Farnham

Farnham makes an easy base for exploring the Surrey Hills without giving up creature comforts, and its compact town centre means many hotels and B&Bs are within walking distance of the castle, museum and restaurants on Castle Street. Expect a mix of traditional coaching inns with period character, independent bed and breakfasts in converted Georgian townhouses, and a handful of larger countryside hotels just outside the centre with easier parking and gardens to relax in after a day's walking. Because Farnham sits on a direct rail line to London Waterloo, it also works well as a quieter, greener alternative to staying in the capital, with journey times of a little over an hour.

Booking ahead is worth doing around the town's craft fairs and market events, reflecting Farnham's status as England's first UNESCO World Craft Town, when accommodation can fill up with visitors combining a browse of the stalls with a stay in the historic centre. Outside those peak dates, Farnham is generally an easy town to find a room in, whether you are passing through en route to Hampshire and the south coast or making it a weekend destination in its own right. Families visiting Birdworld or walkers heading out towards Waverley Abbey and Crooksbury Hill will find plenty of choice close to the A31, while anyone without a car will appreciate how much of the town, from the station to the castle grounds, can be covered comfortably on foot.

Farnham rewards a slow wander as much as a checklist of sights, but there is plenty to aim for.

• Farnham Castle — a Norman keep begun around 1138 for the powerful Bishops of Winchester, with nearly 900 years of continuous occupation and panoramic views over the town from its motte.
• Castle Street and the Georgian town centre — a broad, tree-free Georgian street running from the castle gates down to the town, lined with listed buildings that often hide older Tudor timber frames behind their brick facades.
• Museum of Farnham — housed in Willmer House, an elegant Georgian townhouse, telling the story of the town from its hop-growing and pottery past to its craft present.
• Waverley Abbey — the atmospheric riverside ruins of England's first Cistercian abbey, founded in 1128, a short drive or walk from town and free to visit.
• Birdworld — a long-established bird park just outside Farnham with penguins, flamingos, owls and an extensive outdoor adventure playground, popular with families.
• The Sculpture Park — a large outdoor gallery near Churt, on the fringes of the Surrey Hills, showing contemporary sculpture set among woodland and lakes.
• Surrey Hills walking country — footpaths and bridleways fan out from Farnham towards Crooksbury Hill, the Bourne and the wooded commons that make up this stretch of the North Downs Way network.

The Wheatsheaf, in the heart of town, is a long-standing pub restaurant built around locally sourced produce. The Castle Pub & Dining on Castle Street pairs its historic setting with an award-winning kitchen, while The Mulberry offers a large pub garden and a solid range of craft beers. For something different, The Third Monkey gastropub has a rooftop terrace, and Caffé Piccolo has served Farnham's Italian food since 1995. The town's markets and independent cafés add to a food scene that punches well above its size for a town of this population.

Farnham sits on the western edge of the Surrey Hills National Landscape, where heathland, pine woods and the gentle valley of the River Wey give campers a genuinely varied stretch of countryside to explore, from the wooded slopes around Crooksbury Hill to the open commons closer to the Hampshire border. As in the rest of England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is not legal here, so a proper campsite or a permission-based pitch is the way to enjoy a night under Surrey's skies, and the area around Farnham has a reasonable spread of small, well-run sites within a short drive of the town.

The terrain rewards a tent-based stay: footpaths and bridleways head out towards Waverley Abbey and the North Downs Way from many pitches, and the sandy heathland soils common to this part of Surrey mean campsites tend to drain well even after wet weather, unlike heavier clay ground found elsewhere in the county. Spring through early autumn is the most reliable camping season, with long evenings for walking or cycling the Surrey Hills lanes, though the sheltered woodland around Farnham can also make a mild autumn weekend surprisingly pleasant for a short break.

For those who prefer a roof over their heads without losing the outdoor feel, glamping options in the Farnham area range from shepherd's huts and safari-style tents to simple wooden pods, often on working farms or smallholdings within the Surrey Hills. These sit well alongside the area's craft and countryside character, giving visitors a comfortable base from which to explore the castle, Waverley Abbey and the wooded hills without needing full camping kit. Whichever style of pitch you choose, the proximity to both the A31 and the rail line into Farnham makes it easy to combine a countryside stay with visits into the historic town centre.