Watford
Watford is one of the larger towns in Hertfordshire, England, and has approximately 80,000 citizens.
Get in
Road
Watford, like Hounslow & Waltham Cross, originally rose to prominence as a coaching town (a kind of 18th-century motorway services) because many roads pass through the area.
Non-Motorway Road Access
Watford, as a coaching town, has many road passing through it, but the fastest one is the A41, a 'green' (semi-motorway) A-road. Exit at M1J5 (A4008) or Hunton Bridge roundabout (A411).
M1
Watford Herts is NOT near the Watford Gap: that is named after Watford Northants. Watford Herts is served by Junction (1|5) Watford, the 1st universal-access junction (unless you count Junction (1|3) Scratchwood, which requires prior arrangement). Leave at (1|5) Watford & take the A4008.
M25
Take Junction (25|19) Hunton Bridge or (25|21A) Bricket Wood East.
Rail
- 1 Watford Junction station. Watford Junction is a large station that offers many connections.
- Virgin Trains: Virgin Trains run express services on the West Coast Mainline & branches, some of them stopping at Watford Junction. The service has buffet, Wi-Fi & at-seat electricity sockets. They are more expensive than regular trains & do not sell tickets solely between London & Watford Junction, but are useful if travelling from further north.
- London Midland: This regional rail provider serves Watford Junction with most trains. Most of these go non-stop into London Euston, but the line has dedicated platforms at Bushey, Harrow & Wealdstone, Wembley Central & Queens Park. A non-stop train will generally take 12 minutes. They accept general tickets & Oyster cards.
- London Overground: The Watford DC line of the London Overground runs local services to Watford every 10 minutes. It serves Watford Junction & Watford High St. These trains take a long time, but serve Willesden Junction, which is useful as an interchange, & have interchange with the Bakerloo line. Watford High St. is closer to the town centre than Watford Junction & cheaper, as the boundary of zones 8 & 9A runs between the two stations.
- Metropolitan Line: The LU Metropolitan line runs from Watford station, actually located 0.8 miles away from the High St. in Cassiobury Park. Direct trains run every 10 minutes to Baker St. (Although an extension of the line though Watford High St, to Watford Junction has been formerly proposed, no firm date for construction or opening has been announced.)
Other
Frequent coaches serve Watford town centre from Heathrow Airport (Bus 724, 45 mins) and Luton Airport (Bus 321, 1.5 hours).
The Grand Junction Canal also passes to the West of Watford, bordering Cassiobury Park.
Get around
Most attractions in Watford are within walking distance of each other and do not require buses or trains.
It is worth noting all Hertfordshire buses offer an 'Explorer' ticket which permits a maximum of 2 adults, 2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult with 3 children to unlimited travel for £7. It is often worth doing as it can save money even if you are on your own.
See
- 1 Warner Bros. Studio Tour, ☏ 08450 840 900 (high cost number). Take a tour around the studios where Harry Potter was filmed
- 2 Watford Palace Theatre, ☏ +44 1923 225671.
- 3 Watford Museum, ☏ +44 1923 232297.
- 4 Watford Football Club. They are one of the smaller clubs in English football but of late have seen their fortunes improve, returning to the premiership for the first time in 10 years.
Do
There are plenty of things to do in Watford. For example, visit the Warner Bros Studios in north Watford, shop in the town centre, stroll through Cassiobury Park, play golf at Watford TopGolf or even visit Woodside Leisure Park, home of Vue cinema, indoor play areas and some restaurants. Watford is also home to many leisure centres, for sporting activities, including a running and athletics track in Garston. Watford Coloseum hosts many comedy shows and live music concerts, check out their website for upcoming shows.
Watch football (ie soccer) at Watford FC. They play in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their stadium (capacity 21,500) is at Vicarage Road, half a mile west of town centre. It's shared with Saracens rugby club.
Buy
- 1 intu Watford (The Harlequin), 201 The Harlequin, Watford, WD17 2UB, ☏ +44 1923 250292, watford.information@intu.co.uk. Mon-Wed 09:00-18:00, Thu 09:00-21:00, Fri 09:00-18:00, Sat 09:00-19:00, Sun 11:00-17:00. This is the main shopping mall with John Lewis, Jane Norman, French Connection Outlet, Monsoon and separate Accesorize in addition to Acessorize in the Monsoon, River Island, Anne Summers, La Senza, Zara, WHSmith (post office at the back), Pineapple, Lush, GAME and many other shops. There are also New Look, Topshop (inc Topman), Computer Exchange, The End and Next to Choice (a Next outlet) on the High Street.
Eat
There are many choices.
For Restaurants, there is Middletons Steakhouse and Grill, Flower Drum (Chinese), Flame (Chinese buffet), various Pizza restaurants (Pizza et pizza, Zinco, Ask, Pizza Hut, Pizza Express), Caribbean, Japanese (Hanko)...
