Hotels in Thaxted

Thaxted is a small Essex town built on the medieval wool and cutlery trade, and it still looks the part: a soaring parish church far too grand for a village this size, timber-framed guildhall, and a windmill that draws in the day-trippers. It's genuinely pretty rather than prettified, with none of the twee overkill that afflicts similar Cotswold towns, and the Morris dancing tradition here is taken seriously enough to have its own festival weekend.

There isn't much to do beyond a wander, a pub lunch and the church, so most visitors come for an afternoon rather than a stay. Its real practical draw is proximity to London Stansted Airport, making it a quiet, low-cost alternative to airport hotels for an early flight or late arrival. Stay in the town centre itself, near the church and guildhall, for easy walking to the pubs and the best sense of the place.