New Forest

Check out the National Trust UK web site. There are a great number of sights and sites to see near the New Forest. I bet you'll wish you had more than a few days. Read Edward Rutherfurd's books "Sarum" and "The Forest" for a feel for the history of this area.

You will see ponies, donkeys, cattle, pigs and/or roaming freel. Just be careful while driving, an animal might cross the road in front of you.

As you ask about Highclere Castle and the village of Bampton, I'm guessing you are Downton Abbey fans? Neither of these is very near New Forest, but Highclere Castle (in Newbury) is the closer of the two. The fastest route by car from New Forest is by way of Winchester, going north on the A34. It will take about two hours. As you probably know, Highclere is only open to the public on certain days. Bampton is another hour and a half or so north of Newbury.

I'd say only an hour to get to the New Forest from Highclere.

It is best to do Highclere either on your way out from London or on your return. Between Highclere and the New Forest, Winchester is well worth a visit.

Please click the link that follows. (Traffic flows are coloured on the map and show at the time you click it). Can you see the A34 going south from Newbury? Highclere is between Newbury & Whitchurch - just off the A34.

Can you see Lulworth on the coast towards the SW of the map? I would suggest that on one day you drive to Lulworth Cove, park, and then walk west over the cliffs to Durdle Dor - which also has parking if you don’t want to do the walk over the cliffs. Be sure to choose a fine day for this as the coast is very exposed.

Exbury Gardens (in May-June), Beaulieu, Bucklers Hard and Lymington are all worth a look in the New Forest.

Also consider a list to Salisbury - which has a fine medieval cathedral. (Stonehenge is just a few miles N of Salisbury).
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.9788089,-1.5758224,10z/data=!5m1!1e1

We visited New Forest in late October last year and every village we went to see we could not find parking due to the huge numbers of other cars visiting. Still, it was interesting.

There are plenty of charming villages in the New Forest, some of which have already been mentioned, but it does take time to get around. I spent a week there last May and didn't have any difficulty parking.

You could take the ferry from Lymington to the Isle of Wight and if you drive to Milford on Sea, you can walk out or take the small boat to Hurst Castle.

There are many good walks within the forest, with details available locally.