Discover 15 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Watford (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter, Cassiobury Park, and Watford Colosseum. Also, be sure to include Bhaktivedanta Manor in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Watford (England).
Table of Contents
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter
Tourist attraction in Watford, England. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is a walkthrough exhibition and studio tour in Leavesden, southeast England, owned by Warner Bros. and operated by their Studio Tours division. It is located within Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, in Watford, in southwest Hertfordshire, and houses a permanent exhibit of authentic costumes, props and sets utilised in the production of the Harry Potter films, as well as behind-the-scenes production of visual effects. The tour is contained in Soundstages J and K, which were specially built for the attraction, and is separate from the studio's actual production facilities.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London opened to the public in 2012 and has since welcomed up to 6,000 visitors a day during peak times. TripAdvisor reported that Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter has been the highest-rated attraction worldwide every year since the tour opened.[1]
Address: Studio Tour Dr, WD25 7LR Watford
Cassiobury Park
Park in England. Cassiobury Park is the principal public park in Watford, Hertfordshire, in England. It was created in 1909 from the purchase by Watford Borough Council of part of the estate of the Earls of Essex around Cassiobury House which was subsequently demolished in 1927. It comprises over 190 acres and extends from the A412 Rickmansworth Road in the east to the Grand Union Canal in the west, and lies to the south of the Watford suburb of Cassiobury, which was also created from the estate. The western part is a 62-acre Local Nature Reserve managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The park hosts the free, weekly timed parkrun 5 km event every Saturday morning at 9 am, starting near the Shepherds Road entrance to the park.[2]
Address: Cassiobury Park Ave, W D18 Watford
Watford Colosseum
Music hall in Watford, England. Watford Colosseum is an entertainment venue in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Established in 1938, as the Assembly Rooms for Watford Town Hall, the complex was extended in 2011 with improvements which included new meeting spaces, a new restaurant and new bar facilities.
The venue boasts a pipe organ, designed and built by John Compton, which is particularly highly regarded by The Cinema Organ Society.
Performers at the venue have included the soprano Maria Callas in September 1954 and the tenor Luciano Pavarotti in June 1995. The Colosseum has been used to record various film soundtracks and is regularly used to host concerts by the BBC Concert Orchestra, including Friday Night is Music Night. It has also housed performances by performers including The Who, Robbie Williams, and Oasis.
The Colosseum is also an important venue for boxing matches with heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury building on his reputation, shortly after turning professional, in 2009. The venue also has seen some important and highly popular plays taking place and it regularly holds events in support of charities. The 2020 Snooker Shoot Out professional snooker tournament was held at the Colosseum between 20 and 23 February 2020.[3]
Address: Rickmansworth Rd, WD17 3JN, Watford
Bhaktivedanta Manor
Hare Krishna centre in mock-Tudor house. Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England, in the village of Letchmore Heath near Watford. The Manor is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna movement. It is ISKCON's largest property in the United Kingdom, and one of the most frequently visited Radha Krishna temples in Europe. The house is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.
Previously known as Piggott's Manor, the property was donated to the Hare Krishna movement in February 1973 by former Beatle George Harrison, after the Radha Krishna Temple in central London had become inadequate to house the growing number of devotees. The donation included 17 acres of land, following which the estate was extended through the acquisition of neighbouring properties. Harrison had a close relationship with ISKCON's founder-acharya, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and visited him at the Manor on several occasions.
