Watch out Cotswolds – there’s another Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty around, and this slice of English countryside is closer to the capital, with all the tranquillity, quaint villages and rural landscapes you’d hanker for in a weekend break. Market towns such as Amersham, Henley-on-Thames and foodies’ favourite Marlow are what make the Chilterns worth the trip.
The Chilterns’ untouched beauty means for a place to rest after a soul-nourishing hike or cycle, the towns and villages on its edges are the best bet. If you love a restored historical pub with chic rooms, you’ll be thrilled at the amount found here, but there are solid options for both higher and lower budgets, as well as some lovely country piles.
The best hotels in the Chilterns are:
- Best for design: The Crown Inn, Booking.com
- Best for country living: Handywater Cottage, Booking.com
- Best for glamping in style: Shillingridge Glamping
- Best for R&R: Danesfield House Hotel And Spa
- Best for a tipple: The Nags Head Country Inn, Booking.com
- Best for a blow-out: Cliveden House, Booking.com
- Best for a riverfront location: Leander Club, Booking.com
- Best for the car-free: Bel & Dragon, Booking.com
Best for design: The Crown Inn
Neighbourhood: Amersham
At the end of the Metropolitan tube line, the market town of Amersham has a smattering of lodgings, but none are more refined than The Crown, a former coaching inn. With many of its 45 rooms overlooking the courtyard, history and modernity combine in the bedrooms, one of which made a cameo in the 90s classic Four Weddings and a Funeral. Imagine settling in for the night with light neutral tones, earthy materials and a statement rolltop bath, as envisaged by designer Ilse Crawford (responsible for Soho House New York, and Grand Hotel Stockholm among others). Dinner is at Hawkyns, serving refined Indian fare from Michelin-celebrated chef Atul Kochhar.
Price: Doubles from £117, B&B
Best for country living: Handywater Cottage
Neighbourhood: Henley-on-Thames
Get a taste of country life at this B&B with just four rooms. In a true labour of love, owners Natalie and Ray have restored a 17th-century cottage, surrounded by countryside, into a welcoming and peaceful base for a restorative getaway. Set two alarms to ensure you’re up for breakfast – it’s a feast of homemade goodness, including eggs from the hens you’ll see pecking around the cottage, fruit skewers, and the couple’s homemade jams. If they’re free, they’re happy to do drop-offs and pick-ups – which opens up the world of linear walks.
Price: Doubles from £145, B&B
Best for glamping in style: Shillingridge Glamping
Neighbourhood: Lower Woodend
This glamping site opened in the depths of the Chiltern countryside in 2019, and consists of just two safari lodges within a two-acre paddock — keep an eye out for the resident horses, dogs, and hens that lay fresh eggs for breakfast. Each lodge sleeps a max of six. Far from a roughing-it experience, tents consist of a separate bedroom, modern fully-kitted kitchen, bathroom with a rolltop bath, and living area with melt-into sofas and a toasty wood burner. Appreciated details like hot water bottles, board games and fresh milk are all taken care of, too. But the main appeal is outside the canvas doors – throw them open for sweeping views of rolling hills and thick woodland that’s ripe for exploring.
Price: Lodges are £350, room only
Best for R&R: Danesfield House Hotel And Spa
Neighbourhood: Danesfield
To balance out a hefty hike or a serious cycle with a deserved massage or hot tub sesh, Danesfield’s 55 rooms include access to their spa. Make a splash in the 20-metre swimming pool, step into the adjacent Jacuzzi, steam room or sauna — or book a treatment for a really indulgent stay. In the outskirts of Marlow, the house is set within a 55-actre estate, with well-kempt gardens that are worth a roam around. Rooms vary greatly, ranging from comfortable, traditionally-styled doubles to luxury period rooms with inviting four poster beds and views of the Thames.
Price: Doubles from £175, B&B
Best for a tipple: The Nags Head Country Inn
Neighbourhood: Great Missenden
On the outskirts of Great Missenden, The Nags Head offers a place of rest in six rooms tucked within its rustic, wood-beamed building. They’re furnished with well-picked interiors that ooze cosiness —we’re talking plump pillows and toe-warming carpets here. The pub itself has an AA Rosette for its elevated dining, which has an emphasis on foraging, smoking, curing and pickling. But best of all, there’s an extensive gin and wine list, including a choice of fine wines available by glass.
Price: Doubles from £115, B&B
Best for a blow-out: Cliveden House
Neighbourhood: Taplow
Within easy reach of the Chilterns — but a destination in its own right — Cliveden is the sort of five-star, opulent stay that won’t come cheap. But it’s one for the memory bank. This stately home has been a favourite of royals, dignitaries and high society since it was built in 1666 — you can almost feel the ghosts of hedonists past within its velvet-draped doors. If rooms are too pricey, the grounds belong to the National Trust and can be explored; meanwhile its restaurant and spa are open to the public, too, for a more cost-effective way to snoop around the sprawling estate.
Price: Doubles from £505, room only
Best for a riverfront location: Leander Club
Neighbourhood: Henley-on-Thames
World famous as a rowing and private members club, the Leander Club HQ on the banks of the River Thames also has 11 rooms to book. Committing fully to the rowing theme, each room is adorned with the colours, banners and olde-worlde prints of top rowing universities like Yale, Harvard and Brown. They also come with mod cons like parking, breakfast, wifi and comfy Hypnos beds. It’s a buzzy place to be when rowing events are on, and when they aren’t it’s still a kitsch bolthole for an mini-tour around the Thames, Chilterns and beyond.
Price: Doubles from £130 B&B
Best for the car-free: Bel & Dragon
Neighbourhood: Wendover
The Bel & Dragon is a 17th century coaching inn turned charming pub, with elegant bedrooms to rest weary feet. Each of the 23 rooms is furnished in stylishly and kitted out with tea, coffee, chocolates and, delightfully, sloe gin. But the location steals the show as the Bel & Dragon is spot-on for those arriving on public transport. It’s on the high street of Wendover, five minutes away from the train station that speeds to London in 50 minutes. Yet verdant Chiltern hikes are within 10 minutes reach. Plus there’s the myriad of Wendover’s food and drink options at your doorstep… quite literally, when it comes to the downstairs pub.
Price: Doubles from £89, B&B
