Aldbury is almost too photogenic, which is why you should still go, just not at 11am on a bank holiday if you need a parking space. Walk up to the monument or stay on the green. The pubs work harder than the film crews.
The essential Dacorum landscape. Start at the monument or at Aldbury, pick a colour of mud, and accept that summer Saturdays are communal. Bluebells in spring are famous for a reason; so are the car parks that fill by 10am.
William’s half-brother, Thomas Becket, a motte you can still scramble. Berkhamsted Castle is English Heritage, free to enter, and the first thing children should see when they get off the train. Combine with the canal and a High Street bun.
The Boxmoor Trust keeps grazing animals and open land in a corridor most towns would have sold. Walk it from St John’s to the canal. It is why Boxmoor house prices are not Adeyfield house prices.
Gadebridge is where the town holds Armed Forces Day, learns to ride a bike, and walks the dog into the water. Green Flag judged, civic by default, and the best free hour you can spend with children in central Hemel.
The Water Gardens are Hemel’s argument that New Towns could be beautiful. A canalised River Gade, listed status, a 2017 restoration. Lunchtime walk for The Forum; golden-hour photography for everyone else.