🚗 🇬🇧 DAY 1 : UK Roadtrip ~ HEATHROW –> CHARLWOOD – The 16-Day Adventure Begins!

🗺️ Route: Heathrow → Runnymede → Painshill Park → Cobham → Chertsey → Leatherhead → Dorking → Charlwood

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Touchdown at Heathrow, collecting the wheels the next day & hitting the road!

My 16-day UK road trip begins with a short journey to the charming Surrey village of Charlwood – the first stop on our British adventure!

GENERAL INFO

🇬🇧 Country: England, UK
🚗 Road Trip: Day 1 of my 16-day UK solo road trip
📍 Starting Point: London Heathrow Airport
🚘 Car Pick-Up: Holiday Inn Heathrow
🏨 Overnight Stay: Charlwood, Surrey
🛏️ Accommodation: Stanhill Court Hotel

DAY 1 ~ ITINERARY

Stop 1: Runnymede National Park, Surrey
Stop 2: Painshill Park, Surrey
Stop 3: Cobham, Surrey
Stop 4: Chertsey, Surrey
Stop 5: Leatherhead, Surrey
Stop 6: Dorking, Surrey

I picked up my car from Budget in the foyer of Holiday Inn Heathrow – easy and quick – got my Merc all lined up and its a bloody beaut this car… It can basically make me a coffee its got so many awesome bells and whistles! I love the way it drives and its not too big for the country roads

You cant get the backpacker out of me LOL – stark contrast between the interior and that backpack! 🤣

Was a cold day in England today around 15-16 degrees and cloud cover the whole time, typical english weather 🙂

There is an immediate change in the roads and the traffic when driving out from London, Im loving the smaller country roads and villages

HEATHROW to RUNNYMEDE

First trip out was to National Trust RUNNYMEDE

From Budget car rentals to Runnymede – took around 20mins along the A road, I didnt want to go the motorway as I just dont get to see the buildings and villages along the way

Heading out to the country side from London city – the greens really pop!

Magna Carta signing location

Runnymede monuments – was a nice flat grassy area great for walks, had some woods where the monuments were

I love these old school gates as you get out into rural UK

JFK memorial monument

THE MAGNA CARTA ~ CONSTITUTIONAL LAW FRAMING!

The Magna Carta, or “Great Charter,” was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the English-speaking world.

In 1215, after King John of England violated a number of ancient laws and customs by which England had been governed, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which enumerates what later came to be thought of as human rights. Among them was the right of the church to be free from governmental interference, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and to be protected from excessive taxes. It established the right of widows who owned property to choose not to remarry, and established principles of due process and equality before the law. It also contained provisions forbidding bribery and official misconduct.

Widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the development of modern democracy, the Magna Carta was a crucial turning point in the struggle to establish freedom.

Walked to the monuments but my main reason of going was the Magna Carta signing location, I had researched about this a while back when I lived in London and it really interested me – how power can corrupt a soul and hurt so many for one person to gain so much… I wonder if this has really made a difference…

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PAINSHILL PARK

Painshill Park was created in the 18th century by Charles Hamilton as a living painting, its just beautiful feeling walking around these woods and gardens, there was a winery there as well and quaint little bridges

Again using the backstreets – took around 35mins as there was some traffic but got to see some really cute villages along the way

10 pounds entry ticket into the beautiful park, well worth it, especially if it helps to maintain it

How interesting is the inside of the grotto!? How is this possible… the walls and ceiling are decorated with so many crystals, including calcite, gypsum, quartz, fluorite, amethyst & Blue John stone!

It was sparkling like there was no tomorrow and beautiful! It was designed to catch the light on the crystals and shine the light around

There were squirrels were running all over the place with their little fuzzy tails and I swear there were some huge trees trying to kill passerbys with their “huge nuts”!! these spiked nuts kept falling randomly as I was walking under, im thinking its either the trees themselves or those crazy squirrels throwing them down!

Ive missed the english woods! The energy while walking through is just beautiful

CHERTSEY

Along the way I drove through this really cute town and I had to stop!

Found a small side street with some parking and walked to the High Street and it was so worth it! The buildings along the way were just awesome, some Alms houses and the pubs on the High Street.. loved them!

Parked on Abbey Rd and 8min walk back to town centre

The Alms Houses built a little outside the town

COBHAM

What a cute little High Street Cobham has, funny how every High St in Britain has 2-3 charity shops, love checking out what they have in store 🙂 Cobham was very cute as well with many unique pubs and its own different style church and ornate buildings

carpark cost 1.50 an hour and had a dilligent parking ranger going around checking cars, can say he wasnt a very happy man, I know I wouldnt want that job!

A typical little high street with the beautiful flower pots hanging on the rails

The High St had a lot of cute shops and places to explore and duck into

LEATHERHEAD

Wasnt sure if I was going to stop here but wanted to pass through and make up my mind from what I saw, and what I saw I really liked! It wasnt a very large town so I passed through the narrow and small main street and parked at a small car park 1.50 an hour and walked up and had a quick look around, it was a really small and quaint place with many random shops and of course a few charity stores

A short 10min drive from Cobham to Leatherhead along the smaller A roads

The Running Horse pub – the inside was all low ceilings, dark and really medieval! I loved it!

How cool and crooked is this house!
Ryde Council wouldnt allow this to exist 🙄

I love love love this beautiful unique building! I really appreciate the fine details of these types of buildings… it was this building that made me stop and explore this little town further

Penny Black – another unique pub… there were at least 3 pubs in this tiny town! The brits know the improtant things dont they 😄

DORKING

Had a quick drive through Dorking and the High Street there, was a larger town than the other littles ones I had drove past

STANHILL COURT HOTEL

Made it to my Hotel at around 6pm, as it was getting dark, lucky as the road leading up to the hotel was narrow and windy

Seperate post review on this beautiful rural manor house accommodation

Found a lucky penny right as i got to my Manor House accom

🇬🇧 Review ~ Stanhill Court Hotel – Charlwood, England

4OCT22