Extended and improved during Darwin’s lifetime, it was first and foremost the family home but also a living laboratory. Darwin, a devoted father, often involved the children with his experiments.Walk along Darwin’s ‘thinking Path’ and see study where countless papers including On The Origin Of Species were written. There’s a small exhibition about his life and work.

Within about 30 minutes, we can be at Hever Castle. A stop for lunch is usually a good idea en-route.

A fortified country house, the oldest part being late 13th century, Hever Castle was famously the ancestral home of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife. Major improvements by the Boleyn family in late 15th Century, it is believed that Anne Boleyn was born here Circa 1501. The castle passed through several families after the Boleyns fell from favour in the mid 16th Century. In the early 20th Century the property was purchased by the Astor family and it was decorated to their tastes retaining much of the Tudor style. The Astors are also largely responsible for the landscaped gardens

About 1 hour 30 minutes return to London