Claremont Landscape Garden at Esher is one of the earliest surviving English landscape gardens, shaped over nearly 300 years by Sir John Vanbrugh, Charles Bridgeman, William Kent and Capability Brown, home to Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold, and bought by Queen Victoria in 1866 to save it from development. The three-acre turf amphitheatre looks down on the serpentine lake, and gravel paths take in the grotto, the North Terrace, the Camellia Terrace and the Belvedere Tower. Families get two nature play areas, one by the lake and Badger's Basecamp on Stoney Hill, and dogs on short leads are welcome in designated areas and inside the Gardener's Bothy Cafe. Reviewers find the lakeside paths easy going for wheelchairs and pushchairs and praise the staff and volunteers. Tips from regulars: the free car park fills quickly at weekends and queuing on the road is discouraged, so arrive early or use the council parking on West End Lane.
