour in the UK

Autumn is my favourite season of the year for lots of reasons. The heat of the summer is over and the long cold nights haven’t drawn in yet either. It’s one of the shoulder seasons for travelling which means lower prices and quieter tourist areas (always a bonus!) However, my main reason is the fact the trees turn a wonderful colour making my daily walks a joyous delight. I just love walking around places when they’re fringed by all shades of copper, gold and red. As a result, I’ve now cultivated a long list of my favourite places to see autumn colour in the UK!

Unfortunately the colourful part of this season is over all too quickly and those falling leaves soon turn to sludge in the road edges. So I always like to get some autumn days out planned otherwise before you know it, it’s mid November and the remaining leafy branches are few and far between. Of course, there has to be some flexibility in plans as autumn colour is reliant on our weather (unpredictable to say the least) and trees can turn much earlier or later than expected. What are the perfect couple of weeks to see Japanese Maples at their fieriest one year, could be several weeks earlier or later another. One of my ultimate bucket list entries would be to visit New England in the fall. However, I’m so scared of booking that trip to find I end up there too early or late to see it at its most vivid.

So where are the best places to see some autumn colour in the UK?

Well, obviously anywhere with trees will give you some lovely autumnal photos – take this snap of my local church with a beautifully positioned tree next to it.

However, there are some places which pretty much guarantee a stunning autumn-scape!.

Country Parks

Number one on that list for me are our country parks of which there are literally hundreds in the UK. Some are much bigger than others, but they all have their own special qualities.

I visited Craig-y-nos Country Park in the Brecon Beacons a few years ago and was astounded by the colours on show and the tremendous quality of light that late afternoon provides making the tree canopies practically glow. I was so enamoured with the place that I wrote a whole blog post on it and have been avidly visiting different country parks every since. Now, I try to get to at least one new one every autumn.

Queenswood Country Park in Herefordshire quickly became another one of my favourites, as has Rufford Abbey Country Park in Nottinghamshire and Marbury Country Park in Cheshire. All of these are little gems and well worth visiting in autumn.

Arboretums

Arboretums are truly epic places to get lost in carpets of fallen leaves, and lost you really do get as fallen leaves obliterate the paths. There are also so many different tree species in an arboretum that the variety of colour and leaf shape is tremendous and autumn naturally becomes their moment to shine. For the same reason Botanical Gardens are also excellent places to visit in autumn.

The first arboretum I ever visited in autumn was the one at Queenswood Country Park in Herefordshire. I stated immediately afterwards that I wanted to visit all arboretums at this time of year as they are just stunning. The Acer glade that is present at all arboretums is particularly vibrant and fiery in autumn and takes the colour red to a whole other level!

I visited Westonbirt Arboretum this summer and would love to return in autumn. Others that I definitely need to get to are Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey, the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, the Yorkshire Arboretum at Castle Howard and Thorp Perrow, also in North Yorkshire.

National Trust Properties

Country Estates

Some of the best landscapes I’ve seen in autumn would be the grounds of our National Trust Properties. The grounds usually have a lovely variety of plantings which appeal to visitors. They are also managed in a particular way that makes the whole experience of visiting is a delight.

The big estates often have extensive woodlands with a number of marked trails meandering through them. As I write this, I have just visited Basildon Park in Berkshire where I went for a long 2 hour walk through the estate to start the day and give my dog a good walk, before my husband and I took it in turns to go in to the house. It was a lovely estate to walk around with woods surrounding the main cattle grazing land in front of the house. Unfortunately we were just a couple of weeks too early for the best autumnal colour. The leaves were just starting to turn, but not enough to make a real difference to the wall of green. I could tell it would be an epic landscape once autumn really takes hold.

Some of the National Trust places I’ve particularly loved visiting are Petworth House in West Sussex; Tatton Park, Dunham Massey and Lyme in Cheshire and Lanhydrock in Cornwall. Bodnant Garden in Wales completely wowed me! The woodlands there become a blaze of rich colour which is truly stupendous, especially in their Acer glade.

