Where is Bake Off filmed and can you visit?

Everyone's favourite baking show is returning for 2023, and fans want to know where Bake Off is filmed.

Cake devotees and biscuit lovers across the country have been counting down the days to the start of Bake Off. While Celebrity Bake Off and Bake Off: The Professionals have filled a cake-shaped hole over the last few months, they're just not quite the same as the original Bake Off - and this year there's even more to look forward to, with a format change and a new Bake Off host as well.

As always, a new batch of Bake Off contestants will be entering the famous white tent over the next ten weeks. Covered in bunting and top-of-the-range kitchen gear, and set within a grand estate, one of the questions that fans ask every series is where is Bake Off filmed?

Where is Bake Off filmed?

The Great British Bake Off is filmed in the grounds of the Welford Park Estate in Berkshire. The show was filmed there from 2014 to 2019, but in 2020 and 2021 the baking contest was filmed at Down Hall, a hotel in Hatfield Heath, Essex.

The change of location was due to Down Hall being more accommodating when it came to filming under pandemic restrictions, but last year the famous white tent returned to its old home.

And the show's stars were pleased to be back, with judge Paul Hollywood telling the Express: "I love filming at Welford and we've been away for a couple of years. I sat on the grass, not far from the tents. It's a very reflective place and Bake Off's been a big part of my life for quite a while now. It's lovely being back. I felt totally chilled out and relaxed."

Previous Bake Off filming locations include Valentines Mansion in Redbridge (season two) and Harptree Court in Somerset (seasons three and four). And long-time fans of the show will remember for the very first season, which aired in 2010, the tent relocated each week, with the show filmed in the following locations:

• Week 1: Cakes – filmed in the Cotswolds
• Week 2: Biscuits – filmed at Scone Palace, Perthshire
• Week 3: Bread – filmed at Sarre Windmill, Kent
• Week 4: Puddings – filmed in Bakewell, Derbyshire
• Week 5: Pastry – filmed in Mousehole, Cornwall
• Week 6: Tea Party (the final) – filmed at Fulham Palace, London

Can you visit the Bake Off tent?

The tent is only constructed for filming, but you can visit Welford Park where the show is based. It is a private home but welcomes the public to its grounds from February to March, and is best known for its striking snowdrops. 

New for 2023, the site will also be open between October 20 and November 12 for a 'Spectacle of Light', which invites visitors to enjoy a light trail around the grounds. Pricing and other ticket information is available on the Welford Park website.

Originally the site of a monastery, the Park became the deer-hunting lodge of Henry VIII before being given to Sir Thomas Parry, the Treasurer of Queen Elizabeth I's household. The property also served as a recuperation home for distressed soldiers during World War I, with the bedrooms becoming hospital wards and dormitories for the nursing staff.

Now, the site is able to offer production offices, greenrooms and catering - making it a great filming location - while the acres of woodland and landscaped gardens give it the quintessentially English feel that Bake Off is known for.

And if you want to be on the show, applications are now open so here's how to apply for The Great British Bake Off.

Why is Bake Off filmed in a tent?

The tent evokes the feeling of a classic British summer gathering - a village fete. And while the exact reason why a tent was chosen for Bake Off's filming location is not known, it's most likely to do with the production design.

Another reason could be due to the first series changing location each week, so the tent allowed for a consistent backdrop - and has remained part of the show ever since.

2013 winner Frances Quinn previously told Cosmopolitan, about the experience of baking outdoors in a tent. "It's completely alien to your own kitchen at home," she said, adding, "The temperature fluctuates - you'd be making a meringue and it would start raining, or we'd try and make pastry and it would be 27 degrees outside. The technical challenges and lack of time and lack of fridge and work space are the enemy on that show."

Is Bake Off filmed in one day?

No, The Great British Bake Off is not filmed in one day. Filming for the show reportedly takes 10 weeks, with each episode shot over two days - usually at the weekend.

Contestants, judges and hosts are known to work long hours during filming days, with Paul Hollywood previously revealing that a 12-hour shoot was something of a "short day" on set.

"We try and get together as much as we can but sometimes we’re shattered," he said during a Bake Off press conference. "If it’s been a really late one we’re all just saying, 'I’m going to get room service.'"

Speaking about how long it takes to film an episode, season eight baker Tom Hetherington told Insider: "It takes quite a long time to film, and I don't think everyone appreciates how long it takes, but it becomes very exhausting and very stressful."

He explained that depending on how many contestants are left in the competition, filming days can take anywhere from 10 to 16 hours.

For fans of the show, we've got plenty of Bake Off related recipes for you to try, from Mary Berry's lemon drizzle cake and Paul Hollywood's scones to 2015 winner Nadiya Hussein's teriyaki salmon.