Elstree

Elstree's hotels suit visitors who want a comfortable, well-connected base close to London without the city prices or crowds. The village and neighbouring Borehamwood have a handful of hotels geared towards business travellers visiting the studios as well as leisure guests exploring Hertfordshire, ranging from larger branded hotels with leisure facilities to smaller, more traditional options. Staying here puts you within easy reach of the M1 and A41, and a short hop from Elstree & Borehamwood station, which runs direct trains into London St Pancras in under half an hour. That makes an Elstree hotel a practical choice for anyone splitting their time between sightseeing in London and exploring the quieter Hertfordshire countryside, or for those attending events connected with the area's film and TV studios. Many hotels here also offer easy access to Aldenham Country Park and Elstree Reservoir for walking, fishing or a simple change of pace, and to the village's conservation area with its historic pubs and cottages. Given the location, expect solid mid-range comfort rather than boutique luxury, with parking usually included, which suits drivers heading further into Hertfordshire or up towards St Albans. Booking ahead is worth doing around major productions at the studios or during busy summer weekends when demand from both business and leisure travellers overlaps.

Elstree rewards visitors who mix its screen heritage with genuine outdoor space. Highlights include:

• Elstree Studios — working film and television studios with over a hundred years of production history, associated with shows including EastEnders, Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing on Ice, plus decades of feature films.
• Aldenham Country Park — around 175 acres of parkland roughly four miles from the village, with a working farm, a lake used for fishing and watersports, waymarked walking trails and an adventure playground that opens at weekends and during school holidays.
• Elstree Reservoir — a large area of water near the village popular with anglers, sailors and walkers looking for an easy circular route.
• Elstree Village Conservation Area — a short stroll along the historic high street takes in timber-framed cottages, coaching inns and Arts and Crafts buildings dating back as far as the 15th century.
• St Nicholas Church — the village's parish church, a longstanding local landmark on the site of earlier places of worship.
• Batchworth Heath and surrounding Green Belt countryside — the fields around Elstree offer straightforward walking country for a village so close to London.

The village punches above its weight for pubs and restaurants. The Plough in Elstree is a well-regarded pub, restaurant and bar known for seasonal dishes, while the Waggon & Horses and The Fishery offer more traditional pub dining. For something different, Elstree has options including Kiyoto for sushi and Tay Tar for Thai cuisine, and the Village Pub & Grill at the Village Hotel serves casual British food. Together they give the village a reasonable spread of choices for a stop after a walk around the reservoir or a visit to Aldenham Country Park.

Elstree itself is a village rather than a campsite destination, and it sits within London's Green Belt, so it is worth remembering that wild camping is not legal in England without the landowner's explicit permission — this applies across the fields and countryside surrounding Elstree as much as anywhere else. Anyone wanting to camp near Elstree should look to established sites in the wider Hertfordshire countryside, several of which lie within a short drive and make use of the same gently rolling farmland and parkland that surrounds the village, including areas close to Aldenham Country Park and the reservoir.

The terrain here is classic Home Counties countryside: flat to gently undulating fields, hedgerows and pockets of woodland, with none of the technical difficulty of hillier camping regions but plenty of pleasant, easy walking between pitches and local pubs. This makes it a comfortable option for beginners, families or anyone wanting a low-key weekend away without travelling far from London. The area's proximity to the capital means sites nearby can get busy, particularly on summer weekends and bank holidays, so early booking is sensible.

Spring through early autumn is the best window for camping around Elstree, when the park's facilities are fully open and the countryside walks are at their driest and most enjoyable; the wetter months make tent camping less appealing on the area's heavier clay soils. For those who would rather skip the tent altogether, glamping options in the wider Hertfordshire area offer a more comfortable alternative, from pods and safari tents to shepherd's huts, giving access to the same countryside and studio-town novelty of Elstree without sacrificing creature comforts.