Fast food - Two McDonald's (With an extra 2 in the north of the town), Five Guys, two Subways, various pizza takeaway places (Dominos, Pizza hut, Pizza express and various kebab shops. Roosters Peri Peri Chicken is halal and serves very inexpensive but absolutely delicious chicken meals, including wraps, burgers, etc. and even apple pies and ice cream in the summer. Try the chicken burger meal. Yum. For a sit down, go to Pepe's, opposite the indoor market (behind Poundland) which serves Greek Cypriot fare as well as burgers, steaks, sandwiches, puddings etc.
Vegetarian - GoKula Vegetarian Cafe, a vegetarian and vegan fast food restaurant with links to the nearby Hari Krishna Temple. A breakfast & brunch restaurant but not evenings . At 65 Market Street.
Halal - Roosters (burgers, chicken wings, chips...), various kebab shops.
Cafés - Presence coffee shop with paninis, muffins, with a spa upstairs and a gift shop out front. TJ Hughes has a restaurant/café. For the more traditional fry up, head to Aroma at the bottom of the high street for relatively healthy and delicious breakfasts, chips, burgers etc. Toast, next to Roosters and almost opposite the Palace Theatre, serves sandwiches, juice etc. Try Go Kula cafe on Market Place for vegetarian food but it is a bit hit and miss. Best to go there for a chat, read a few books and meet the local mums and toddlers. The YMCA serves good food - it is behind Poundland/next to the indoor market.
Coffee Starbucks and Costa in the Harlequin, Caffe Nero by St. Mary's Church on the High Street, Presence in the north end of the High Street, McDonald's on either end of the High Street. Plenty of places with plenty of choice.
Drink
Watford Town Centre comes alive at night particularly on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. The bars and clubs are practically all positioned next to each other up the High Street. As a general rule the music is louder, the drinks are more expensive and the atmosphere is more lively the further up the High Street you go, though there are exceptions.
A flyover divides the strip into the 'High Street' and 'The Parade'. Starting from the High Street and walking up:
- Que Pasa, 58 High Street, WD17 2BS, ☏ +44 1923 233080, quepasa.watford@marstons.co.uk.
- The Moon Under Water, 44 High Street, WD17 2BS, ☏ +44 1923 223559. Mon-Fri 07:00-00:00, Sat 09:00-00:00, Sun 09:00-22:00.
- Chicago Rock Cafe, The Parade.
- O'Neills, The Parade.
- Reflex, 66-68 The Parade, WD17 1AH, ☏ +44 1923 244307, molloysreflex.watford@stonegatepubs.com.
- The Columbia Press (Formerly 'Lloyds No. 1 Bar'), 72-74 The Parade, WD17 1AW, ☏ +44 1923 811540. Mon 08:00-00.30, Tue-Wed 08:00-00:00, Thu 08:00-00.30, Fri-Sat 08:00-01:00, Sun 08:00-23:00.
- Walkabout, 76 The Parade, WD17 1AW, ☏ +44 1923 240688, walkabout.watford@walkaboutbars.com.
- Kandi Klub.
- Bar Me.
- Oceana. Mon, Thu-Sat 10:00-03:00. Watford's biggest nightclub.
- Bar Nazdrovya.
- Bodega, 151 The Parade, WD17 1NA, ☏ +44 1923 229651, info@barbodega.co.uk. Mon-Wed 17:00-23:00, Thu-Sat 17:00-00:00, Sun 17:00-23:00.
Sleep
- The Orchard House Guest House, 24 Garston Ln,, ☏ +44 1923 672376.
- Ricky Road Guesthouse, 73 Rickmansworth Road.
- Berrygrove Lodge B&B, 2 Berry Grove Ln, ☏ +44 1923 218015.
- Park Inn Watford, 30-40 St. Albans Road, ☏ +44 1923 429988. Perfectly located for working in London, but being out somewhere quieter - with only a 20 minute journey to London.
- Premier Inn.
- Hilton.
- Travelstop.
- The Grove, Chandler's Cross, WD3 4TG. tres expensive but tres beautiful from £225.
Go next
By Rail
- Fast trains to London Euston are regular at Watford Junction station, a ten minute walk from the high street.
- "Overground" operated trains on which accept Oyster cards are accepted that take longer, with stops in Bushey , Harrow, Wembley, and the northwest suburbas of London, are also an option.
- Heading north Trains run to: St Albans (a definite must visit for the market, the cathedral, the park and the canal), Tring, Hemel Hempstead, Bletchley, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard.
Take the Metropolitan line from a secluded tube station after a walk through Cassiobury Park to Baker Street, Harrow, Wembley... And change at Baker Street for various other London lines and of course to visit Sherlock Holmes's offices. Change at Moor Park to go to Rickmansworth, Chesham, Amersham, and Aylesbury.
By Bus :
- Rickmansworth - Get the No. 6 bus to a lovely small town with a church, canal...
- Abbots Langley Get the 8/318 bus to enjoy the small cafés, the large park and woods.
| Routes through Watford |
| END ← | W  E
|
→ West London → Bloomsbury-Camden |
| Luton ← Hemel Hempstead ← | N  S
|
→ Hendon → Central London |
| West London ← Heathrow Airport ← | anticlockwise  clockwise
|
→ London Colney → East London |
| Birkenhead ← Abbots Langley ← | NW  SE
|
→ Elstree → London |