Arching around the peripheries of London, beyond the orbital
M25, the "Home Counties" of England form London's commuter-belt.
Beyond the suburban sprawl, however, there is plenty to entice the
visitor. The northwestern Home Counties - Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire - are at their most
enticing amidst the Chiltern Hills , a picturesque band of
chalk uplands whose wooded ridges rise near Luton, beside the M1,
and stretch southwest, petering out beside the River Thames near
Reading. The hills provide an exclusive setting for many of the
capital's wealthiest commuters, but for the casual visitor the
obvious target is Henley-on-Thames , a good-looking old town
famous for its Regatta and with a good supply of accommodation.
Henley is also a handy base for further explorations, with the
village of Cookham - and its Stanley Spencer gallery -
leading the way, though Reading is also of interest as the
host of two of Europe's most prestigious music festivals.
The Chilterns are traversed by the Ridgeway , a
prehistoric track - and now a national trail - that offers
excellent hiking. However, the finest portion of the trail is
further to the west, across the Thames, on the downs straddling the
Berkshire-Oxfordshire border. Here, the Ridgeway visits a string of
prehistoric sites, the most extraordinary being the gigantic chalk
horse that gives the Vale of White Horse its name. The Vale
is dotted with pleasant little villages, and both Woolstone
and plainer Uffington have places to stay; but neither is it
far to the university city of Oxford , which, with its
superb architecture, museums and lively student population, can
keep you busy for days. Oxford is this region's star turn and it's
also close to Woodstock , the handsome little town abutting
one of England's most imposing country homes, Blenheim
Palace .
To the northeast of Oxford, beyond the Chilterns, the plain
landscapes of north Buckinghamshire hardly fire the soul, though
modest Buckingham is pleasant enough and it is also within
easy striking distance of Stowe Gardens , which hold a
remarkable collection of outdoor sculptures, monuments and
decorative buildings. Travel east from Buckingham and you soon
reach Bedfordshire, mostly flat agricultural land with a hint of
industrial Midlands. It is not a county you'd cross England to
visit, but Bedford is interesting for its John Bunyan
connection and possibly useful for its hotels and restaurants.
Hit Bedfordshire and you're on the edge of the East Midlands,
but travel back towards London and you'll cross Hertfordshire. The
prime target here is St Albans , an ancient and dignified
town with Roman remains and a superb cathedral - but marooned
amidst a knot of motorways and new towns on the fringes of
London.
The area covered in this section of the website is threaded by
five motorways , the M25, M4, M40, M1 and A1(M). These give
swift access from all directions, though drivers will need a
detailed map to successfully explore the rural nooks and crannies.
Long-distance buses mostly stick to the motorways, too,
providing an efficient service to all the larger towns, but local
services between the villages are patchy, sometimes non-existent.
There are mainline train services from London's Paddington
station to Oxford, Henley-on-Thames and Reading, and from London's
St Pancras to St Albans and Bedford. These main routes are
supplemented by a number of branch lines, the most useful of which
links Henley-on-Thames with Cookham.