Beginning in 1981, ISKCON was engaged in a campaign to save Bhaktivedanta Manor from closure as a public temple, as the popularity of the site led to increased traffic through Aldenham. After a series of court hearings and appeals, the Department of the Environment granted permission for the building of a road bypassing the village in 1996. With the improved access, the Manor hosts up to 60,000 visitors for annual religious festivals such as Janmashtami.[4]
Address: Hilfield Lane, WD25 8DT Watford
Bushey Museum & Art Gallery
Museum in Bushey, England. Bushey Museum is in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It was officially opened as a volunteer-run museum in October 1993, having achieved Full Registration with the Museums and Galleries Commission. In the week prior to opening, the Museum won joint first prize in the prestigious Gulbenkian Foundation Awards for the best achievement by museums operating with limited resources. The building, on Rudolph Road in Bushey, had been built in 1909 as the offices of Bushey Urban District Council, and had passed to Hertsmere Borough Council on local government reorganisation in 1974.[5]
Address: Bushey, Herts Rudolph Road, WD23 3HW Bushey
Holy Rood Church
Parish church. Holy Rood Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Watford, Hertfordshire. It was built from 1889 to 1890. It is situated on the western corner of Market Street and Exchange Road. It was designed by John Francis Bentley, who also designed Westminster Cathedral. It is a Grade I listed building. The church features in England's Thousand Best Churches by Simon Jenkins who described it as "a true town church".[6]
Address: Exchange Rd, WD18 0PJ Watford
Watford Museum
Museum in Watford, England. Watford Museum is a local museum in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Watford Borough Council and is located on the Lower High Street in Watford.
The museum opened in 1982 and is housed in a Grade II-listed Georgian town house which was previously the premises of Benskins Brewery. Its collection includes fine art, displays about local heritage, industry and sport, with a special collection related to the history of the Cassiobury Estate.[7]
Address: 194 High St, WD17 2DT Watford
St John's Church
Church in Watford, England. The Church of St John the Apostle and Evangelist is a Church of England parish church located in Sutton Road, close to the centre of the busy market town of Watford in Hertfordshire. It is within the Diocese of St Albans and has throughout its history been one of the leading Anglo-Catholic churches in the southeast of England. Today it is part of the Richborough Episcopal Area, and lies in the pastoral and sacramental care of the Provincial Episcopal Visitor.[8]
Address: Sutton Road, Watford
Bushey Rose Garden
Park in Bushey, England. Bushey Rose Garden is a rose garden in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England.[9]
Harrow Arts Centre
Art center in Pinner, England. Harrow Arts Centre is a professional arts venue in the London Borough of Harrow. HAC is located in Hatch End, Harrow, North London, in the Elliott Hall and other buildings that were previously part of the Royal Commercial Travellers School. It is the only dedicated performing arts venue in the borough.[10]
Watford Palace Theatre
Theatre in Watford, England. Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building in Watford, Hertfordshire. The 600-seat theatre on Clarendon Road was refurbished in 2004. It houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, cafe and bar.[11]
Address: Watford, 20 Clarendon Road
Harrow Central Mosque
Harrow Central Mosque is a Sunni mosque and Islamic community hub in Harrow, England. The current centre opened in 2011 on no. 34 Station Road, adjacent to Harrow Civic Centre and a short distance south of Wealdstone town centre. The purpose-built facility was constructed as a replacement of a house-based mosque next to it, at no. 36 Station Road, which had been occupied by the mosque from 1985.[12]
Address: 36-38 Station Road, Watford (Harrow)
Watford Town Hall
City or town hall in Watford, England. Watford Town Hall is a municipal building in Rickmansworth Road, Watford, England. It is a Grade II listed building.[13]
Oxhey Woods
Oxhey Woods is a 98 hectare Local Nature Reserve in South Oxhey in Hertfordshire. It is owned and managed by Three Rivers District Council.
It is mainly semi-natural woodland, and some areas date back to the last Ice Age, the Younger Dryas, 11,500 years ago. The range of habitats make it an important ecological site. Plants include bluebells, anemones and violets and the rare wild service tree.[14]
Address: Sandy Lane, Watford
St Mary's Church
Church in Watford, England. St Mary's Watford is a Church of England church in Watford, Hertfordshire, in England. It is an active church situated in the town centre on Watford High Street, approximately 25 kilometres outside London. St Mary's is the parish church of Watford and is part of the Anglican Diocese of St Albans. Thought to be at least 800 years old, the church contains burials of a number of local nobility and some noteworthy monumental sculpture of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.[15]
Address: Church St, WD18 0EG Watford