Dorking & Box Hill
A market town tucked beneath the North Downs where the River Mole cuts through the chalk escarpment, with Box Hill — one of the best-known viewpoints in the South East — rising just to the north.
Box Hill has been a popular outing from London since Victorian times and is now cared for by the National Trust; its zig-zag paths and open box-woodland give sweeping views across the Weald, and the hill was used as the finishing climb for the men's and women's road races at the London 2012 Olympics, which cemented its reputation with cyclists. Dorking's own High Street retains a good number of antiques shops and older buildings, and the surrounding hills also take in Leith Hill, the highest point in South East England, and Denbies, one of the largest single vineyards in the country.
The town has been a coaching stop and market centre since at least medieval times, sitting where old routes over the North Downs met the Mole valley — a position that still makes it a natural base for walkers heading onto the Downs or along the Greensand Way.
Where to Stay near Dorking & Box Hill
- Mercure Burford Bridge Hotel — at the foot of Box Hill itself, with gardens running down to the River Mole; parts of the building are said to date back centuries.
- Mercure Dorking White Horse Hotel — a former coaching inn in the centre of Dorking.
- Wotton House — a country estate hotel a few miles outside Dorking, set in Grade II listed gardens.
Getting there
Dorking has direct trains to London Victoria and Waterloo, and sits just off the A24 and A25, with the M25 a short drive to the north.