THINGS TO DO IN TRING IN THE CHILTERNS AONB
Places to visit near Tring
The historic market town of Tring is in Hertfordshire but it’s just on the border of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire and it’s home to our multi-award winning gin distillery. Whether you live in Tring or are just visiting the town and the wider Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for a short break here’s some of our favourite things to do close by.
Puddingstone Distillery
Create a weekend itinerary and include a gin tasting at Puddingstone Distillery on either the Friday or Saturday or make a long weekend of it and come to one of our Thursday night gin distillery tours. Every few months on Saturday afternoons we host distillery cocktail demos. These are a fun and interesting way to indulge in our Campfire Gin cocktails, watch Ben make the cocktails and learn some tricks and tips for easy home cocktail making.
Wilstone Green, Tring, Herts HP23 4NT Use what3words ///sketch.listening.bashed
Distillery shop open Fridays and Saturdays 9.30am to 5pm
Chiltern Canal Boat Holidays
One of the most relaxing ways to spend holiday is a stay on a narrow boat. Gently chugging along the beautiful and tranquil Grand Union Canal will help you reconnect with nature. Wake up to a stunning new view everyday with a short break, romantic getaway or a family-friendly adventure with Chiltern Canal Boat Holidays. Starting at Cow Roast Marina, just between Berkhamsted and Tring town centre, cruise along the canal towards Tring and you’ll find Puddingstone Distillery located just next to Wilstone Reservoir and a 15 min walk from the canal.
Chiltern Canal Boat Holidays is a family-run business and provides a hands-on tutorial on how to drive a narrowboat. Enjoy a luxurious boating holiday less than 1 hour from London.
Wharf Lane, Cow Roast, Tring, Herts HP23 5RE www.chilterncanalboatholidays.com
Tring Brewery Co Ltd
Do you enjoy visiting small food and drink producers like ourselves at Puddingstone Distillery? Well, here’s another that should definitely be on your itinerary – Tring Brewery, brewers of the legendary Side Pocket for a Toad and many other great beers (my favourite is Death or Glory!) for over 30 years. Based just along from Tring High Street the brewery shop is open Monday to Saturday. On Fridays and Saturdays there’s a self-service sample bar. My advice is to book onto one of the Thursday ‘Mash Up’ tours with fish and chip supper or a Saturday afternoon tour held twice a month. You can even pick up a bottle of Campfire Gin!
Dunsley Farm, Tring, Herts HP23 6HA www.tringbrewery.co.uk
Natural History Museum at Tring
It’s such a treat to visit the Natural History Museum at Tring and to explore the private collection of Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (1868-1937) located on the grounds of his family home. The six galleries are packed with over 4900 fascinating specimens. My favourites are the zebras and I love to marvel at the iridescent colours of the bugs and butterflies however the most famous exhibit has to be dressed fleas!
Akeman Street, Tring, Herts HP23 6AP www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/tring.html
Tring Reservoirs
Puddingstone Distillery is next door to Wilstone Reservoir which is just to the west of the three other reservoirs that comprise Tring Reservoirs Nature Reserve. They were originally built to serve the canal system. If you’re enjoying a canal boat trip with Chiltern Canal Boat Holidays the Grand Union Canal (Aylesbury Arm) passes by Startops, Marsworth and Tringford Reservoirs. The Wendover Arm is currently being rebuilt but you can walk the towpath towards Wilstone Reservoir.
The reservoirs, designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), are known as one of the best bird-watching spots in the south of England. On a warm day at the end of May the African migrant bird, the hobby, can be seen when there is plenty of prey around. I’ve been lucky enough to hear the call of the cuckoo too. During the autumn months as the water recedes you might spot the rare mugwort plant on the Wilstone Reservoir mudflats. The nature reserve is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust who are our main charity partner and for whom we make Ultrasonic Gin – £2 from every bottle sold goes to the Trust.
Tring, Herts HP23 4PA www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk/nature-reserves/tring-reservoirs
