Beyond London: 5 Secret English Gems You’ve Never Heard Of: A Complete Guide

England is definitely a land that will pay tribute to the adventurous traveler who is eager to discover its secrets. Although millions of tourists pour in annually to marvel at such sights as the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and Stonehenge, there is another face of England which lies just beyond the din created by the M25. It is an England of old Roman roads, storm-lashed caves overlooking the ocean, and forgotten villages. All a person needs is willingness to put aside a camera in exchange for a solid pair of hiking boots, and here are some suggestions on the top hidden gems of England.

Once you’ve arrived at the UK’s most congested airport, your natural reaction is to get on the train heading into the heart of London. But the real journey of a lifetime will only begin once you have booked a Luton Airport Taxi heading in the opposite direction. Luton is your best bet to explore some of the unsung regions in England like Bedfordshire and even further. Instead of taking the beaten track to the city and spending the entire trip in traffic, take the scenic route where you’ll be met with picturesque fields full of flowers and old-world priories and canals full of swans.

1. The Forgotten Jurassic Coast: Kimmeridge Bay

There’s Durdle Door, there’s Lulworth Cove, but a little further along the coast is Kimmeridge Bay, a black-sand beach dotted with ancient-looking shale rocks. Here, where the fossils don’t lurk behind glass cabinets in museums, they lie underfoot. The bay is known for its “Kimmeridge Ledges,” ledges of rock that form shallow pools filled with anemones and crabs. In contrast to its well-known cousins, Kimmeridge Bay rarely has anyone sharing the sands except the local rock climbers climbing up its crumbling cliffs. Close by sits the Clavell Tower, an odd cylindrical tower built above the grassy fields, providing views in all directions of a coastline that’s been around for 150 million years.

2. The Sunken Village of Dunwich (Suffolk)

What will happen to a village that sinks into the ocean? It becomes a myth. Formerly the capital of East Anglia in the 11th century, Dunwich was mainly drowned into the North Sea due to severe storms in the 13th and 14th centuries. Currently, it is an eerily beautiful beach covered with pebbles. Adventurers who venture off the main road can hear the sounds of ghostly church bells or take a walk around the vast, magenta-colored blanket of heather known as Dunwich Heath. The village museum is a gold mine for underwater archaeologists, while the Ship Inn offers locally smoked fish in the presence of the waves that obliterated a kingdom.

3. The Silent Canals of the Black Country

While Birmingham is associated with industrialism, slightly to its west you will come across the ‘Curly Wyrley’ canal of the Black Country. However, the Curly Wyrley canal does not represent a picturesque canal surrounded by roses, rather a dirty and ugly canal. The canal, bordered by rusty cranes, ivy-covered factories, and old iron bridges, is both strange and beautiful but, most importantly, empty of tourists. It is not uncommon to stroll around the canal for hours without encountering other people except perhaps glimpsing a kingfisher bird or some boats powered by wood-fired stoves. The attraction in the area is the BCLM, but even better is the towpath behind it, which is unmarked and open to all.

4. The Valley of Rocks (Exmoor, Devon)

As is well-known, the ponies of Exmoor are one of the biggest draws for tourists in this area. However, what tourists do not know is that there is another place in the region that has nothing to do with the green valleys of Exmoor or even with the Tarr Steps. This is Valley of Rocks, which is situated along the coast of Exmoor and is truly out of the world. Quartzite tors, looking very impressive and almost fantastic, form a dry moon-like valley alongside the sea. Goats with huge horns run around the area, while huge waves roll down from 400 feet high.

5. The Last Marsh: Wallasea Island (Essex)

For an authentic experience of exploration, visit Wallasea Island. It is a huge rewilding scheme, an artificial wilderness where the North Sea has been let loose on former farmland. It is flat, huge, and confusingly open. Here, you will have to rely on the angle of the sun and the call of the curlew for navigation. No coffee shops, no bathrooms, and no roads; only gravel trails stretching endlessly across landscapes of salt marshes, lagoons, and pools. It is heaven for ornithologists (you can spot spoonbills and peregrines here), but it is also heaven for those who love being alone. You will find this place after driving through the industrial town of Rochford and passing through small, secluded villages straight out of the 1950s.

Planning Your Journey: Getting Around Without a Car

The first thing that strikes you about the areas we recommend visiting is their remoteness from major rail routes. Although you can get there using standard transport, the real adventure – access to particular trail starts, isolated beaches, and abandoned villages – demands agility. It is here that the use of an airport transfer becomes necessary. For instance, if your destination airport is London’s western end point, hiring a Taxi to Heathrow and transferring straight to a car rental facility or a coach company will save you five hours of train commuting. You will be able to get out of the terminal at eight o'clock in the morning and spend your lunchtime enjoying the solitude of an empty beach in Exmoor or the view from a disintegrated Suffolk cliff. Moreover, the transfer price is no more than that of a couple of railway tickets, let alone all the advantages of spontaneity.

Final Tips for the Off-Path Traveler

A new way of thinking is required to visit these places. Pack for varying weather conditions (it can be four seasons in a single day here), carry a paper map (cellular services drop dramatically once you descend into the valleys), and check the tide timings before heading out to places such as Kimmeridge. But more than anything else, maintain the quietness. This is what makes these places special to their local residents, being unknown to outsiders.

Conclusion

The best kept secrets of England don’t lie in being secret at all; they’re just ignored. Whether it’s the church ruins of Dunwich under the waves or the feral goats on Exmoor, these are places that offer England from a different perspective entirely. By choosing to fly into a smaller airport and taking a private taxi to get past all the main tourist attractions, you open up the real England, one that many travelers will never experience. So why not take that flight to England, but leave the map of London behind?