Longleat House & Gardens

Few estates manage to be both a pristine example of English Renaissance architecture and home to roaming lions. Longleat pulls off this improbable combination spectacularly. Set within 1,000 acres of Wiltshire countryside, this is where 16th-century grandeur collides with 20th-century innovation.

Inside, the house reveals layer upon layer of aristocratic history. The Great Hall soars with its hammerbeam roof. State rooms showcase Italian ceilings and one of Britain’s finest private libraries.

But Longleat’s masterstroke came in 1966 when the 6th Marquess opened Britain’s first safari park outside Africa. Now you can drive through enclosures where lions, tigers, rhinos, and giraffes roam. Beyond the safari: the hedge maze (one of the world’s largest), boat rides past hippos, formal gardens by Capability Brown.