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

Wedmore (Somerset)

See Wedmore guide