Everyone has an 'ideal traditional English village' - even if they have never visited it!

For some it might be streets of thatched cottages, while others will picture houses of glowing yellow Cotswold stone alongside a quiet stream, and still more of us might picture a small Cornish seaside village nestled around a quiet harbour, a windswept hamlet high on the moors or a picture-postcard setting on the edge of a lake.

While we might not agree on which is the most beautiful village in England, there is one thing we can all agree on - traditional villages are the heart and soul of England, and exploring them is one of the most pleasant ways to enjoy the countryside and to picture ourselves in an England that no longer exists for most of us...

Some of our favourite beautiful English towns and villages

Villages are ordered by county, and are just a selection of some of our favourites. There is also a map showing the position of the villages further down the page.

Hambleden
Buckinghamshire

Turville
Buckinghamshire

Great Budworth
Cheshire

Sandbach
Cheshire

Boscastle
Cornwall

Cadgwith
Cornwall

Gorran Haven
Cornwall

Mevagissey
Cornwall

Mousehole
Cornwall

Polperro
Cornwall

Port Isaac
Cornwall

Ambleside
Cumbria

Cartmel Peninsula
Cumbria

Grasmere
Cumbria

Hawkshead
Cumbria

Kendal
Cumbria

Eyam
Derbyshire

Clovelly
Devon

Combe Martin
Devon

Croyde
Devon

Abbotsbury
Dorset

Corfe Castle
Dorset

Alfriston
East Sussex

Rye
East Sussex

Thaxted
Essex

Bibury
Gloucestershire

Bourton on the Water
Gloucestershire

Lower Slaughter
Gloucestershire

Upper Slaughter
Gloucestershire

Diss
Norfolk

Burnsall
North Yorkshire

Clapham
North Yorkshire

Goathland
North Yorkshire

Grassington
North Yorkshire

Hawes
North Yorkshire

Horton in Ribblesdale
North Yorkshire

Ingleton
North Yorkshire

Robin Hood's Bay
North Yorkshire

Staithes
North Yorkshire

Alnmouth
Northumberland

Cropredy
Oxfordshire

Dorchester-on-Thames
Oxfordshire

Dunster
Somerset

Porlock
Somerset

Selworthy
Somerset

Wedmore
Somerset

Lavenham
Suffolk

Long Melford
Suffolk

Haworth
West Yorkshire

Castle Combe
Wiltshire

Lacock
Wiltshire