I grew up near one of the UK’s best cities to live – here are my favourite pubs and even free attractions

A HISTORIC cathedral conscionable metres from past Roman ruins, cosy pubs with roaring fireplaces connected seemingly each cobblestone way and a thriving precocious thoroughfare reminiscent of the bully aged days.

This is St Albans, a leafy metropolis conscionable 25-minutes from London by train.

I grew up successful and astir the country – and astatine 31 years old, I person nary plans to leave.

Why would I? It’s often named 1 of the champion places to unrecorded successful the UK, including successful The Sunday Times successful 2020 erstwhile it was crowned victor successful the South East category.

It has retained a village-like consciousness acknowledgment to the plethora of greenish spaces and a compact centre, made up of protected buildings, dating arsenic acold backmost arsenic the 12th century.

And it’s got capable going connected that you seldom request to task further afield astatine the weekends. That is, not unless you privation to – the superior is lone a abbreviated region away, aft all.

Luckily, implicit the years I’ve uncovered immoderate lesser known attractions and learned the champion times to sojourn the much fashionable eating spots.

Take the Waffle House, for example. Mere metres from the city’s parkland and housed wrong a Grade II listed erstwhile watermill, this edifice is jam-packed astatine the weekends – and for bully reason.

The paper consists solely of waffles piled with mountains of saccharine oregon savoury toppings, including immoderate much blase flavours for the grown ups (how does hummus and avocado layered with olives, rocket and balsamic glaze sound?). 

But you can’t book, truthful if you’re heading down connected a Saturday oregon Sunday, get determination astatine the opening clip of 9am and debar midday to 2pm if you can.

When it comes to decent grub, you’ve got your prime of debased to precocious brow joints, galore of which are tally by locals for locals.

Over connected London Road, not acold from the station, an unassuming adust cleaners is serving up the champion bagels and java successful town.

It’s really a cafe, Brad & Dills, but the aged adust cleaning motion retired the beforehand mightiness fool you. Bagels outgo from conscionable £5.80 for an ovum and food served with ‘secret sauce’ oregon £7.80 for a Reuben crammed with pastrami, Emmental, sauerkraut, pickles and a dollop of that peculiar ‘secret sauce’.

Less than a ten-minute locomotion from here, astatine the different extremity of the terms scale, is Thompson, a fine-dining associated that stars successful the Michelin usher and serves 5 to 7 people tasting menus and an a la carte enactment of classical British dishes.

It’s lavish and luxurious, but much affordable than akin spots successful London with 3 fancy courses for little than £80.

Keep your eyes peeled for the food markets too. The 100-acre Verulamium Park, location to 1 of the world's fewer remaining chalk rivers, plays big to Pub successful the Park, TV cook Tom Kerridge’s foodie festival, each summer.

You tin expect talks and demonstrations from immoderate of the UKs astir renowned chefs and stalls tally by adjacent restaurants, arsenic good arsenic immoderate decent euphony – header acts for this twelvemonth included Olly Murs and Paloma Faith.

Then there’s a vegan marketplace moving done the metropolis centre, operating respective dates passim the year. Some of the grub, similar the mock duck wrap, packs specified a meaty punch that it could person adjacent the astir dedicated of carnivores.

Then there’s the ‘Feastival’, the bi-weekly wide marketplace and the Gin & Jazz festival, to sanction a fewer more.

But prevention country for a pint, arsenic this metropolis is location to immoderate of the champion and oldest pubs successful the UK. It’s besides reportedly got much drinking spots per quadrate mile than anyplace other successful the country truthful is large for a pub crawl.

On the ten-minute locomotion from the presumption to the metropolis centre alone, you’ll walk 5 drinking holes connected the aforesaid street, including The Horn which regularly hosts unrecorded euphony sessions.

You whitethorn privation to steer wide of Havana nightclub, further on the road, until you’ve sunk a fewer much beers successful immoderate of the different pubs first, though.

Then you’ve got Ye Olde Fighting Cocks which claims to beryllium the oldest pub successful the UK and backs connected to the river, overlooking the park. 

The gathering itself supposedly dates backmost to 793AD and according to rumour determination is simply a postulation of aged underground tunnels successful the brew cellar, erstwhile utilized by monks, that pb up to the Cathedral a abbreviated region away.

I haven’t snuck my mode into the cellar (yet), but I bash cognize that the ample plot country is cleanable for a pint and Sunday roast successful the summer months.

It’s this intriguing history that makes St. Albans really special. Roman ruins tin beryllium seen astir the metropolis for free, though the Verulamium Museum volition springiness you a deeper look into the radical that erstwhile occupied this metropolis (tickets outgo £5 per kid and £10 per adult).

You tin besides publication a guided walking circuit (‘Historic St Albans - A City Revealed’, spot stalbanstourguides.co.uk) that volition instrumentality you to immoderate of the section sites that are steeped successful history, including the mediaeval clocktower astatine the ft of the precocious street, next to a precise modern Gail’s bakery.

And if strolling the cobbled pavements doesn’t tyre your feet, immoderate of the country’s astir scenic walking trails tin beryllium picked up from the borderline of the city.

I’ve been strolling these streets for 31 years now. And I’m inactive not bushed of them.