I found an incredibly beautiful UK village that felt like a toy town | Travel News | Travel

There are some places that are so beautiful, where the hedges are trimmed so neatly and the signs kept at such an angle, that they almost feel too perfect.

A few years ago, I cycled through the Swiss Alps down the Rhone Valley. The river water had been turned a soft greeny blue by the chalk bed, in contrast to the vibrant green of the lushly grassed banks and laden pear trees that ran along it. The air was thick with the scent of summertime, yet perfectly clean and a pleasure to breathe.

Switzerland’s primary fault is that it doesn’t feel real. The mountains are too high and pointy; the snow too pure; the people too obviously Swiss (within an hour of being in Geneva, I was in a karaoke bar where Kirsch-drunk punters sang Celine Dion on repeat).

I level the same charge at Alfriston in East Sussex.

My approach to the village of 800 was slow and on foot, having made it to the nearest functioning station in the days after a train derailment shut down Southern Rail. Happily, that is the best way to arrive.

The village is surrounded by the Wealden South Downs, an area that stretches 35 miles from north to south and includes the iconic Seven Sisters coastline, the South Downs National Park and the High Weald area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. At the height of the roasting summer we’re just emerging from, the way the scorched gold hills were accented by chalk cliffs, beneath an unfailingly blue sky, was distinctly surreal.

The right mood to turn up at Alfriston, given its flirtation with the surreal. In Switzerland, I often felt like I was staring down at the lid of a chocolate box rather than a view that could actually exist. In Alfriston, I had the sense I’d fallen into the backroom at Visit Britain HQ where they design places that American and Japanese tourists will find completely irresistible.

The centre of the village is a short road, only 200m or so, that’s narrow enough that cars need to stop to let one another pass, meaning the roar of traffic that ruins many a British village is not present. Flanking the road are a series of charming cottages, pubs and restaurants. Some are housed in medieval timber-framed halls, others boast of being 15th-century coaching inns.

The modernisation of the place has been done tastefully and with minimal intervention. When the flow of cars subsides, it’s possible to think, just for a moment, that you’re in a different century.

The village was named one of Britain’s 27 most beautiful in a recent Telegraph ranking, and it’s hard to disagree. I sat in the gardens of the Six Bells and George Inn, enjoying pints of the locally brewed Harveys, watching the world go by.

Across from me was St Andrew’s Church, supposedly known as the ‘Cathedral of the Downs’ thanks to the flint structure’s 700-year history. A happy couple had just tied the knot and were being photographed on the village green – a charming thing to lazily watch after a sweaty stomp across the Downs.

“I needed that,” a friendly and fried Down From Londoner told me after seeing off his drink. He and his wife were staying in Alfriston for a couple of days, having managed to deposit their four children under eight with a pliant relative for the weekend.

While my prescription for this man was ‘sit in the pub garden and do nothing’ for two days, there is a surprising amount to occupy you in the village.

Much Ado Books is a solid independent bookshop tucked away in a converted barn, just across the road from vintage shop The Dressing Room and Alfriston Arts, which sells local prints and paintings. As you’d expect from this toytown of a place, all of the shops in Alfriston – from the Sussex cheese-selling Village Store and organic cosmetic shop Fern, to antique shop Object Trouvé and exotic salt and pepper purveyor Seed & Leef – are independent.

There are also plenty of places to eat. All of the pubs serve food, including the Star, George and Smugglers inns, while the Badger Tea House is a converted bakery that specialises in light lunches served in its flower-filled walled garden.

The main event in Alfriston is the Alfriston Clergy House, a particularly rare and well-preserved 14th-century Wealden ‘Hall House’ that was the first building to be acquired by the National Trust, way back in 1896. The thatched, timber-framed house is in such an idyllic setting, with views across the River Cuckmere, it’s a must-visit, whether National Trust outings fill you with joy or dread.

If you can’t pack it all into a day, there are beds at Wingrove House. The hotel was originally a family home built in the mid-19th century in a colonial style that looks more West Virginia than East Sussex. Today, it deals in roaring log fires, rustic-chic rooms and a boutique brasserie.

It’s a place that deserves a visit, whether long or short. It just might leave you feeling like you’ve been somewhere a little unreal.