Godalming

Ancient burial mounds and Celtic crosses dot the rolling Surrey Hills around this market town, which sits pretty in the Wey Valley with more character than most commuter spots. Godalming's Georgian high street has proper substance - independent shops, decent pubs, and none of that soulless chain store monotony you'll find elsewhere along the A3 corridor.

The real draw here is what lies beyond the town boundaries. Beacon Hill offers cracking views across the Weave Valley, while the network of ancient woodlands - Tylands Copse, Halnecker Copse, and Newhouse Great Copse among them - provides miles of proper walking through beech and oak forest. These aren't manicured country park paths either; some tracks can get properly muddy after rain.

Archaeology buffs will appreciate the various tumuli scattered across the landscape, remnants of Bronze Age burial sites that give this stretch of Surrey a sense of deep history often missing from the Home Counties. The Celtic Cross marks another slice of the past, though you'll need to do a bit of detective work to track down some of these sites.

Witley station puts you on the Portsmouth line to London Waterloo - handy for day trips or arriving car-free. The town itself works well as a base for exploring the broader Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with Guildford just up the road and the South Downs within striking distance.

Staying at one of the nearby parks makes perfect sense when you want to explore this corner of Surrey without the London price tags. You're close enough for easy access to Godalming's shops and restaurants, but far enough out to wake up to birdsong rather than traffic.