Britain's 'best kept' town is beautiful hidden gem tucked away from London
Swap the soaring skyscrapers for riverside charm in this stunningly quaint town. Touted as one of the UK's 'coolest' places to live, and often dubbed Britain's 'best kept secret' - Marlow needs to be on your tourist radar (if it isn't already).
Snuggled between rich meadows and woodlands, the historic market town feels world's away from city life - despite being a stone's throw from central London. Boasting a vibrant high street filled with boutique shops, Michelin-starred restaurants, and cosy pubs - Marlow is famous for its pristine streets, fierce community spirit, and celebrity roots.
The town's most iconic landmark has to be the suspension bridge which spans the River Thames and connects the counties of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Designed by William Tierney Clark, the architectural masterpiece first opened in 1832 - and is believed to have acted as a prototype for the world-famous Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest.
"Residents of the town have included Thomas Love Peacock, Jerome K. Jerome, T.S. Eliot and Mary Shelley who finished her gothic masterpiece Frankenstein while living in the town," hailed Visit Thames, the area's official tourist board. "Marlow is also home to one of Britain's most premier rowing clubs which has produced many Olympic oarsmen including Sir Steve Redgrave whose statue stands in Higginson Park."
Watch out for A-listers such as comedian Ricky Gervais and actor Chris Evans, who both call this slice of paradise home. Of course, chef and restaurateur Tom Kerridge may also make an appearance, especially if you dine at one of his four eateries in the area.
"The two Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers – a cosy, unassuming pub opened by Kerridge 20 years ago – is still the star of the show," explained the Telegraph. "Though The Coach (another, more affordable Michelin-starred pub), private dining room The Shed, and The Butcher's Tap (a traditional butcher's with, no surprise, another pub) have helped to cement Kerridge's influence."
Marlow is some 3- miles from London, meaning you can drive to the hotspot in around one hour and four minutes. However, direct train routes to Maidenhead slash the journey time down to just 22 minutes. From here, you'll then just need to take a 13-minute taxi ride over to Marlow. Depending on your flexibility, you can grab single adult fares for as little as £16.
Accommodation in Marlow itself is limited, meaning prices can be high. For example, a weekend's stay (Friday, June 20-22) at the Palm Cottage Marlow - a two-bedroom holiday home - will set you back an eye-watering £711.
However, staying slightly outside the town can help bring the budget down. Staying at the Olde Bell, located 2.3 miles from the centre of Marlow, on the exact same dates would cost £262 - which is almost three times cheaper.
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Together, Gatwick's two terminals boast 37 bars and restaurants (30 points), and it has been listed as the eighth best British airport for food and drink (12 points) in a data-crunch of 1.2 million consumer reviews by luggage company Radical Storage. Its own lounge (Clubrooms) has the highest average Google review score (4.8; 20 points) of any airport in this top 10, while unlimited free Wi-Fi (60 points) and CT scanners in security (40 points) give it a technological filip. Fascinating fact Gatwick's original (1936) terminal, The Beehive, still exists, as offices. 5. Newcastle Total points: 867 The growth of the north-east's main airport over the last three decades has been striking; Newcastle International's annual number of passengers has more than doubled in the last 30 years – from 2.4 million in 1994 to 5.1 million in 2024. The latter figure equated to 37,218 flights over the course of last year, but just 387 non-departures – a cancellation rate of 1.03 per cent (57 points). If this is good news for travellers in England's upper corner, so is the range of destinations – Newcastle offers flights to 76 destinations in 28 countries (52 points), and places as diverse as Dubai and Barbados. With nine bars and restaurants (15 points), it is ranked the ninth best airport in the UK for food and drink by Radical Storage (eight points), while the cost of a train to the city centre (£3.60; 40 points) is comparable to rail prices for mid-sized 'rivals' such as Birmingham and Liverpool. Perhaps some of those 5.1 million passengers are Telegraph subscribers; the airport's biggest airline – Jet2 – was the readers' short-haul champion at this year's Telegraph Travel Awards (35 points). Fascinating fact 4. London Heathrow Total points: 868 It should be no surprise to find Britain's biggest airport – and the planet's fifth busiest – in the upper reaches of this study. Heathrow is an international hub, with direct