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Practicalities
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Trains
on the Bedford to London King's Cross line call at St Albans station, from where it's a ten-minute walk west up the hill along Victoria street to the centre - and the Clock Tower. Trains from Watford Junction (for London Euston and the North) serve the small St Albans Abbey Station, a similar distance from the centre, but this time to the south at the bottom of Holywell Hill. Most
buses
terminate at St Albans station, but virtually all services stop along the main commercial drag, St Peter's Street, too. St Peter's Street extends north from the Market Place. The
tourist office
is in the Town Hall, on the Market Place (Easter-Oct Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm; Nov-Easter Mon-Sat 10am-4pm; tel 01727/864511,
).
St Albans has a good supply of B&Bs with several clustered near St Albans station, including the first-rate Wren Lodge (tel 01727/855540; no credit cards; A?40-50), a well-maintained Edwardian house with four comfortable and attractively furnished bedrooms - two en suite. Fishpool Street is, however, a much prettier spot to head for and it's here you'll find the pleasant Black Lion Inn , at no. 198 (tel 01727/851786, info@blacklioninn.abelartis.com ; A?60-70), an ancient pub with sixteen agreeable rooms, fourteen en suite.
When it comes to
food
, St Albans' restaurant scene is a tad humdrum, but the
pubs
serve up some interesting fare. The
Goat
, on Sopwell Lane off Holywell Hill (tel 01727/833934), serves some of the best food and beer in town, while the
Blue Anchor
, on Fishpool Street, is a more solidly local pub with an open fire in winter and garden seating in summer. The antique
Fighting Cocks
, on Abbey Mill Lane, has been chopped around a bit and does get mightily crowded on sunny summer days, but still has lots of enjoyable nooks and crannies in which to nurse a pint. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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