Mount Stewart

The gardens were made between 1921 and the 1950s by Edith, Lady Londonderry, on a site whose position beside Strangford Lough and mild Gulf Stream air lets plants from Chile, Tasmania and New Zealand grow outdoors that would not survive elsewhere in Ireland or Britain. The design is a sequence of compartments, and the Dodo Terrace is the oddest: stone figures of dodos, dinosaurs, monkeys and other creatures made in the 1920s, each representing a member of the Ark Club, a wartime dining society Edith ran in London where members took animal nicknames. The Spanish Garden, Italian Garden and Sunk Garden each have their own planting scheme. The house holds Hambletonian, a large George Stubbs painting of a racehorse, and the demesne has lakeside walks.

What you actually see

• The Dodo Terrace - 1920s stone animals standing for members of a dining club.
• The tender planting - Chilean and Australasian species growing outdoors.
• The garden compartments - Spanish, Italian and Sunk gardens in sequence.
• Hambletonian - a major Stubbs painting of a racehorse in the house.

When to go

April to October for the gardens at their fullest; the compartments peak at different times from spring bulbs to late summer. The house opens with the season and closes for parts of winter, while the demesne walks stay open.

Honest expectations

The site is large and covering house, gardens and lakeside takes a full day of walking. The house is shown on a fixed route with timed entry at busy periods. Tickets are relatively expensive and parking is included but fills.

Nearby

Strangford Lough is at the garden's edge; Newtownards and Belfast lie northwest.