Surrey Surprises

Things to do in the Surrey Hills 

A weekend in Surrey can be an excellent break, add in friends and celebrations and it's an ideal mix.

To celebrate a landmark birthday I arranged with my son to take my husband away for a weekend in Surrey. Living in London and working in Surrey, my son wanted to explore more of the area that commuting doesn't easily allow.  The list of attractions is quite extensive and a weekend only lends itself to a small selection of these delights.  Here I'll give my top tips (so far...).

Guildford: our starting location.  

Impressive historic buildings, a vibrant shopping centre and some quirky street art impressed immediately but a surprise was around the corner when we stumbled on Guildford Castle, dating from the era of William the Conqueror, it has a commanding position and sits in very well managed gardens that were full of spring flowers.

Historic buildings in Guildford

The Surrey Scholar

Guildford Castle

If you like shopping there are plenty of great shops, and lovely arcades.  Coffee culture abounds with plenty of choices of cafes and no shortage of restaurants.  There is wonderful pizza available at Franco Manca if you like Italian food. Be prepared to queue at the door, reservations can't be made.

Brilliant pizza at Franco Manca

After buying some new Le Creuset cookware (in the sale) we headed off into the Surrey Hills enjoying some extensive views on the way. The destination was a surprise for my husband and he was really happy when we parked up in the car park of Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking.  This is England's largest vineyard and has won a number of international awards for its wines.  We had lunch in the 3rd floor Gallery Restaurant and as we were being shown to our table two friends appeared as another birthday surprise!  There are lovely views over the 265 acre vineyard from the restaurant and the food and service were first class.

If you have plenty of time a vineyard tour can be taken, or simply walking around the estate would be good. There is a very tempting shop too. For the beer lovers amongst you there is an independent microbrewery, Surrey Hills Brewery, on site and brewery tours are available or you can simply buy some beer and sit in the sunshine to enjoy it!

Shere: the quintessential English village.

Next stop was the pretty village of Shere, where another couple of friends were waiting to surprise my husband as we stopped in at the Dabbling Duck cafe for a late afternoon cup of tea.

This small village is full of lovely old timbered buildings and has been featured in the films Bridget Jones, the Edge of Reason and The Holiday. The village notice board shows a map of the village with all the old houses marked with the date they were originally built. Amazingly there are 114 listed buildings in the parish of Shere!

Peaslake: the middle of nowhere.

Leaving Shere we headed into the hills to find the village of Peaslake and our B&B The Hurtwood Hotel. The lanes get narrower as you get closer to the village and woods close in around the lanes.  Peaslake seems to be truly in the middle of nowhere, in a dip with woods all around and is very peaceful and quiet. 

This is an area for walkers and cyclists, especially cyclists it seems, with mountain bike trails through the woods. The Surrey Hills is know as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Peaslake is the ideal location to explore it. 

The Hurtwood Hotel is a B&B next door to The Hurtwood Inn pub and restaurant, which does tasty Italian food. Note that if you are staying on a Sunday night food is only served until 7pm.

The Hurtwood Inn, Peaslake

The village has a small general store, a bicycle shop and the unusually spired  St Mark's church. If you head up through the lanes, past the woods or even take one of the footpaths up from the pub you arrive at a ridge with wide ranging views and, if you are lucky, a lovely sunset over Guildford!

St Mark's Peaslake

Unusual Spire

Peaslake Sunset

Leith Hill Tower: the highest point in South East England.

Roughly five miles south east of Peaslake, Leith Hill Tower is perched on the top of a hill with extensive views over Surrey.  The top of the tower (reached by 78 spiralling stairs) is the highest point in south east England and on a clear day you can see the English Channel to the south and Big Ben and the London Eye to the north (through a telescope!). It is well worth the walk up through the woods to reach the tower and there is a servery for refreshments once you arrive.

The National Trust manage the tower and woodlands and provide a number of waymarked walks and a trail leaflet can be picked up from the link here.

Leith Hill Tower

The view to the north

The view to the south

After the climb through the woods and up to the top of the tower we ventured along one of the trails which brought us around the grounds of Leith Hill Place, Ralph Vaughan Williams' childhood home (which you can visit) and returned us back down to the car park.

Sunday Lunch: at The Plough.

Close to Leith Hill is the village of Coldharbour and a traditional country pub called The Plough Inn where we went for what turned out to be a delicious Sunday lunch.  It is a popular pub and booking is advised, service was a little slow but the food was well worth the wait. The Plough has its own microbrewery, Leith Hill Brewery, where you can try a glass of real ale at the bar or buy some bottles to take away.

Polesden Lacey: Edwardian splendour and charming views.

An Edwardian country retreat was the final destination of the weekend. Polesden Lacey, just four miles from Dorking, is where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, had their honeymoon (when they were the Duke and Duchess of York). Take a tour of the house to learn how the Edwardian hostess, Maggie Greville, heir of the McEwan brewing family, entertained high society.  She was very friendly with Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) and was given many beautiful gifts by the queen including diamond studded tiaras that have been worn more recently by the newest members of the Royal family.

Polesden Lacey

Colourful flowerbeds

Looking across the valley from the South Terrace is a splash of green, an undisturbed vista of trees and grass. Closer to the house the flowerbeds are full of colourful spring flowers and there are a number of walking trails to wander along in the extensive grounds. There is also a very good cafe for refreshments.

Midday shadows across the valley

There were still plenty of items on our list of things to do in Surrey and the Surrey Hills but I'll leave them to the next visit.  If you try any of these suggestions I'd love to hear what you thought, please leave a comment below. Many thanks.