Kingston Lacy

Home of the Bankes family for more than 300 years, this striking 17th-century house is noted for its lavish interiors.

The outstanding art collection includes paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian and Brueghel, with the largest private collection of Egyptian artefacts in the UK.

Outside, stroll across the beautiful lawns towards the restored Japanese tea garden.

There are several waymarked walks through the surrounding parkland, with its fine herd of North Devon cattle, and the 3,443-hectare (8,500-acre) estate is dominated by the Iron Age hill fort of Badbury Rings, home to fourteen varieties of orchid.