Fern Cottage - Bed & Breakfast

Things to do and sights to see, in and around St Albans and Links

If you are planning a holiday trip to the oldest town in Hertfordshire, St Albans, then perhaps the two most important websites to view would be:
The English Tourist Board - www.enjoyengland.com
This is the U.K’s official national tourist board and aims to provide all the up to date information for a visit to England. You can order a brochure from this site.
Visit East of England - www.visiteastofengland.com
If you are not planning on visiting further afield than St Albans and the surrounding areas, then this is the site for you. This has travel directions in a number of languages as well as forthcoming events and visitor information.

St Albans tourist information office - www.aboutbritain.com/stalbans
If your visit is more localised and you wish solely to find out more about St Albans itself then St Albans tourist information office is for you .You may also wish to look at:
The local St Albans tourist office - www.touruk.co.uk/hertfordshire/stalbans.html
Another useful site - www.britinfo.net/index_St_Albans.htm

The two local newspapers are both good sources of additional information.:
The Herts Advertiser - www.hertsad.co.uk
The Observer/Review - www.stalbansobserver.co.uk

St. Albans History - www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/places/st_albans.htm

There are two theatres in town:
Alban Arena - www.alban-arena.co.uk
A well established entertainment venue with a busy programme of National Touring Shows, Rock and Pop Concerts, Comedy, Films, Large Scale Exhibitions, a beer festival and the region's most popular Christmas Pantomime.
Abbey theatre - www.abbeytheatre2.org.uk
Company of Ten is the resident amateur drama company of The Abbey Theatre and one of the premier drama companies in Great Britain. They were founded in 1934 .The Abbey Theatre was constructed with funds raised by the Company; Sir Michael Redgrave laid its foundation stone in 1967 and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother opened the Abbey Theatre in April 1968 when she came to see the first production.

The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban - www.stalbanscathedral.org
One of the major attractions of course in our city is the Cathedral. Interest in this majestic building may well increase due to the ongoing debate as to whether to replace England's current patron saint, St George with that of St Alban. According to recent press reports, the Church of England is considering rejecting England's patron saint St George on the grounds that his image is too warlike( and I always thought he only fought dragons!) and that this may offend certain people. Clergy have apparently started a campaign to replace George with St Alban, who was a Christian martyr in Roman Britain. Even without this controversy thousands flock to the cathedral every year coming to take part in the services, to view the beautiful interior or to visit the shrine of St Alban, a site of national pilgrimage which is used as a place of prayer and meditation by visitors daily. More information at .

St Albans Organ Museum - www.stalbansorganmuseum.org.uk
A lesser known attraction is the quirky St Albans organ museum where you can see amongst other musical ephemera, a self-playing violin.

Walter Rothschild Zoological museum - www.nhm.ac.uk/tring
A highly unusual museum based not far from St Albans. This is an annexe of the Natural History museum and houses an incredible collection of bizarre, beautiful and rare stuffed animals.

Museums Info - www.stalbansmuseums.org
We do have museums of a more traditional kind. Two, in fact, one is dedicated to social and local history. Then there is the rather splendid Verulamium museum built with an EU grant of £96850 where you can find out everything about Roman life. There is also a separate building housing the spectacular hypocaust and mosaic floor.
Also see some wonderful pictures at www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk
Or for a bit more culteral activities how about visiting an art gallery? Information on both viewing and purchasing at www.thebestof.co.uk or indeed if you fancy some tuition www.insight-art.co.uk does individual day courses.

Willows Farm - www.willowsfarmvillage.com/info
If live animals are more your choice and you would like something for the children then Willows farm is only a short distance from Fern Cottage and has acres of fun for all ages.

Whipsnade Wild Animal Park - www.zsl.org/whipsnade
If animals are top of the list there is of course the famous Whipsnade wild animal park only a short distance away.

S. Herts Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) - www.hertsale.org.uk/beerfest
Looking for more adult entertainment? then perhaps the annual beer festival held in September would be more to your taste. Run by the S. Herts Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) group which is the oldest branch of this popular organisation still in existence and maintains its` headquaters in St Albans.
If alcoholic beverages get your interest then do remember we have reportedly the oldest public house in Britain (although I do believe thier are one or two others that hold a similar claim) namely The Fighting Cock. Information about this and many other beer related places at the imaginatively named website www.beerintheevening.com/pubs

Relocation - Of course many people visit St Albans are not all tourists. Many plan to re-locate , if this is the reason for your visit you can obtain some valuable information from:
Find a Property - www.findaproperty.com
This site has properties to rent as well as to buy.
Estate Agents - www.propertyfinder.com or www.thebestof.co.uk

Local Schools - st-albans.herts.sch.uk
St Albans Boys School’s web site St Albans School is one of the most ancient educational foundations in Europe. Here for over a thousand years, young people have been achieving academic distinction but there is a complete list of all the other schools at www.scoolsguidebook.co.uk/counties/hertfordshire

Golf Connections - www.verulamgolf.co.uk
Verulam golf club is the home club of Samuel Ryder, founder of the Ryder cup. It is unfortunately a private club but details of other golf courses can be found at www.uk-golf.com/england/hertfordshire~st._albans.html

St Albans City Football Club - www.sacfc.co.uk
If football is more your kind of sport and your visit is to support your local football team at an away match. St Albans City Football club have a great website and if your team is playing against them then details of all future matches can be found here.

Sport - www.localife.co.uk/stalbans/sport.asp

Gyms or Health Clubs - www.thefitmap.co.uk/healthclubs. You could also try www.upmystreet.com/uk/findmynearest where not only health clubs are listed but anything from stamp dealers to fortune tellers.

Local Restaurants - www.restaurants-guide.com and www.stalbans.uk/tourism/restpubs

Local Bus, Coach and Rail Information - www.carlberry.co.uk

Driving Here - www.goldings.co.uk/contact_us/map_and_directions
Get maps and weather reports to help you with your journey at www.ask.com or have the whole journey planned for you at www.multimap.com

Rail
The City of St Albans is served by two railway stations. St Albans City Station is situated in Victoria Street and services are run by First Capital and there is also the Abbey flier. Information regarding both of them can be found at www.stalbans.gov.uk/transport/public.htm

If you are coming from London - You would need to go to Kings Cross station and follow the directions to Thameslink. Then get the train from there to St Albans. Info at: www.tfl.gov.uk/tube

National rail enquiries is a portal into UK rail travel including train company information and promotions; and has an Interstation connection map for St. Albans, .find them at: www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/maps/station_maps.htm

Air- Fern Cottage is easy to get to from all of these airports

Heathrow - www.heathrowairport.com
Luton, our nearest airport - www.london-luton.co.uk
Stanstead airport - www.stansted-airport-guide.co.uk
Gatwick - www.gatwickairport.com

Other Breaks

http://www.lodging-world.com/Home.aspx?country=EU

http://www.charlestowncornishcottages.co.uk

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