Beaulieu Motor Museum Hampshire

In the beautiful nearby village of Beaulieu, you can discover the award winning Beaulieu Motor Museum, featuring a stunning collection of prized motorised vehicles housed within a fabulous display.

Entrance to Beaulieu includes not only the motor museum, but also access to Beaulieu Abbey, where you can step back in time to where the monks roamed the cloisters 800 years ago.

On the Beaulieu estate you can also visit the grand Palace House, the home of the Montagu family. Here, friendly, informative and costumed guides are on hand to give you a flavour of what life was like in Victorian times. You can wander through original bedrooms, family rooms and even the kitchen, including the colourful Victorian Kitchen Garden.

History of the Beaulieu estate

Visitors have been exploring the ruins of Beaulieu Abbey since 1912. In 1952, Edward, Lord Montagu opened Palace House and Gardens to the public for the first time – making Beaulieu one of the first ‘stately homes’ to admit visitors. For the grand opening, he displayed five Veteran cars in the entrance hall of the house as a tribute to his late father, John Douglas-Scott-Montagu, who was a motoring advocate and pioneer at the turn of the last century.

From these humble beginnings, and encouraged by a new public interest in motoring heritage, the Montagu Motor Museum would develop. In its first few years it was supported by the British motor industry and enthusiasts. The museum continued its expansion over 20 years and became the National Motor Museum in 1972.

Since 1972, the National Motor Museum has been governed by The National Motor Museum Trust, an independent charity. It boasts a world famous collection of vehicles and associated motoring archives.

The Motor Museum

Visitors are attracted to Beaulieu motor museum all year round, encouraged by amazing collection, the motoring events and phenomenal rallies held there every year. The Internationally famous Auto Jumble is one of their highlights and attracts regular guests to Cottage Lodge from overseas. Extremely popular also, the Hot Rod and Custom shows and their Supercar and Mini rally.

Today, Beaulieu has thrived and is one of the leading visitor attractions in the UK, a member of Visit England, Tourism South East, Hampshire Top Attractions, Treasure Houses of England and the Historic Houses Association.

New For Autumn 2021 BOND IN MOTION- No Time To Die Exhibition

We are thrilled to see the new James Bond exhibition at Beaulieu this autumn. The exhibition will be the first time for the public to see the incredible folding-wing glider from the film. The full-size model will be suspended above Bond’s iconic silver birch Aston Martin DB5, complete with new LED number plate and machine guns.

Also on display will be the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, driven in the film by new agent Nomi, the No Time To Die Aston Martin V8 – which was last seen in The Living Daylights (1987) – and the Chevy Bel Air. Fans of four-wheel drives will enjoy Bond’s Land Rover Series III and the Land Rover Defender 110. A Triumph Scrambler motorcycle and Royal Alloy Scooter will be crowd-pleasers for fans of two-wheelers.

Visitors to Beaulieu will be able to get a first look at new gadgets from the Secret Intelligence Service Q Branch, including Bond’s Q-enhanced Omega Seamaster Diver 300M watch, alongside technical plans for vehicle designs and DB5 weapons. Backdrop screens will show action clips from the movie.

A range of Bond merchandise will also be on display in the exhibition and you will be available to buy it in the Beaulieu gift shop.

Getting there

A day out at Beaulieu really is a gift for the senses. Just under half an hour from the Cottage Lodge and a stunning drive to enjoy. In the Summer months guests can make use of the New Forest Explorer bus to travel to Beaulieu.

One thing is for certain a day out at Beaulieu will never disappoint. Beaulieu caters for all ages and appeals to all tastes, whether you are fascinated by motoring, or a lover of beautiful things and places you are sure to have a most enjoyable day out!

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