If you're looking for a peaceful, enjoyable, and scenic day trip or overnighter from London to include on your holidays in the United Kingdom, it doesn't get any better than Guildford, capital and largest town of the southeast English county of Surrey. Just over a 40 minutes' drive and a half hour by train from London, this city of around 80,000 on the River Wey has history (dating back to the Saxons in the so-called Dark Ages), great shopping, and a vibrant cultural scene, and here are some of the top sites not to miss in town and just nearby:
In Guildford Proper
Built around 1550, this most iconic of local buildings sits front and center on Guildford's High Street (above), with its distinctive protruding 17th-century clock (above). Despite its name, the Guildhall actually served for much of its existence as a courthouse, then till 1971 as the seat of local government. Biweekly guided tours are offered.
Guildford Castle/Museum
Dating back to shortly after the Norman invasion in 1066, these days the keep, gatehouse, and grounds including popular gardens are open to visitors. The keep also houses a visitor center and the gardens feature a statue of 19th-century Alice Through the Looking Glass author Lewis Carroll, who lived nearby for 20 years in his sisters' house. The gatehouse, meanwhile, houses the main part of the 123-year-old Guildford Museum, with some 75,000 objects and artworks dating back to the Paleolithic era.
Guildford Cathedral
An extremely rare Anglican cathedral built of red brick in the 20th century (specifically beginning in 1936 and finally consecreated in 1961), it may look rather foreboding on the outside (in fact, so much so that it was used as a key location for the 1976 horror movie The Omen), but the interior is bright and airy.
The historic home of the barges that plied the River Wey and other waterways from Guildford to London in the early 19th century. It now has a visitor center, and visitors can also climb aboard a restored barge; stroll a towpath; enjoy refreshments in the tearoom; and take a boat trip along some 20 miles of local waterways.
Very Near Guidlford
Watts Gallery and Memorial Chapel
The gallery is housed in an impressive Gothic-Revival building in the outlying village of Compton, built by George Frederic Watts - considered the Victorian era's greatest painter and sculptor - in the 1890s, while the chapel a short walk away was designed in Art Nouveau style by his wife Mary Watts, with an intricate red-brick exterior, extravagant painted interior, and containing the grave of Brave New World writer Aldous Huxley.
Hatchlands Park
Also in an outlying village, East Clandon, this is 170 hectares (430 acres) of beautiful gardens and a red-brick country house built in 1750 for a Royal Navy admiral.The house is open to the public and apart from its appropriately nautical décor houses the Cobbe Collection, with various historical musical instruments along with paintings by the likes of Gainsborough, Poussin, Titian, and Van Dyck. There is also a shop and café located inside the garden.
Royal Horticultural Society Wisley Garden
Founded in 1878 in the village of Wisley, this 240-acre spread is the UK's second most popular paid-entry garden after Kew in London. It includes a glass house encompassing desert, tropical, and temperate climates; an arboretum; a canal with water lilies; varied outdoor gardens, and various other areas.
Waverly Abbey
In another nearby village, Farnham, visit the atmospheric ruins of England's oldest Cistercian abbey, founded in 1128 - so atmospheric, in fact, that they've been used as locations in films such as Elizabeth (1998) and Disney's Into the Woods (2014).
For more information check out VisitSurrey.com, and for listings for attractions, shopping, and going out, visit Guildford's town page.
Comments