Car-free adventures aroundColchesterEssex
Britain’s oldest recorded Roman town (known then as Camulodunum), Colchester was home to the UK’s biggest classical temple, along with theatres, mosaic-floored villas and racing tracks. Colchester castle, an eleventh-century Norman keep, was built on top of the Roman temple. Enriched over the centuries by Flemish weavers and Victorian engineers, it also has a long military history and is now one of Britain’s fastest-growing towns. In 2022 it was given city status. A great network of trains and buses makes it easy to escape into the Essex countryside, visiting hilly bluebell woods or seafront beach huts. Colchester is a great base for a staycation - scroll to the end for more tips.
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1. Hollytrees museum and more
Colchester has two railway stations. Greater Anglia‘s trains from Chelmsford, Norwich, London and the coast arrive at both regularly. Colchester Town station is just ten minutes’ walk from the city’s central attractions, but there are faster to Colchester’s main (or North) railway station, where there is a taxi rank. Frequent buses into town leave from the far side of the main road.
- The red brick Georgian mansion at the end of the High Street, with namesake holly trees outside and ornamental gardens nearby, houses the engaging Hollytrees museum and the town’s tourist information. Open Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm, this free museum takes you on a tour of Colchester life since the 1700s. It is stuffed with costumes and grandfather clocks, rocking horses and and intricate dolls’ houses, as well as huge collections of things to do with tea.
- Nearby, Colchester Castle is a major tourist attraction with hands-on chances to explore 2000 years of history – from archaeology in the Roman vaults to tales from wartime Colchester.
- From the tourist information office, you can pick up cycling and walking maps of the area, bus timetables and more.
- Cross the High Street and turn left a few steps to find the lovely Minories Art Gallery.
- First Site, Colchester’s gleaming new Arts Centre is just beyond this walled garden – there are film screenings, exhibitions, craft sessions and more inside this stylish glass cliff of a building.
- Bus 75, which can take you to Colchester Zoo leaves from Osborne Street and takes about 15 minutes to get there. Follow Good Journey’s directions.
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2. Hillhouse Wood by bus
Colchester’s main railway station (sometimes called “North Station”) is – slightly awkwardly – out of the town centre to the north. The good news is that several great trips by train or bus start from outside the station, including a railway-themed adventure (see 4 below), a trip to the seaside (see 3 below) or a stroll in lovely Hillhouse wood.
- With flowering valleys and clear steams, nightingales and woodpeckers, patches of wild garlic and bluebells, a springtime walk in this small but perfectly formed wood is a delight.
- Turn right out of Colchester railway station and find the layby with stop Ea. No need to cross the road. Catch bus S3 which leaves from frequently (less on Sundays) and takes you to the Queen’s Head pub in West Bergholt.
- A few steps beyond the bus stop, turn right up Lexden Road and, after five mins or so, left into Firmins Court. A path leads from the end of Firmins Court across the fields to the old church. Then take the lane beside the church and follow it left to the wood’s main entrance.
- There are many paths through Hillhouse, where getting lost in May is a pleasure; one scenic route is to fork left near the pond, through the valley, and follow any way-marked path through the woods in this direction until all ways converge to cross two little bridges and climb up to a gate in the southeast corner of the wood.
- Follow the path ahead along the edge of a field. Reaching a brick cottage, you can either turn left back to the old church, or follow Cooks Hall Road towards West Bergholt.
- This quiet lane leads past paddocks with goats and donkeys and a stately Georgian rectory. Turn left at the cross roads and go on over Lexden Road to find the stop for buses to Colchester and the unpretentious Queen’s Head pub, reflected in the village pond.
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3. Brightlingsea and Mersea Island by bus and boat
There are some exciting options nearby if you feel like a day out at the seaside. Bus 86 from the centre of town to Mersea Island and bus 87, from Colchester North station or the town centre to Brightlingsea, both make the journey to the coast.
- With its oyster beds and sandy beaches, Britain’s most easterly inhabited island has attracted centuries of sea-lovers. Bus 86 takes just about half an hour to trundle from the centre of Colchester to West Mersea’s High Street.
- Bus 87 heads for Brightlingsea with its beach huts and promenades, flowering gardens and bungalows. There’s a restored 1930s lido too and the Colne Estuary, with its low-lying grazing meadows, shingle banks and saltmarshes, is a national nature reserve.
- You can also take a seasonal foot ferry from Brightlingsea over to East Mersea and walk five miles along the beach. With no car to get back to, you can simply take bus 86 back to Colchester.
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4. East Anglia Railway Museum by train
The East Anglia Railway Museum is just a twenty-minute train ride away and visitors who arrive by train get 10% off entry.
- How to get to EARM without a car: Just follow Good Journey’s directions. The museum is on a lovely branch line to Sudbury.
- This railway – branded the Gainsborough Line – immediately takes you over the thousand-foot Chappel Viaduct, England’s second-largest brick-built structure.
- Get off at Chappel and Wakes Colne station to find the Railway Museum right there. You can even have lunch in a vintage railway carriage or dress up as an old-fashioned stationmaster.
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Buses, bikes and places to stay
Here’s a bit more practical info if you’re planning a staycation in Colchester.
- If you’re taking several bus rides around Essex there are various tickets that could be useful, including the Essex Saver, which offers unlimited bus travel across the whole, huge county. Individual bus companies also offer day tickets, but these are usually limited to buses run by that company.
- If the bus journeys are on the same day that you arrive by train, get a bargain PlusBus ticket for unlimited bus rides around the whole urban area. It includes travel to and from Colchester North station and the Zoo.
- The Colchester Cycling Campaign suggests various places you can hire bikes from.
- There are lots of places to stay in Colchester, including a central Premier Inn near the castle.
- Or, much more excitingly, hop on bus 86 to Mersea Island and stay at the White Hart Inn. The bus stops almost opposite the inn, which has six smart bedrooms and an airy, vaulted dining room with excellent food. The island’s museum is nearby and a beach is just round the corner.
