Little Look Travels: The Pig Brokenhurst

Last weekend we spent a relaxed few days as a family at The Pig, Brokenhurst. After a more hectic Christmas than we’d planned it was wonderful to escape London and explore somewhere new.

The Pig is situated in a beautiful country house nestled in the New Forest national park. It’s homely and charming and most importantly of all – children are made to feel comfortable and welcome.

The staff were great with Alba and she was entertained by them all weekend. They provide cots, highchairs, extra beds for kids, board and lawn games, bikes and wellies, so it’s super-easy to travel light.

The Pig restaurant is renowned for its home grown produce and the menu changes by the minute depending on what the forager finds or the kitchen gardener harvests. It’s located in the orangery and the atmosphere is relaxed and children are welcome for all sittings.

We started both evenings in the gothic style bar; many of the cocktail recipes are created by The Pig and nearly all include at least one ingredient from the Kitchen Garden. I’d recommend the rhubarb and apple pie with vodka and amaretto!

After dinner you can choose to have dessert and coffee in the shabby chic drawing room full of comfy chairs, which is perfect for little ones who need a change of scene. The hotel can arrange local baby sitters if needed, but it was such a relaxed atmosphere we didn’t mind keeping Alba up a little later to have some family meals and watch her giggle with the other diners.

We explored the hotel grounds and discovered the smoke house, kitchen garden, greenhouse, orchard, chickens and much to Alba’s delight…pigs!

The spa is situated in this quirky potting shed and can only be reached across the pond, therapists are supplied by Lime Wood Hotel – another beautiful country house nearby and big sister to The Pig

Even in the depths of an English winter there’s plenty of life in the kitchen garden which supplies the restaurant

We met this guy on a beautiful walk from Beaulieu to Bucklers Hard, as well as some of the famous wild New Forest ponies – there’s plenty of opportunity locally for horse riding if little ones are interested. If they’re into books I’d also recommend a trip to local market town Lyndhurst where Alice Liddell once lived and provided the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

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