Access Points to the Countryside

The National Trust also manages a number of what they call ‘access points to the countryside’. These are areas of countryside that aren’t attached to houses and formal gardens and so many of them look stunning in autumn. My ultimate favourite would have to be Alderley Edge. Not far from where I used to live, the woods at Alderley Edge look amazing under an orange cloak.

Hardcastle Crags in West Yorkshire is definitely worth a visit and the walk to Aira Force in the Lake District is a superb one. There are so many wonderful trees there that the National Trust has even put together a tree trail. Why not visit the National Trust website and search for places near you: you could be sitting by a real autumnal gem.

Forests

Forests can be a bit hit and miss in autumn as it depends on the type of forest and whether it is deciduous or evergreen. Delamere Forest in Cheshire has the perfect mix making a beautiful canopy colour in autumn.

With almost 1,000 ancient oaks, Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire is a vast and captivating place to see autumn colour in the UK. I visited at the end of November when most of the leaves were on the ground. However, the light was beautiful and I happened to time it perfectly to see a whole rainbow crown the forest.

The forest I really want to visit next in autumn is Grizedale in Cumbria. I have been a number of times in the past but always in summer. Photos I’ve seen online look fabulous. Unless you know your trees, this is definitely the best way to find out if a forest you want to visit does well in autumn – just ask Google. Thetford Forest in Norfolk and Suffolk is also high on my visit list.

Anywhere with a Lake

Seriously, just visiting your local lake can be a revelation in autumn. This is especially true if you get lovely light and weather conditions to provide still water and beautiful reflections.

However, for areas of the country, the Lake District and the Scottish Lochs have the market collared!  I just love walking along the banks of a lake, particularly along Ullswater and around Rydal Water in the Lakes.

National Parks

This brings me nicely to our National Parks. Beautiful at any time of year of course, the light and colours of autumn really make them dazzle.

For me, I am biased to the Lake District which is somewhere I visit many times a year. Seeing the famous view of Ashness Bridge above Derwent Water highlighted in gorgeous gold and iridescent ochre was certainly special.

If there was a prize for the greatest place to see autumn colour in the UK, surely the New Forest down in Hampshire and Wiltshire would win hands down. As both National Park and forest, this makes a super special combination come autumn. With a large percent of oak and beech, the colour must be fabulous. I am yet to visit the New Forest at any time of year, but it strikes me that autumn would be a cracking time to go!

Cities

And last but not least – don’t write off the cities when it comes to seeing autumn colour in the UK! Parks and tree lined avenues are the places to go in built up areas and one thing cities (nearly) always have in common is a river running through them. And with a city river bank comes great responsibility to provide attractive tree lined promenades for people to walk along. Hereford, York, Chester and Worcester are just a few cities that spring to mind for doing this very well.

The river bank opposite the cathedral in Hereford becomes carpeted in fallen leaves. I loved listening to the crunch of crisp leaves beneath my feet as I wandered along looking at the marvellous river view. You can’t beat it.

In York, the tree lined river path extends for a fair distance and I’ve walked it a number of times over the years; in snow and ice, in flood waters (not for the faint-hearted) and of course in autumn. However it’s the latter that wins for me for being the most enchanting.

Also walking along the city walls in York at this time of year is colourful too. You get a great vantage point across roof tops and down streets speckled with orange trees and the view approaching the cathedral is just so captivating.

I’ve actually visited more foreign cities in autumn than British ones as I have a habit of taking a foreign city break in October or early November. So here are a few more images to convince you that exploring a city in autumn is worth it.

You can read more about my experiences in Amsterdam in autumn here and Hamburg in autumn here.

Get a Good Vantage Point

Oh and one last tip – get up somewhere high with a view! Much like when it is all covered in snow, the landscape will look completely different and mesmerising. The following image is taken from a hill overlooking the town of Bollington in Cheshire and I’m sure you’ll agree the splodges of autumnal colour make all the difference to the landscape.

This last image is taken from the same place looking the opposite way across neighbouring hills. So beguiling in my humble opinion!

So where are your favourite places to see autumn colour in the UK? Do you have one you visit every year like me with Alderley Edge? Please let me know in the comments below as I’m always looking for more autumn wanderings!

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