England · United Kingdom
Where to stay in Colchester
Colchester is a city in England, United Kingdom, home to about 122,000 people. This guide covers 2 hotels in Colchester, with about 129 rooms between them. Every one carries a published guest score, and the list below is ordered by it.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 2
- Best months
- June to September
- Nearest airport
- SEN38 km · London Southend Airport
- Currency
- GBPpound sterling
- Time zone
- Europe/London
- Language
- Cornish, English, Irish
About
About Colchester
Colchester ( KO(H)L-chest-ər, -chist-) is a city in north-eastern Essex, England. At the 2021 census the built up area had a population of 130,245, making it the second-largest settlement in Essex, after Southend-on-Sea.
Colchester is a picturesque provincial city in the county of Essex, and the geographical region of East Anglia. It is commonly regarded as the "oldest recorded town" in England (due to being mentioned by Roman author Pliny). It was the capital of the Celtic tribe Trinovantes until it was conquered by Claudius's army in 43 AD and became the first Roman capital - and Britain's first city. Known as Camulodunum, it was burned to the ground by Boudicca's Iceni tribe approximately two decades later.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Colchester
See
- Colchester Castle
- Castle Park
- Balkerne Water Tower
- The Castle Museum
- Hollytrees Museum
- The Natural History Museum
- The Minories
- Firstsite
- Colchester Zoo
- Bourne Mill
- Beth Chatto's Gardens
- Green Island Gardens
Do
Colchester is served by two cinemas; the Odeon on Head Street and the newer Curzon on Queen Street. The Odeon is usually cheaper, but the Curzon is superior in terms of comfort, service, and variety of films. There is also a theatre, the Mercury, which puts on shows throughout the year. Colchester is also home to a large number of important historic and archaeological sites, including Britain's oldest Roman city walls; the ruins of St. Botolph's Priory and St. John's Abbey; the oldest Roman gateway in the country, and Britain's only discovered Roman Circus (chariot race track).
- Colchester Arts Centre
- Rollerworld
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
The best-rated places to stay in Colchester
Ordered by guest score as each operator publishes it, weighted by the number of reviews so a handful of perfect scores does not outrank thousands of very good ones. Scores are shown on their own scale.
| # | Place to stay | Rooms | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travelodge Colchester Feering hotel | 66 | 4.4/5 755 reviews |
| 2 | Travelodge Colchester Northern Gateway hotel | 63 | 4.1/5 164 reviews |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
More hotels in Colchester
33 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Prested Hall | 12.8 km | |
| Bear Hotel | 20.4 km | |
| Olde Crown Inn | 11.8 km | |
| Red Lion Hotel | 0.3 km | |
| Stockwell Arms Inn | 0.5 km | |
| The Castle Inn | 0.1 km | |
| The Clarence Inn | 0.3 km | |
| The Gainsborough | 20.4 km | |
| The George Hotel | 0.2 km | |
| The Lion Inn, Ardleigh | 7.0 km | |
| The Marquis Of Granby Inn | 0.6 km | |
| The Queen's Head Inn | 1.5 km | |
| The Rose And Crown Hotel | 1.0 km | |
| The Saracen's Head Inn, Newton, Suffolk | 17.8 km | |
| The Victoria Inn | 0.9 km | |
| White Hart Hotel | 9.5 km | |
| Angel Inn | 12.9 km | |
| Bull Hotel | 0.6 km | |
| Globe Inn | 1.0 km | |
| GreyFriars | 0.2 km | |
| Headgate Hotel | 0.4 km | |
| Holiday Inn Colchester | 5.5 km | |
| Maldon Grey Inn | 19.8 km | |
| Peveril Hotel | 0.6 km | |
| Scheregate Hotel | 0.3 km | |
| The Grosvenor Hotel | 0.8 km | |
| The Kings Head Inn | 18.8 km | |
| The Lamb Inn | 7.9 km | |
| The Old Cock And Pye Inn | 0.6 km | |
| The Sun Inn | 0.3 km | |
| The Sun Inn | 2.8 km | |
| Windmill Hotel | 7.2 km | |
| Woodview Bed & Breakfast | 8.4 km |
All 35 hotels in Colchester, with their history and operators
When to go
The best time to visit Colchester
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Colchester are June to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; November is the wettest, with about 61 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Colchester: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is London Southend Airport (SEN), about 38 km from the city centre in a straight line; London Stansted Airport (STN, 46 km) and London City Airport (LCY, 72 km) are also within reach.
Getting around
The city centre is easily walkable and much of it is pedestrianised. The city core is encircled by High Street, Queen Street, Osbourne Street, St Johns Street and Head Street. Castle Park covers much of the north-eastern city centre and makes for a pleasant traffic-free stroll out of the city centre. Driving around Colchester isn't too much hassle, although traffic tends to come to a standstill during the rush-hours. Within the city-centre, parking on the street is illegal, or at least limited to short-stay (i.e. no more than 20 minutes) meaning that you will need to use a public car park.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
SEN · London Southend Airport
STN · London Stansted Airport
LCY · London City Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Colchester
Stay safe
Proclaimed by some as the safest town in the UK, Colchester is safe and you should take the usual precautions. Petty crime is quite rare. Be careful where you leave your car, particularly after dark, as car theft can be a problem. Several downtown multi-storey car parks are open 24 hours and are much safer than the surface lots around the edge of the city centre (which are unstaffed and often meeting points for illegal street racers). The 'loop' road around the city centre (Cowdray Avenue, East Hill, Southway and Balkerne hill) becomes an impromptu race-track for illegal street racers at night; be on the lookout for people driving dangerously.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Colchester
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 2 places
of 2 places
of 2 places
Questions
Colchester: questions travellers ask
What are the best-rated hotels in Colchester?
By published guest score: Travelodge Colchester Feering (4.4 / 5 · 755 reviews · www.travelodge.co.uk (operator's own guest score)); Travelodge Colchester Northern Gateway (4.1 / 5 · 164 reviews · www.travelodge.co.uk (operator's own guest score)).
When is the best time to visit Colchester?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Colchester are June to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; November is the wettest, with about 61 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Colchester?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is London Southend Airport (SEN), about 38 km from the city centre in a straight line; London Stansted Airport (STN, 46 km) and London City Airport (LCY, 72 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Colchester?
pound sterling (GBP).
Nearby
Destinations near Colchester
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.