How to spend the day in Chelmsford: The ultimate guide

January 26, 2022

Yes, I’ve finally written it; How to spend the day in Chelmsford: The ultimate guide. I’m going to do a few more day guides whenever I visit somewhere new, or somewhere that I know quite well already, but since this is where I live, I thought Chelmsford was a good place to start.

This guide is mainly for people who live in Chelmsford or in the surrounding areas and all of these ideas are tried and tested, baby friendly and dog friendly (mostly – a couple of my restaurant suggestions aren’t).

Where to eat in Chelmsford

Ok, let’s get straight into the good stuff. Chelmsford has so many good restaurants, so I’ve split my favourites into breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee. I’ve added some of them in twice if they’re good in more than one category.

Breakfast:

Acanteen (dog friendly in the front bar)

The Breakfast Club

The Hub Farm Shop

Channels Bar & Brasserie

The Stores (not dog friendly, apart from the courtyard at the back)

The Bakehouse

Lunch:

Pig & Whistle

The Stores (not dog friendly, apart from the courtyard at the back)

Galvin Green Man

The Bakehouse

Dinner:

Vita Bella (not dog friendly)

Zorba The Greek (not dog friendly)

The New London

Zenxi (not dog friendly, but the best Chinese I’ve ever eaten)

The Folly Bistro

The Lion Inn

Coffee shop:

Polignano Deli & Coffee Shop

The Stores (not dog friendly, apart from the courtyard at the back)

The Bakehouse

Paper Mill Lock Tearoom

The Hub Farm Shop

My favourites

The good thing about a few of these restaurants and cafes is that they do special events. One of my favourites is the Bakehouse’s Chocolate Camper & Firepit evenings. The Bakehouse has quite a few events going on throughout the year, so it’s worth looking there if you’re looking for something a little bit more special than your average meal out.

All of the restaurants on my list are favourites of mine, but I do have some stand outs. The Stores is most local to me and it’s a great coffee spot, but it’s not dog-friendly (apart from in the courtyard), so for us, the breakfast winner is The Breakfast Club. It has recently opened in Chelmsford and they were beyond friendly when we went there laden with baby and dog.

For lunch, the Galvin Green Man does an amazing roast dinner and for dinner I’d have to pick between Vita Bella (the best Italian I’ve had outside of Italy) and Zenxi (my favourite ever Chinese – I’ve never been to China so that’s as far as my comparison can go).

Where to explore in Chelmsford

The parks

For a city, Chelmsford has an abundance of parks and outdoor areas. In fact, many of the parks are connected by a footpath (I spent many newborn during lockdown days wandering around said footpaths) which makes it a really lovely walk (particularly if you’ve got a dog).

If you start in Writtle, you can get all the way into the centre of Chelmsford via a lovely walk on a designated footpath. The website I’ve linked shows all the footpaths in the local area, and for a city, Chelmsford does have very good links by foot and bike. We’re able to get from Broomfield into the city centre without using any main roads, too. Chelmsford is getting bigger by the minute and the transport infrastructure is suffering a bit – it’s pretty busy on the roads, so I’ll take any excuse to walk or cycle.

If you’re a new parent, the walk from Admirals Park into Central Park is great. You can get a coffee at Central Park cafe and then walk back. I walked that route many a time before Isaac could walk.

If you’ve got a dog, my personal favourite is Hylands Park. You do have to pay to park there now, but if you log onto the MiPermit app and create an account, you can get discounted parking if you’re a Chelmsford resident. Hylands Park also has a Farmers’ Market on every third Sunday of the month as well as loads of other activities going on throughout the year.

Lastly, I loved going to Highwood to see the deer – that’s where the featured photo of this post is from. Get there early and you’ll see so many. They’re beautiful. James and I plan to go back there in the summer and set ourselves up for breakfast so we can see them all again.

The shops

Unlike many other high-streets up and down the country, Chelmsford is doing pretty well. Sure, there are some empty shops, but generally it’s thriving with new shops opening regularly. The fact that the likes of Sweaty Betty and The Breakfast Club have chosen to recently open here gives me hope for its future.

The Pop Up Club is a really cool shop which sells lots of independent brands. It’s located in my favourite part of Chelmsford, Bond Street. I managed to get quite a lot of my Christmas shopping from there because it’s a bit more personal than some of the other shops.

On Bond Street you’ll also find Oliver Bonas, Sweaty Betty, a lovely big John Lewis and lots of other shops. There’s no Zara in Chelmsford (booooo!) but you can do a reasonably good clothes shop here apart from that.

The local culture

Aside from Hylands House, Chelmsford has some pretty cool buildings to explore, from the Cathedral to Chelmsford Museum, located in Oaklands Park. Chelmsford Museum is great for children, and there’s a big space behind it with a park so they can have a run around. There’s also a nice little cafe adjacent to it to stop for a coffee.

I’ve never been to RHS Hyde Hall, but I’ve seen a lot of people speaking about it, so it’s going to be one of my stops for the summer.

If you’re into wine, there are a couple of vineyards nearby. We’ve got New Hall Vineyard, which does an absolutely delicious Bacchus as well as Crouch Ridge, which I’ve never been to but I’ve heard good things.

For the children

Chelmsford is a great place to live for kids, there’s plenty of outdoor activities going on as well as loads of classes and indoor activities for when the weather is a bit grim.

Indoor activities

My favourite class is Pure Imaginations By Gemma, an amazing, independently run class located in Nuffield Health. It has been Isaac’s favourite class from the offset and we’ve been going for almost a year now.

I was tempted not to mention this because I feel like it’s Chelmsford’s best kept secret, but there is an amazing soft play in Chelmsford Leisure Centre which is always completely empty. It’s £1.50 when you sign up to a free leisure card. It’s so much better than the chaos of Mace Playce. I also really love Jump Street for older children (and adults!)

There’s some great local farms and farm shops in Chelmsford, which are always a hit with the children. My three favourites (or should I say, Isaac’s three favourites) are White Elm Petting Farm, Lathcoats Farm and Cammas Hall Farm. Lathcoats and Cammas Hall are more for just fruit picking, they have loads available and Cammas Hall also has a great pumpkin patch. White Elm has a good selection of animals (including alpacas) as well as an indoor and outdoor play area – we can spend hours there.

A bit further afield

Last but not least, I wanted to talk you through some other places you can visit in the local area. This is helpful if you’re staying in Chelmsford for a few days, or if you’re a local looking to explore further out.

We’re surrounded by so many beautiful areas. I’ve made a list of places I’ve visited and loved, with just a brief description next to each one, so you can decide if it’s for you or not. I’ll add to this list as and when I find a new place I like.

Mersea Island (beach, nice restaurant, fun walks, good views)
Maldon (harbour, nice to sit and have a picnic)
Hanningfield Reservoir (great place for the kids, nice walks, wildlife, dogs on a lead)
Finchingfield (great pubs, picturesque, does get busy in the summer)
Danbury Country Park & Danbury Lakes (lovely dog walks)
Dedham (hire out a boat on the river, great place for a picnic)
Retreat East (beautiful place to stay in Suffolk, great food, spa)
Heybridge Basin (watch the boats go by, get an ice cream)
Rayne Railway (nice walk, amazing hot chocolate)
London (it’s a very easy train journey into Liverpool St)