Eight chocolate-box villages near London

Oh, my! Thanks for sharing! I ready to hop on the plane, too!

Batting 3 out of 8 - and that makes me believe the article about the other 5 I haven’t seen!

What I find interesting about the list is that 6 of them are not in the Cotswolds. 4 of them can be reached directly by train from London and all are nearer than Bibury and Broadway.

And of course there are hundreds of other examples across the country.

John, I know! That was the first thing that caught my eye—that they weren't the typical honey-pot villages of the Cotswolds. I love that they are focusing on relatively unknown (to tourists) destinations.

I live not far from Gt Missenden. An interesting trip would be to take the train or underground to Amersham and walk down the steep-ish hill to “Old Amersham” at the bottom, possibly going via the (20th century) memorial to Protestant martyrs burnt in the reign of Henry VIII.

Once you get past the large supermarket, the church and town north of it is quite pretty with an old market hall. The wide street has Georgian style houses and there are several old pubs which were once coaching inns in the old town’s heyday before railways. You could get the (hourly) bus up the road to Gt Missenden and train back from there.

Mardee, thanks for posting and sharing this! Great article!
Bosham, Chichester and Fishbourne Roman Palace were on my trip itinerary that I had planned for last spring and didn't get to do. I can't wait to go to those places!

Broadway is my favorite town in the Cotswolds. Broadway Deli is a good stop for lunch, with a sunny terrace out back of the shop. Great sandwiches and a shop full of locally-made jams, jellies, cheeses, breads, and more.

I can't wait to explore the other places mentioned in the article!

Rebecca, that's great! I can't wait to hear about your trip! Did you read these recent trip reports about Chichester and vicinity (last 6 months)?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/chichester-a-week-off-the-well-trodden-path
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/3-perfect-days-in-arundel-england

Hello Mardee! I will take photos when I do my next trip and find a way to post a link here with my trip report.
Yes, I read those two trip reports from TexasTravelMom and CWsocial.
Fabulous trip reports!!
Thanks for those links; I'll read them again.

Mardee, thanks so much for sharing. I posted it on my Facebook page. I'm hoping to go to the UK next year with my new knee-scheduled to be replaced this next week. I think the only village I had been to was Broadway and I know I loved it there.

I'm giving Mardee's thread a bump up to the top, thinking this article would be useful to anyone planning a trip to England in 2025.
I was just rereading it, and enjoying it on this snowy day here!

Thanks, Rebecca and Laurie! I'm down in the Cities right now as my grandson is back in, so doing a lot of hanging out in his hospital room, with time for some trip planning. :-)

Mardee,

I love the Magazine Discover Britain and the other magazine "The Official Magazine Britain." (they look the same but they are not). I know the UK is my country of birth, but I always find some new place I want to explore on my frequent trips back home. They are very accurate in their articles. However, In an article on the wool industry of Suffolk, they had missed some minor details, so I wrote in and ended up as the Star letter the following month and won a can of Tea!
My next trip is in March and heading to Beaulieu in the New Forest and will certainly check out Brockenhurst.

1) Thanks so much for this! Excellent stuff.

2) Hah! Ditchling is #2! I am forever recommending Ditchling, and now I feel vindicated! Or reinforced. Or something. :-)

mpaulynsettle, that's so cool! I hope it was good tea! I can't wait to get back to England by myself (heading there in early spring but have 2 grandkids with me) so I can explore some of these!

Volva, ha ha! I will definitely visit Ditchling as soon as I can!

I didn't see Winchester mentioned >:(
Jokes aside, it's interesting they mention Bibury, which is all the way in Gloucestershire. If you're going there I'd probably say don't go all the way from London for a day?

Thanks for posting this, Mardee, and thanks for bumping it, Rebecca! I missed it the first time.

I haven’t been to any of these villages, and I am drooling. They are now on my list. I feel like my life will not be complete unless I make it to the Plucky Pheasant some day!

No it shouldn’t. Winchester might be many things, but a chocolate box village isn’t one of them.