Hertford
Hertford is the county town that gives Hertfordshire its name, a market town built at the point where the River Beane meets the River Lea (with the smaller Rivers Mimram and Rib also converging nearby), and small enough to walk across in twenty minutes.
Hertford Castle's grounds, on the bank of the Lea in the centre of town, are what remain of a fortification with roots going back to the Anglo-Saxon period; the present castle building, largely 15th-century in its surviving fabric, now serves as council offices, but its gardens and motte are open to the public and are one of the town's few genuinely old green spaces. The rivers themselves shape the town's centre, with footbridges and riverside walks threading between the shops and pubs on Fore Street and the Wash.
Hertford's compact centre keeps a good number of independent shops and pubs rather than a typical chain-dominated high street, and it makes an easy day trip from London while being quiet enough to use as a low-key overnight base for exploring the surrounding countryside.
Where to Stay in Hertford
- Hertford House — a Grade II listed Georgian townhouse hotel in the centre of Hertford, a short walk from Hertford East station.
- Salisbury Arms Hotel — a long-established hotel in the heart of Hertford town centre.
- The White Horse, Hertingfordbury — a pub with rooms in the village just outside Hertford, near where the Mimram joins the Lea.
Getting there
Hertford has two rail stations — Hertford East, with a direct line to London Liverpool Street, and Hertford North, on a line via Welwyn Garden City to King's Cross.