Virginia Water
Virginia Water sits at the edge of Windsor Great Park, and its lake — the largest artificial body of water in Britain when the Duke of Cumberland made it in the 1750s — has genuine Roman columns from Leptis Magna erected on its shore in 1826 as a folly. The Wentworth estate beside it is one of the most expensive postcodes outside London.
Why go
Windsor Great Park — five thousand acres of royal parkland, open and free to walk. A lake with Roman ruins — genuine columns from Leptis Magna, erected here in 1826. The Valley Gardens — rhododendrons and azaleas at their peak in May. Forty minutes from Waterloo — London's most convenient piece of countryside.
The character
Virginia Water is a village in Surrey on the southern edge of Windsor Great Park, and the park is the reason to come. It was enclosed as a royal hunting forest by William the Conqueror, and the lake — created in the 1750s by the Duke of Cumberland, the son of George II who had commanded at Culloden — was the largest artificial body of water in Britain when it was made.
The ruins beside it are real. Columns and lintels from Leptis Magna in Libya were shipped to England in 1816, sat in the courtyard of the British Museum for a decade, and were erected at Virginia Water in 1826 as a picturesque folly on George IV's instruction — genuine Roman remains arranged as landscape architecture. The park also holds the Valley Gardens, whose rhododendron and azalea planting is among the finest in Europe, the Long Walk running four kilometres to Windsor Castle, and a herd of red deer. The village itself is one of the most expensive postcodes outside London, largely because of the Wentworth estate and its golf.
Places of character
Virginia Water lake — a five-kilometre circuit path, flat and shaded, with the ruins halfway round. Leptis Magna ruins — the Roman columns on the lake shore, erected in 1826. Valley Gardens — the rhododendron and azalea collection, spectacular in late April and May. Savill Garden — a formal woodland garden with a gridshell timber visitor building. The Long Walk — from the park to Windsor Castle, four kilometres of straight avenue. Wentworth — the golf estate, which is why the village is what it is.
The way to do it
Park at the lake and walk the full circuit rather than driving between car parks. Go in May for the Valley Gardens. Take the train from Waterloo, which stops beside the park entrance. And combine it with Windsor, which is twenty minutes away and where the castle is.
One perfect day
Train from Waterloo, arriving at the park gate by ten. The lake circuit anticlockwise — five kilometres of shaded path, with the cascade, the totem pole and, halfway round, Roman columns from Libya standing on an English shore. Coffee at the Savill Garden. Late morning in the Valley Gardens if it is May, when the rhododendrons are absurd. Lunch in the village or a pub in Englefield Green. Afternoon on the Long Walk toward Windsor with the castle growing at the end of the avenue, and the deer in the grass beside it. Tea in Windsor, and the train back from there.
Grand hotels
The Wentworth Club — the golf estate's own accommodation, if golf is the reason. Great Fosters, Egham — a 1550s house ten minutes away with formal gardens and a moat.
When to go
Best expression: May, for the Valley Gardens at their peak and the park in full leaf. Consider: October, for autumn colour on the lake circuit. Avoid if possible: nothing outright; the park is open year-round and best in the week.
The frame
Ideal stay a day from London · Minimum half a day · Best arrival train from Waterloo, 40 minutes · Airport LHR, 15 km · Walkability the park entirely, on good paths · Best without a car yes