St Mary's & St George's Church

The church sits quietly on Marlow's high street, all flint and stone with a tower that's been watching over the Thames Valley since medieval times. St Mary's and St George's is properly old - the sort of building where you can run your hand along walls that have stood for 600 years and feel something genuine.

Inside, there's decent tracery in the windows and a chance to actually sit down in the cool for a bit, which matters more than you'd think after a long walk around Marlow. The interior's unpretentious without being boring - no mad Victorian restoration, just honest church space. You won't spend hours here, but fifteen minutes gives you the measure of it.

It works best if you're already in Marlow itself, wandering between the riverside pubs and the town's Georgian streets. Families based at Chiltern Retreat Rural Camping or Bella Vista Camping nearby might duck in out of the rain, though it's not the sort of place that'll grip younger kids for long. History enthusiasts and anyone with a thing for English churches will find it worth the detour though.

Free to visit, though opening hours seem to vary - best to check locally or try the door. Combine it with a proper walk along the Thames Path and lunch in town, and it slots neatly into a park holiday in Buckinghamshire. Twenty minutes maximum inside, but it's the kind of place that settles something in you.