Living in the UK, one of my favourite things to do is going on Saturday daytrips, visiting places I’ve never been to. Today, I’m taking you to Chelmsford, a city just a stone’s throw away from London. The main reason why I went there was to visit the National Flower Show which took place in the Hylands House, but I also had some time to walk around the city itself. Join me as I relive that trip!

Getting to Chelmsford from London

As always, I chose to take a train when going on my trip. I hopped on the Greater Anglia service from London Stratford to Chelmsford, which took under half an hour. Pretty convenient!

Getting to the National Flower Show at Hylands House

I always get a bit nervous when I need to take a local bus in a place I’m not familiar with. Unlike train stations, bus stations tend to have poor means of communicating updates. And if the bus you need to take (according to Google Maps directions) only runs once an hour, it gets pretty stressful! My bus wasn’t listed on the electronic board, and two other busses went past my stop at the time when my bus was due. Eventually, a bus with the number I was planning to take turned up, but with a different destination displayed than what Google suggested it should be.

I decided to check with the driver if they were going to Hylands House – which is where the National Flower Show took place – and they said they had never even heard of it. Yikes! For the lack of a better plan, I decided to take a risk – I bought a ticket and sat down. Luckily, the bus followed the route displayed to me by Google Maps, and I got to the Hylands House stop where I got off the bus.

And guess what – the bus went past several road signs with directions for Hylands House. I imagine the bus driver goes down that route multiple times a day. Them saying that they’d never heard of it… not sure how I feel about a bus driver who doesn’t watch road signs!

Overall, getting to Hylands House on public transport wasn’t the most enjoyable journey. I got off the bus at a stop in the middle of nowhere and had to cross a busy road to get to the National Flower Show (and of course, no pedestrian crossing). According to my estimations, about 99% of the visitors came by car.

What I saw at the National Flower Show in Chelmsford

The event itself was surprisingly good and exceeded my expectations.

First of all, there were floral displays inside Hylands House, themed around Hollywood and films. There was a whole room dedicated to floral dinosaurs (hello, Jurassic Park), a dining room with Harry Potter decorations and a spectacular, gilded room with competition arrangements.

Next to the Hylands House, there was a large tent filled with independent vendors selling handmade or unique items. This is a kind of place I would love to come across before Christmas, when searching for gifts! There were things like candles, bath bombs, posters and more.

Outdoors, there was a huge garden fair. You could find all sorts of garden plants – big and small – as well as garden furniture or BBQs. There were also food stalls, and two more large tents with small businesses selling their goods. Honestly, if I had been in need of gifts, I would have easily found some absolute gems.

Hylands Park and back to Chelmsford

Once I left the Flower Show, I decided to check out the rest of Hylands Park. I found a lovely, quiet area with a pond and a beautiful wisteria plant.

I also found a different way of getting back to Chelmsford (I really didn’t fancy going back to that busy road, with hopes to catch a bus). Instead, I walked towards Writtle and caught a different bus service to Chelmsford, without the need to stand on the edge of a nasty motorway.

Chelmsford Cathedral and High Street

Something I love about smaller cities in the UK is their high streets. Even though I live near a huge shopping centre with hundreds of stores, I find high street shopping more enjoyable. I popped into a few shops and strolled through the city centre.

And of course, I couldn’t not visit the Chelmsford Cathedral. I guess I’m on a quest to visit every cathedral in the country! To my surprise, there was an arts&crafts fair taking place in the cathedral. Coming from a country where churches are considered sacred, it’s still odd to me to see a cathedral turned into a buzzing marketplace for a few hours, but that’s what it was! Again – another great gift shopping opportunity. Too bad it was May, not December!

Way back home

Finally, I hopped on a Greater Anglia train back to London. I enjoyed both the National Flower Show at Haylands House, and strolling through the centre of Chelmsford. The bus journey to the show was stressful, but it was a fun day overall. And on my way back home, I was already planning another daytrip.

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