‘I visited historic village near London with beautiful scenery and my own private beach’

The travel content creator decided to venture just 45 minutes outside of London to stumble on this historic village which even has a special link to Agatha Christie. So have you been?

There’s so many adorable places to visit in the UK – from the beautiful village named England’s prettiest to another storybook village so pretty tourists think they need to pay to enter. With that said, if you’re from London, there’s many quaint places nearby to visit.

One woman who has a passion for exploring gems across the country recently stumbled on a village where she even had her own private beach. What’s precious about this location is that – it was where Agatha Christie lived for some time too. While the author resided in a number of homes across England, she did spend some time in Wallingford, which is just 45 minutes away from London by train.

Sharing her discovery of Wallingford Beach, Zoe shared a TikTok video with her 53,600 followers, where she said: “Don’t come at me for this but I’m at a beach on the River Thames. I didn’t decide that, that’s actually its name.

“Located in a historic village where Agatha Christie lived, this is Wallingford Beach. The water quality gets tested here regularly and it’s consistently clean so I decided to come check it out and make a walk out of it.

“Here’s how I did it, got the train from London to Goring on Thames. The station is actually Goring and Streatley, it’s about 45 minutes from London Paddington with a change at Reading.

“Goring is a lovely village, worth a visit in itself. I didn’t stay though I had a walk to get to, but first coffee.”

Zoe began her journey towards Thames Path, which is roughly seven miles away. While she adored the scenic riverside and meadow views, it was a lengthy walk to do in the heat.

She added: “It was a very hot day today and although there were lots of trees there wasn’t quite enough for this level of heat, it is a lovely walk but I was very happy when it was over.

“There’s lots of very interesting buildings in Wallingford, full of history, a castle and places to eat. But by this point, I was so hot and bothered, I ignored all of that and headed straight to Wallingford Beach.

“The main area was quite busy but a little further along, I found a nice part, my own private beach. Then spent the rest of the day doing a mix of swimming and chilling and eating.”

Towards the end of her video, Zoe informed her followers that Wallingford doesn’t have a train station, but is easily reachable by bus.

She recommended catching the no. 134 bus back to Goring, or jumping on the X40 River Rapids service directly to Reading, from where she hopped on a 25-minute train back into London.

Things to do in Wallingford Beach:

Wild swimming: If you love water, why not enjoy a refreshing dip in the gently sloping, calm waters right downstream of Wallingford Beach?

Riverside relaxing: You can unwind or have a picnic in the large meadow located directly behind the sandy beach.

Walks: Stroll along the scenic Thames Path towards Benson Lock.

Splash Park and Pool: Perfect for the entire family to enjoy, you can visit the adjacent outdoor heated pool and children’s splash park. Just be sure to check opening times.