Hitchin is a well-preserved market town in Hertfordshire, about 35 miles north of London. Its medieval street plan survives largely intact, centred on a handsome Market Place that still hosts a twice-weekly market under the watch of the Italianate Corn Exchange clock tower. The town has an active independent shopping scene — coffee shops, bookshops, and delis tucked into buildings that go back centuries — alongside the usual high street chains.
The single most surprising thing in Hitchin is St Mary's Church, one of the largest parish churches in England — bigger than many cathedrals — set on the river Hiz a few minutes from the square. The North Hertfordshire Museum and the unusual Lancasterian schoolroom at the British Schools Museum are both worth an hour. In summer (late June to mid-August), the lavender fields at Hitchin Lavender on the edge of town pull crowds from across the south-east.
It sits between Stevenage and Letchworth Garden City, and is easy to reach by train from London King's Cross in under 40 minutes.