Holiday Cottages In Surrey

Surrey has around 50 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, a small but useful set in one of the greenest counties next to London. Most sit in or near the wooded Surrey Hills, within easy reach of Wisley, Box Hill and the big theme parks. More than 30 of them take dogs and a handful come with a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Surrey

Surrey is a commuter county of woods, heaths and chalk hills wrapped around the southern edge of London, so the cottages here tend to be village boltholes rather than seaside lets. They gather in two broad areas: the Surrey Hills villages around Guildford and Dorking, and the North Downs villages east towards Caterham. Wrecclesham on the edge of Farnham has the most of any single place, with Jacob's Well near Guildford next.

The Surrey Hills and the west:

• Shere: one of the prettiest villages in the county, with a ford, a church and tea rooms in a fold of the hills
• Abinger and Abinger Common: well-wooded rural parishes between Dorking and the hills
• Ewhurst: a quiet village under the greensand ridge of Pitch Hill
• Buckland and Charlwood: villages on the low ground below the Downs near Reigate and Gatwick
• Busbridge and Brookwood: villages near Godalming and Woking in the wooded south west

The North Downs and the east:

• Caterham: a town set in a valley of the Downs, high on the chalk south of Croydon
• Banstead and Chipstead: Downs-edge places among golf courses and beech woods
• Tandridge and Dormansland: small villages in the quiet south east towards the Kent and Sussex borders
• Stanwell: a village in the far north of the county, close to Heathrow and the Thames

The Surrey Hills and countryside

For a county pressed up against London, Surrey is remarkably green, and much of its southern half lies within the Surrey Hills National Landscape, a protected sweep of chalk down and greensand ridge. Its best known viewpoint is Box Hill, the steep chalk shoulder above the River Mole that has drawn walkers since Victorian times and featured in the 2012 Olympic cycling road race. The hills are laced with footpaths and bridleways, the North Downs Way runs along the chalk, and great houses sit in the folds: the Edwardian country estate of Polesden Lacey near Leatherhead is set in gardens and walks high on the downs. It is walking and riding country an hour from the city, with wide views south over the Weald from the ridge tops.

Things to do in Surrey

Surrey is the day-trip county for big attractions. The thrill rides of Thorpe Park near Chertsey and Chessington World of Adventures draw families from across the south east, the latter pairing a theme park with a zoo. For something gentler, RHS Garden Wisley near Woking is one of the great gardens of England, glorious in every season. History and speed meet at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, on the site of the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit and a cradle of British aviation. Out in the hills, walkers make for Box Hill and the gardens and parkland of Polesden Lacey. London is on the doorstep too, a short train ride from almost anywhere in the county.

When to visit Surrey

Spring and summer are the obvious times for the Surrey Hills, when the beech woods leaf up, the gardens at Wisley peak and the chalk downs are at their best for walking. The theme parks run from spring through to autumn, busiest in the school holidays and for their Halloween and fireworks events. Autumn turns the woods gold and is a fine quiet season on the hills. Being so close to London, Surrey works as a base year round, and with only a small number of cottages it is worth booking well ahead for summer and holiday weekends.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Surrey

More than 30 of the cottages in Surrey take dogs, and nine have a hot tub. Browse the dog-friendly cottages to narrow your search.

Getting to Surrey

Surrey is one of the easiest counties to reach, ringed by motorways on the south side of London. The M25 crosses the county, with the M23 running south to Gatwick and the M3 heading south west towards Hampshire; the A3 carries you from London down through Guildford. Trains are frequent, with fast services from London Waterloo to Guildford and Woking in around half an hour and lines fanning out across the whole county. Both Gatwick and Heathrow airports sit on or beside the Surrey border.

Useful links

• Visit Surrey
• Surrey County Council
• Surrey Hills National Landscape

Surrey is a county in the South East of England, lying immediately south west of London between the capital's outer suburbs and the North Downs. It is one of the most wooded counties in the country, a green belt of heath, common and farmland that has long served as both a retreat and a commuter belt for London. Guildford, set on a gap in the chalk where the River Wey cuts through the Downs, is the county town, with Woking, Farnham and Dorking among its other main centres.

The land rises from the Thames valley in the north, across sandy heaths and the broad chalk ridge of the North Downs, to the wooded greensand hills along the southern border. Much of this southern country is protected as the Surrey Hills National Landscape, a sweep of beech hangers, bluebell woods and viewpoints such as Box Hill and Leith Hill, the highest point in the south east. The River Mole and the River Wey wind north through the hills to join the Thames, which forms part of the county's northern edge.

Surrey has a long and comfortable history. The kingdom of the South Saxons and later Wessex held this ground, royal palaces stood at Nonsuch and Oatlands, and the Magna Carta was sealed at Runnymede beside the Thames in 1215. The arrival of the railways in the nineteenth century turned its villages into prosperous commuter settlements, yet the county keeps its leafy character, its great gardens and its open downland walks close to the city.