The bucolic British countryside is teeming with foodie days out – from orchards and farms to woodlands and estates

Food Museum School Dinners Exhibition, Suffolk

Whether you’re generation semolina pudding or generation turkey twizzlers, get in line, grab a lunch tray and enjoy a spoonful of nostalgia at the Food Museum’s School Dinners exhibition. It’s packed with artefacts telling the stories behind dinners dished up to British children over the past 10 decades. There’s even a school dinner menu available in the café. 

The Heron Smoke House, Isle of Wight

Newly opened The Heron Smoke House at Robin Hill Adventure Park offers a cut above what you might expect at an attraction. Instead of the usual hotdogs and nuggets, chef Alex Kimber is bringing his own style of farm-to-fork ethical dining – honed in his restaurants in Ryde and Cowes – to the table.

Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire

Head to Welbeck Estate, a former monastery on the edge of Sherwood Forest, and book yourself on a course at The School of Artisan Food to learn everything from baking to butchery. You could also take a brewery, distillery or kitchen garden tour. 

Vegan Campout, Hampshire

If it’s vegan food you’re after, you’ll find it in abundance at this three-day festival. As well as a line-up of music, talks and workshops from vegan chefs, including the boys from BOSH! and ​Alexis Gauthier, there’s a diverse range of vegan vendors. 29 August – 1 September; vegancampout.co.uk

White Heron Estate, Herefordshire

Stroll or ride an e-bike through blackcurrant plantations, vineyards and orchards at White Heron Estate. You can taste the fruit, visit the ‘cassiserie’ to see how its award-winning cassis is made, and add in a dining package if you’re feeling peckish. 

Somerset Food Trail Festival, Somerset

Farmers, growers and food producers are opening their doors to the public during the Somerset Food Trail Festival. A fun way to take it all in is on a guided e-bike safari with Bruton Bike Hire. You’ll meander along the quiet roads and tracks of the Somerset Levels, stopping at cider farms, vineyards and dairies. 18-27 July.

Borde Hill Garden, West Sussex

Love flowers and pastries in equal measure? Shake out your picnic rug at pretty Borde Hill Garden, a Grade II-listed 2,300-hectare estate. Pick up handmade pastries, sandwiches and English wine from one of two new onsite cafés, headed up by Green Michelin-starred chef Chantelle Nicholson. 

Ludlow Magnalonga, Shropshire

Now in its 22nd year, the Ludlow Magnalonga – an eight-mile foodie ramble through the Shropshire countryside – is a unique way to enjoy a meal. As you clock up the miles, you’ll pause at four carefully curated stops to work your way through each course of a locally inspired menu. 10 August.

Woodland Classroom, Wales

The whole family can discover the joys of outdoor cookery on a one-day campfire cooking course at Woodland Classroom. You’ll learn skills that transform humble ingredients into delicious campfire feasts, from baking bread over flames to roasting meat in a ground oven.