With the spring weather calling us outdoors, we yearn to get out of this big city and into the fresh, beautiful countryside.
However we often struggle to pick a destination. We discuss getting out of the city for the afternoon but often end up sitting at home.
We now recommend with high praises the village of St Albans. Really a suburb of London, we were able to take a train from West Hampstead (1 mile walk from our house) to St Albans in 13 minutes! Most of the trains take closer to 20 minutes but if you can catch this one that does not make any stops, you can actually make the journey in 13 minutes!
And you find yourself in the beautiful, clean, fresh air English countryside!
St Albans offers Roman ruins, a beautiful cathedral, a quaint city/village centre, a clock tour from the 1400's, and best of all an amazing parkland complete with sports fields, a stream, playground, trails, skatepark, and more.
The village is a short walk from the train station. We enjoyed ice cream near the clock tower, then toured the cathedral.
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| The clocktower from the 1400's - you can climb to the top for amazing views |
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| Those who climb the clock tower receive the privilege of ringing her bell! |
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| the story of St Alban |
We ate lunch at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, which is among a few places in England who claim the title of the oldest pub in the country.
Just down the hill from the cathedral is Verulamain Park, with over 100 acres of parkland, a true reprieve for us city dwellers! We visited the Roman theatre, the best preserved example in Britain. There are Roman ruins and mosaics throughout the park and a nice Verulamium Museum. The kids, however, were much happier just running free in the park, playing soccer, dipping their feet in the creek, and laying on a picnic blanket.
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