services to 216 destinations in 82 countries (149 points). That it manages to cater to so many people (84 million passengers in 2024) with relative composure is surely to be applauded. Heathrow achieved a cancellation rate of 'just' 1.73 per cent in 2024 (42 points), and saw 67.3 per cent of its flights depart on time during the same period (27 points). True, it can be expensive to reach – tickets for the fastest of the three direct rail links to central London (the Heathrow Express) will set you back at least £25. But it can also make for a comparatively stress-free start or end to a journey: You can pick from 20 four-star hotels within a two-mile radius (13 points), with room rates as low as £78 (27 points). Meanwhile, the average queuing times for security and passport control are 19 and 15 minutes respectively, according to Which? (a combined 24 points). Fascinating fact Heathrow earns an extra 30 points for the award it received from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2008 for the aesthetic flair of the new Terminal 5. 3. London City Total points: 872 The capital's top airport is not the giant out west beyond Hounslow, but the 1980s upstart in the easterly Docklands. City has slotted into London's landscape so well that its youth (it only opened in 1987, but, from that standing start, processed 3.6 million passengers last year) is often overlooked. Yes, it is a short-haul specialist, with just 31 destinations in 15 countries on its schedules (23 points), all European. But that's the point. City is a business-focused hub with a reputation for speedy professionalism. So it proves on the departures boards, where 73 per cent of flights in 2024 were on time (60 points) – and in the queues, where the tiny average wait times for security (10 minutes) and the passport gates (eight minutes) translate into 60 more points. Even the delays are 'swift'; an average of 13 minutes last year. City also matches Jersey's (joint highest) average Google review score (4.2; 55 points), and lack of drop-off fee (50 points). Only its rail link is 'unbusinesslike': a dash into London on the Docklands Light Railway starts at £5.40 (30 points) – hardly the stuff of expenses claims. Fascinating fact The then-Prince Charles laid the terminal's foundation stone – in 1986. 2. George Best Belfast City Total points: 880 Not to be confused with the larger Belfast International (which sits 15 miles west of the Northern Irish capital, and in 19th place in this study), Belfast City is another case of good things in smaller packages. Admittedly, it does not have the connectivity of its local brother, running flights to just three countries (Italy, Spain, the Netherlands; 12.5 points), as opposed to 23, but it excels as a short-haul hub, with Aer Lingus, British Airways and easyJet using it as a key runway. Its ability to excel at the basics is obvious in its most applause-worthy statistics: Belfast City's punctuality rating is the best of any airport in this survey – 78 per cent of its flights left on time last year (78 points). Its management of late-running aircraft is also outstanding: at just 12 minutes, its average delay was the shortest of any airport in this poll in 2024 (45 points). Better still, it is easy to reach. While it attracts a penalty (-15 points) for the absence of a train link, its proximity to the city centre – just over five miles away; a 15-minute cab ride – garners another 58 points. Fascinating fact Belfast City was renamed in tribute to George Best in 2006, just after the death of the former Manchester United footballer – who was born in the city in 1946. 1. Liverpool John Lennon Total points: 888 Perhaps the secret to being a brilliant airport is having the name of a long-haired genius of the 1960s and 1970s embedded in the sign on your main terminal. Then again, to credit Liverpool Airport's triumph in this poll to a lingering Beatlemania would be to severely underplay its attributes. To an extent, its success mimics Belfast City's performance at the metrics which matter – Liverpool's punctuality rate in 2024 (76.4 per cent of flights were on time; 75 points) was only eclipsed by its Northern Irish cousin; its average delay (14 minutes; 35 points) was only marginally lengthier. Its security and passport queues are brisk (an average of 11 minutes in each case; 56 points), while its cancellation rate in 2024 – 0.7 per cent of flights (69 points) – was the best in the top 10. All this is done with a heavier workload than Belfast City: last year, Liverpool greeted five million passengers, witnessed 35,523 aircraft movements, and waved off flights to 29 countries (49 points). Moreover, Which? agrees with us – and declares Liverpool the best of British (81 points). Fascinating fact The airport's motto, painted on its roof – 'Above us only sky' – is, of course, another John Lennon reference; a lyric from his 1971 post-Beatles track Imagine.
