5 Best Sights in The Thames Valley, England

Six miles east of St. Albans, this outstanding brick mansion surrounded by lovely formal gardens stands as a testament to the magnificence of Jacobean architecture. Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, built Hatfield in 1611, and his descendants still live here. The interior, with its dark-wood paneling, lush tapestries, and Tudor and Jacobean portraits, reveals much about the era. The beautiful King James Drawing Room is a vision in ostentatious grandeur, with its gilded ceiling and portrait-covered walls. By contrast, the Chinese Bedroom is a charming example of the later 19th-century infatuation with Far Eastern design. The intricate Marble Hall, with its elaborate carved wooden panels, is one of the most impressive rooms in the house, although perhaps the building's finest single feature is the ornate Grand Staircase, with carved wooden figures on the banisters. The knot garden, near the Tudor Old Palace, where the first Queen Elizabeth spent much of her youth, is a highlight of the West Garden. Wednesday is the only day the East Garden, with topiaries, parterres, and rare plants, is open to the public. The Park has lovely woodland paths and masses of bluebells. There are various markets, theater performances, and shows throughout the season, including open-air film screenings and, occasionally, Elizabethan banquets. Check the website for the schedule.

Many of the regal residences created by the Rothschild family throughout Europe are gone now, but this one is still a vision of the 19th century at its most sumptuous. G. H. Destailleur built the house in the 1880s for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the style of a 16th-century French château, with perfectly balanced turrets and towers and walls of creamy stone. Although intended only for summer weekend house parties, it was lovingly furnished over 35 years with Savonnerie carpets; Sèvres porcelain; furniture made by Riesener for Marie Antoinette; and paintings by Guardi, Gainsborough, and Reynolds. The collection is brought into the 21st century by an extraordinary broken porcelain chandelier, by artist Ingo Maurer, located in the Blue Dining Room. The gardens are equally extraordinary, with an aviary, colorful plants, and winding trails that provide panoramic views. In the restaurant you can dine on English or French fare and order excellent Rothschild wines. Admission is by timed ticket; arrive early or book in advance. The annual Christmas fairs and light festivals held here are well worth seeing; check the website in advance for details.

Deep in the heart of Northamptonshire sits the ancestral home of the Spencers, best known in recent years as the family home of Princess Diana. Here, on a tiny island in a lake known as the Round Oval, is Diana's final resting place. A lakeside temple is dedicated to her memory. The house has no permanent Diana exhibits on display, but it does have rooms filled with paintings by van Dyck, Reynolds, and Rubens—all portraits of the Spencers going back 500 years—and an entry hall that architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner called "the noblest Georgian room in the country." Two paintings by contemporary artist Mitch Griffiths stand out in complete contrast. A literary festival is held here in mid-June. On the west side of the estate park is Great Brington, the neighboring village where the church of St. Mary the Virgin holds the Spencer family crypt; it's best reached by the designated path from Althorp. The house is closed throughout the winter, but seasonal opening times vary so check the website in advance.

Described by Queen Victoria as a "bijou of taste," Cliveden (pronounced Cliv-dn) is a magnificent country mansion that, for more than 300 years, has lived up to its Georgian heritage as a bastion of aesthetic delights. The house, set on 376 acres of gardens and parkland above the River Thames, was rebuilt in 1851; but it was the rich and powerful Astor family, who purchased it in 1893, that made Cliveden famous. In the 1920s and 1930s this was the meeting place for the influential salon known as the "Cliveden Set"—a group of strongly conservative thinkers who many accused of being Nazi sympathizers. Its doyenne was Nancy Astor, an American by birth, who became the first woman to sit in the British Parliament. The ground-floor rooms of the house are open, as is the Octagon Chapel, with its beautiful gilt-painted ceiling and wall panels. You can wander the lovely grounds, which include a water garden, miles of woodland and riverbank paths, a kids' play area, and a yew-tree maze. Book your timed ticket for the house beforehand or early on the day. Boat hire and trips are available daily in July and August. Note that opening times of the house can be unpredictable, even at the busiest times of the year; always call before setting out.

From 1906 to his death in 1950, the famed Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw lived in the small village of Ayot St. Lawrence, 9 miles northeast of St. Albans. Today, his small Edwardian home, Shaw's Corner, remains much as he left it. The most delightful curiosity is his little writing hut, which is in the garden and which can be turned to face the sun.