How To Celebrate Spring Across The UK

HowTheLightGetsIn Hay

23–26 May

The world’s largest festival of ideas returns to the idyllic banks of the River Wye this spring. There’s plenty on the 2025 line-up to enjoy, including speakers spanning mathematics and science, beauty and media, politics and philosophy, and everything in between, plus live music, comedy, and delicious food and drink.

Get Back To Nature

Calcot & Spa is a nature haven thanks to a huge, pioneering rewilding project. After a sweet sleep in the comfiest beds, a wholesome breakfast and a trip to the ever-so-smart spa, the 220 acres of grasslands and orchards teeming with life await. For the best connection, join resident wildlife expert Ed Drewitt for an early bird nature walk, highlighting a plethora of flora and fauna.

24 April & 11 May, £30pp

Walk Scilly

It’s been 20 years since the first Walk Scilly, an annual week in April brimming with island knowledge parsed by local experts. Author Raynor Winn – who, despite walking the entire South West Coast Path, has never been to Scilly – will be a guest speaker, while Cornish business Molesworth & Bird will be seaweed foraging and pressing and, as always, locals will showcase their favourite walks on each island.

Celebrate Shakespeare’s Birthday

22 April

Pay tribute to the Bard on his birthday at Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, where you can tread the floorboards of the home where he was born and admire the gardens of Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

Enjoy Afternoon Tea

Cliveden House is an illustriously historical house with a delicious afternoon tea worth the journey. Served in the Cliveden Dining Room, enjoy views of the impressive grounds, gardens and woodland.

Cliveden House, Taplow, Berkshire SL6 0JF

Isle Of Wight Walking Festival

Avoid the crowds and the summer heat and get fit at the same time by taking park in the Isle of Wight’s annual walking festival each May, or do your own version. For those up for the challenge, you can walk round the whole island (72 miles) in 24 hour.

Visit The Manchester Gallery

The Manchester Gallery reopened on 18 February 2023 following a major, £15 million refurbishment. Expect new exhibition spaces and more inclusive facilities for visitors, as well as the brand-new South Asia Gallery in partnership with the British Museum. Overall, the museum aims to ‘build greater understanding between cultures, a more sustainable world and to bring to life the lived experience of diverse communities through the Museum’s historic collections and new displays’.

Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL

Stroll Around A Pretty Garden

There are plenty of gorgeous gardens across the UK worth a daytrip, but our pick this spring is the newly reopened Borde Hill in West Sussex, a Grade II* listed garden set within 383 acres of heritage parkland. There’s an Enchanted Garden Trail for little ones, a Spring Plant Fair for horticulturalists, and an Eco Trail, too.

Borde Hill, Borde Hill Ln, Haywards Heath RH16 1XP

See winter shake off its torpor and the year really come alive at Exbury Gardens, the vision of Lionel de Rothschild, who planted copious colourful rhododendrons and azaleas, which are best seen in May.

Exbury Gardens, Southampton

Or try Gravetye Manor, one of the most historically significant horticultural sites in the UK. Once owned by William Robinson – whose wild gardening ideas popularised the English cottage garden – guests can venture on guided walks ranging between 30 minutes and four hours, covering gardens, meadows and woodlands.

Gravetye Manor, Vowels Ln, East Grinstead RH19 4LJ

Visit A Boutique Festival

If smaller is more your speed, head to one of the nation’s smaller music festivals for all the fun with less of the stress. This year, Sussex’s Elderflower Fields will be taking place from 23–26 May, brimming with brilliant music, sports, nature and art.

Bluebell Views

Between April and May, follow the woodland path on the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire, admiring the springtime carpet of bluebells as you go.

See Beautiful Cherry Blossom

Forgo the long-haul flight to Kyoto and head to the Japanese gardens at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens instead. From as early as the end of February, nature’s confetti decorates the trees here. But, for the best cherry blossom vista, visit in April or May when the blossoms are in full bloom.

Enjoy A Literary Festival

At the end of every May, the literati gathers at the UK’s favourite book festival in Hay, where the small town, with more than its fair share of bookshops, attracts names as diverse as Eddie Izzard, Miriam González Durántez (and her husband Nick Clegg), Helen Fielding and Colm Toíbín. Here are 10 more literary festivals to know.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, set in the glorious parkland of Bretton Hall estate, displays works by leading sculptors of the 20th century and is an absolute must-see. Until September 2024, there are four magnificent Damien Hirst sculptures on display.

Havergate Island

Hop in a boat to Havergate Island in the middle of the River Ore to spot wading birds. It’s best-known for breeding avocets and terns at this time of year. The boat goes out at 10am on the first Saturday of every month, taking just 12 people, so plan ahead for a birdwatching experience that’s far away from the crowds.

Visit London’s Very Own Nature Creek

Who said you need to leave London to soak in some nature? Deptford Creek is one of the last natural creeks in the UK and it’s bursting with 120 species of wild flowers.