Cool Place of the Day: Alnwick Garden, Northumberland

Every day, a new place to discover or explore, from coolplaces.co.uk

Alnwick Garden, Northumberland

I's easy to do superlatives at the world's most extraordinary contemporary garden. The planet's deadliest plants in a pioneering Poison Garden? One of the world's largest treehouses, complete with walkways and restaurant? Three hundred cherry trees in the largest orchard of its kind in the world, underplanted with 50,000 purple alliums? The biggest water feature in Britain? All this and more awaits you at the Duchess of Northumberland's amazing gardens, which is a worthy adjunct to the unique visitor experience that is neighbouring Alnwick Castle. There's separate entry and admission to castle and garden, but combination tickets are available and it's hard to see anyone wanting to miss either on a visit to Alnwick. Best make a day of it. Now is a particularly good time to visit: not only is the cherry blossom in full swing, but you can join one of their summer adventures climbing the trees of the Woodland Walk or sampling their new and ambitious ‘Garden of Fairy Tales’ – designed to attract more families and enhance the magical nature of the gardens. Meanwhile the Grand Cascade does its stuff, with spectacular displays every half an hour, and the Treehouse is an attraction within an attraction, featuring exciting rope-bridges and walkways, a quirky 'Potting Shed' café-bar and a rather fabulous tree-top restaurant for a special lunch or dinner – or even a wicked, garden-inspired cocktail devised by the Duchess herself.

Cool Places is a new website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)