Explore the beautiful villages of England
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.
Abbotsbury (Dorset)
See Abbotsbury guide
Alfriston (East Sussex)
See Alfriston guide
Alnmouth (Northumberland)
See Alnmouth guide
Ambleside (Cumbria)
See Ambleside guide
Bibury (Gloucestershire)
See Bibury guide
Boscastle (Cornwall)
See Boscastle guide
Bourton on the Water (Gloucestershire)
See Bourton on the Water guide
Burnsall (North Yorkshire)
See Burnsall guide
Cadgwith (Cornwall)
See Cadgwith guide
Cartmel Peninsula (Cumbria)
See Cartmel Peninsula guide
Castle Combe (Wiltshire)
See Castle Combe guide
Clapham (North Yorkshire)
See Clapham guide
Clovelly (Devon)
See Clovelly guide Combe Martin (Devon)
See Combe Martin guide
Corfe Castle (Dorset)
See Corfe Castle guide
Cropredy (Oxfordshire)
See Cropredy guide
Croyde (Devon)
See Croyde guide
Diss (Norfolk)
See Diss guide
Dorchester-on-Thames (Oxfordshire)
See Dorchester-on-Thames guide
Dunster (Somerset)
See Dunster guide
Eyam (Derbyshire)
See Eyam guide
Goathland (North Yorkshire)
See Goathland guide
Gorran Haven (Cornwall)
See Gorran Haven guide
Grasmere (Cumbria)
See Grasmere guide
Grassington (North Yorkshire)
See Grassington guide
Great Budworth (Cheshire)
See Great Budworth guide
Hambleden (Buckinghamshire)
See Hambleden guide
Hawes (North Yorkshire)
See Hawes guide
Hawkshead (Cumbria)
See Hawkshead guide
Haworth (West Yorkshire)
See Haworth guide
Horton in Ribblesdale (North Yorkshire)
See Horton in Ribblesdale guide Ingleton (North Yorkshire)
See Ingleton guide
Kendal (Cumbria)
See Kendal guide
Lacock (Wiltshire)
See Lacock guide
Lavenham (Suffolk)
See Lavenham guide Long Melford (Suffolk)
See Long Melford guide
Lower Slaughter (Gloucestershire)
See Lower Slaughter guide
Mevagissey (Cornwall)
See Mevagissey guide Mousehole (Cornwall)
See Mousehole guide Polperro (Cornwall)
See Polperro guide
Porlock (Somerset)
See Porlock guide
Port Isaac (Cornwall)
See Port Isaac guide
Robin Hood's Bay (North Yorkshire)
See Robin Hood's Bay guide
Rye (East Sussex)
See Rye guide
Sandbach (Cheshire)
See Sandbach guide
Selworthy (Somerset)
See Selworthy guide
Staithes (North Yorkshire)
See Staithes guide
Thaxted (Essex)
See Thaxted guide
Turville (Buckinghamshire)
See Turville guide
Upper Slaughter (Gloucestershire)
See Upper Slaughter guide