landmark
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
The UK's largest zoo set across 600 acres of Bedfordshire parkland with drive-through animal enclosures.
10 km · about 20 min drive
EuropeUnited KingdomEngland
Berkhamsted
England, United Kingdom · Europe
About Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted works well as a base: 10 minutes from Bovingdon, 10km from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
Berkhamsted is in England, United Kingdom, with about 22,000 people. You drive on the left here. The nearest town is Bovingdon, about 5 km away.
Berkhamsted ( BUR-kəm-sted) is a market town in Hertfordshire, England. Located in the Bulbourne Valley, it is 26 miles (42 km) north-west of London and had a population of 21,245 at the 2021 census. The town is a civil parish within the borough of Dacorum, which is based in the neighbouring large new town of HemelRead more
Hempstead. Berkhamsted, along with the adjoining village of Northchurch, is surrounded by countryside and the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Berkhamsted was first mentioned in 970 AD and was recorded as a burbium (ancient borough) in the Domesday Book in 1086. A (now ruined) motte-and-bailey Norman castle was built shortly after the Norman Conquest and remained a royal possession and residence for four centuries. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the town was a wool trading centre, with a busy local market. The oldest-known extant jettied timber-framed building in Great Britain, built between 1277 and 1297, survives as a shop on the town's high street.
The town's literary connections include the 17th-century hymnist and poet William Cowper, the 18th-century writer Maria Edgeworth and the 20th-century novelist Graham Greene. Arts institutions in the town include The Rex (a well regarded independent cinema) and the British Film Institute's National Archive at King's Hill, which is one of the world's largest film and television archives. Schools in the town include Berkhamsted School, a co-educational boarding independent school (founded in 1541 by John Incent, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral); Ashlyns School, a state school, whose history began as the Foundling Hospital established in London by Thomas Coram in 1742; and Ashridge Executive Education, a business school offering degree courses, which occupies the Grade I listed neo-Gothic Ashridge House.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Berkhamsted?
Within an hour or so of Berkhamsted: ZSL Whipsnade Zoo (10 km), Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - Making of Harry Potter (13 km), Burnham Beeches (Robin Hood, Harry Potter, Sleepy Hollow) (23 km), Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire (Goldfinger golf match) (25 km).
Are there any good drives near Berkhamsted?
The nearest famous roads are Crystal Palace Circuit, Goodwood Festival of Speed and Rhinefield Ornamental Drive.
Where is Berkhamsted?
Berkhamsted is in England, United Kingdom, about 5 km from Bovingdon.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 21,997
- Continent
- Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Region
- England
- Timezone
- Europe/London
- Coordinates
- 51.7604, -0.5653
Emergency & Services
Essential numbers in United Kingdom
112 also works. NHS non-emergency medical advice: 111. National Highways breakdown assistance on motorways: 0300 123 5000.
Full driving guide for United KingdomTags
Worth the detour from Berkhamsted
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
film location
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - Making of Harry Potter
The Leavesden studios where all eight films were shot; the tour preserves the original Great Hall, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express sets.
13 km · about 25 min drive
film location
Burnham Beeches (Robin Hood, Harry Potter, Sleepy Hollow)
The ancient pollarded beech woodland close to Pinewood Studios is one of Britain's most-filmed forests.
23 km · about 25 min drive
film location
Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire (Goldfinger golf match)
The Palladian clubhouse and course hosted the celebrated golf match between Bond and Goldfinger, and reappeared in Tomorrow Never Dies.
25 km · about 30 min drive
museum
Bletchley Park
Victorian estate where Alan Turing and thousands of codebreakers cracked the German Enigma cipher, arguably shortening WWII by years. Restored huts, working Bombe machine, and the National Museum of Computing next door.
29 km · about 35 min drive
landmark
Windsor Castle
The oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, serving as a royal residence for over 900 years.
31 km · about 35 min drive
cafe
Ace Cafe London
The 1938 North Circular roadside cafe that became the home of the ton-up boys and rocker culture, reopened on its original site in 1997 and still holding weekly bike and classic car meets.
31 km · about 35 min drive
cafe
Caffeine & Machine: The Bowl
The Bedfordshire location set in a dramatic former quarry bowl, opened in 2023 as the brand's third venue.
33 km · about 40 min drive
Driving in United Kingdom
- Drives on
- the left
- Petrol
- ~€1.73/litre
- Motorway tolls
- None
When to drive here
April to October
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