Henley-on-Thames is a riverside market town on the Oxfordshire–Berkshire border, an hour from central London by train. It's best known for the Royal Regatta — the world's oldest rowing event — but the town earns its weekend-break reputation year-round: independent shops along the high street, century-old pubs, walks along the Thames, and easy access to the Chiltern Hills.
The defining event of Henley's calendar. International rowing, blazers, Pimm's, and the world's most photogenic stretch of river. Book early — our T&Cs apply stricter cancellation on these dates.
Plan your stay 8 – 12 Jul 2026 · Five nightsBlack-tie music and arts on a floating stage on the Thames. Same riverside site as the Regatta enclosures, repurposed for five evenings of headline acts, food and fireworks.
Plan your stay 21 – 23 Aug 2026 · Three days80s nostalgia at Temple Island Meadows. 2026 lineup includes The Human League, The Proclaimers, Kim Wilde, Soul II Soul and Peter Andre. Camping and day tickets.
Plan your stay
Three ways in.
All within fifteen minutes by car.
Stonor Park — home of the Stonor family for over 850 years, set in a deer park in the Chilterns. Three distinct gardens: a 17th-century Italianate pleasure garden, an old kitchen garden, and an eclectic arboretum. House open seasonally; gardens longer. stonor.com
Greys Court (National Trust, three miles west) — Tudor manor with 16th-century stained glass, a walled garden famous for wisteria in May, and an unusual donkey-powered well house. Spring–summer arts and sculpture programme through 2026. nationaltrust.org.uk/greys-court
Mapledurham House (fifteen miles, thirty minutes) — Elizabethan country house and working watermill on the Thames, the inspiration for Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows. Open select Sundays in summer.
Kenton Theatre (five minutes' walk) — the fourth-oldest working theatre in the UK, on New Street. Properly varied programme: drama, comedy, music, talks. thekenton.org.uk
Regal Picturehouse (five minutes' walk) — three-screen independent cinema and café-bar on Boroma Way. Mainstream alongside indie, foreign-language and documentary. picturehouses.com
Friday Street — short historic street of Victorian buildings worth a quick wander, with The Old Bell (1325) at the end of it; said to be the oldest dated pub in town.
The Ama of the Thames — bronze mermaid sculpture on Red Lion Lawn next to the bridge. Easy to miss; a Henley quirk.
Stanlake Park Wine Estate (Twyford, eight miles) — 150-acre Berkshire vineyard offering a £20 tour-and-tasting (six wines). One of the oldest English wine producers. stanlakepark.com
Gabriel Machin — Henley's serious butcher in Market Place. A genuine destination: game in season, dry-aged steaks, the works. The Three Tuns next door uses their meat.
Henley Farmers' Market — second Thursday of every month in Market Place. Worth timing a stay around if you cook.
Beech woods, chalk downs, sleepy villages. Three named walks if you want something specific to aim at — the local-favourite middle option puts three villages, two stately homes and two pubs on a single day.
Crosses the Thames at the weir, returns down the Regatta course. The most photogenic of the three — Hambleden village sits at the top, the river is at the bottom.
Three villages, two stately homes, two pubs along the route. The signature local walk — pace yourself for the second half.
Six historic pubs in a town-centre loop. Pick up the guide at the tourist information centre on the high street.
The Three Tuns in Market Place is the locals' favourite — same owners as Gabriel Machin butcher next door. Côte Brasserie sits directly opposite the Barlows Mews alleyway. Twenty minutes out, you're at Tom Kerridge's Hand and Flowers in Marlow and the three-Michelin-starred Waterside Inn at Bray.
Eight minutes' drive (or a lovely 45-minute Thames-path walk). A riverside village pub in the Chiltern Hills — heritage building, open fires, vintage glass-cased fish on the walls, and the feel of a relaxed country-house hotel. The Sunday lunch is excellent. Eight bedrooms too, if you want to extend the trip.
