Hampshire
Photography Dana Neibert
We asked Concierge Manager Dawn Pender at the Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire, England, to gather the savviest sightseeing suggestions she could find—not just her own but also those of other local connoisseurs, including some she works with every day at the Hotel. Enjoy the leisurely pace of life on an English country estate.
Jane Austen’s World
Take a walk back in time to the era of Jane Austen with Phil Howe, a retired lecturer and acknowledged Jane-ite full of stories of her probable visits to Dogmersfield Park (now home to Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire), then home to Lady Mildmay. He can also accompany you on a tour of other parts of the country associated with the author, including the house in Chawton, where she spent the last part of her life.
Signature Dining
The UK’s most celebrated restaurant, the three-Michelin-starred The Fat Duck, crucible of molecular cuisine, HQ and laboratory of celebrated chef Heston Blumenthal, lies just 30 miles from Four Seasons Hampshire. It’s the kind of place where Anjou pigeon is “powdered,” sorbets are flambéed and flavoured with barley, and the “Sound of the Sea” entrée comes accompanied by an iPod for enhanced aural gratification. The 15-course menu costs £130, but you can be certain it will be an experience you never forget.
The Great Outdoors
The Queen Elizabeth Country Park on the western edge of Hampshire, by the Sussex border, is a 1,400-acre estate of beech forest, coniferous woodland and chalk downland, crosshatched with easy trails for hikers and mountain bikers. Designated “a site of special scientific interest,” parts of it are also noted for its butterflies, especially its population of rare silver-spotted skippers and dukes of Burgundy.
Local Brews
The Waterwitch Pub in Odiham serves locally brewed “T.E.A.”—Traditional English Ale—from Hogs Back Brewery or try it at the brewery itself in Tongham, Surrey. Otherwise try the Plume of Feathers, a traditional pub in the village of Crondall.
