An extensive survey has ranked Epping Forest as the UK’s sixth best road trip for summer 2022.
Experts at Moneybarn, a car finance and loan company, looked at factors including: the top forty driving routes and reviews on TripAdvisor, accident data, social media statistics, sunlight hours and tourist attractions.
The Essex road trip also ranked 21st for tourist attractions, eighth for sunlight hours and 25th for road safety.
Here, Epping Forest District Council lists 10 great reasons to take a drive through the beautiful forest.
Spring scene in Epping Forest. (26/3/2012) EL30046-6
1 The Forest itself
A stunning ancient woodland and former royal hunting forest stretching 12 miles from London to Epping.
2 On London’s doorstep
Spend less of your ‘day out’ travelling – the Epping Forest area is a country retreat and recreational haven on London Underground’s Central Line and just minutes from the North Circular, M25 and M11.
3 Adrenaline heaven
Extreme sports fans can enjoy adrenalin-pumping white water rafting at Lee Valley White Water Centre, exhilarating sports car and hovercraft experiences, flying lessons, mountain biking, high rope adventures and much more.
4 Hidden Heritage
Discover Waltham Abbey’s newly-refurbished district museum, its connection to King Harold and gunpowder production or nearby Copped Hall, where Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first performed. Marvel at the world’s oldest wooden church at Greensted then make a visit to Ongar which retains the influence of its Saxon and Norman past and from where you can board a steam train towards Epping.
5 Taste sensations
You'll be spoilt for choice with prized butchers on our high streets (including one which recently celebrated its 125th anniversary), tempting farm shops and town centres.
6 Countryside galore
EL27758-20 Autumn scenes in Epping Forest
Epping Forest and Lee Valley Regional Park provide direct green links into the area.
7 Superb shopping
Epping, Waltham Abbey and Ongar are vibrant historic towns with active market days. Loughton also hosts a monthly farmers’ market and North Weald Airfield boasts one of the country’s biggest open air markets every Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday.
8 Family fun
From rockets and explosions in Professor Nitrate's Mad Lab at Royal Gunpowder Mills to the thrill of a journey by heritage bus and steam on Epping Ongar Railway, there's so much to experience. Get up close with the cuddly sheep, mischievous meerkats and much more at Lee Valley Park Farms.
9 Laidback leisure
Enjoy 18 holes, try your hand at fly fishing, a jaunt into the forest on horseback, boating on the River Lee or hiring a bike.
10 Captivating events
Music or theatre performance at Copped Hall, historic re-enactments at Secret Island or fly-ins over North Weald Airfield. Alternatively, get your TOWIE-fix with a celebrity tour of the area, venture to Waltham Abbey in October for the renowned King Harold Day.
The survey’s top 5 road trips in the UK
- The Jurassic Coast - a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England.
- The North Coast 500 - a 516-mile scenic route around the north coast of Scotland, starting and ending at Inverness Castle.
- The Horseshoe Pass - a mountain pass in Denbighshire, north-east Wales.
- The Wrynose Pass - a mountain pass in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria.
- The A830, also known as the Road to the Isles, is a major road in the Scottish Highlands.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here