By Hugo Stelfox.

5. Pewley Down

If you can manage the walk without fainting, and overcome the PTSD from House Cross Country, Pewley Down offers some of the best views in Guildford. Its expansive open area gives plenty of room for activites or hanging out with friends and its rolling hills allow it to be the perfect sledging destination for when it snows.

However, its lack of benches can be alarming to those who are looking for a sit down after the steep walk up to the top and it is held back by its lack of protection from the Sun in the summer and rain in the winter and autumn months.

4. The Mount

Similarly to Pewley, The Mount offers some brilliant views. It overlooks the entirety of Guildford with the Cathedral standing out along with London in the horizon lighting up the sky in the night time. Unfortunatley in order to reach these cinematic views over Guildford you have to take a long walk to get there but it has a number of benches to catch your breath after walking up the steep hill.

3. River Wey

If you’re looking for a peaceful place to spend an afternoon in Guildford, the River Wey can be a perfect location. Some of its best selling points are its wide variety of benches and even some picnic tables where you can enjoy a meal in the summer. The best feature is unsurprisingly the river itself and the atmosphere around it, the peaceful flow of the river along with the occassional river boat and the numerous ducks and swans that float down the river.

However, there are some downsides to River Wey; the lack of a large amount of space means that on a warm summer day it can often get very busy and during the winter when it rains heavily it has seen floods, rendering the area useless.

2. The Castle

One of the best places to go in Guildford has to be Guildford Castle. What at first might seem just like an old ruined castle is actually one of the most expansive and open areas in Guildford especially for being just off the High Street. It has the most amount of benches compared to any of the other locations on this list especially when combined with the bowling green, which offers a relaxing form of entertainment to watch during the summer months. The Castle features one of the only sheltered outside benches in Guildford, meaning it is able to combat the unpredictable nature of the British weather. However, only having two benches there means that during rainy moments it can often get full quickly leaving you out in the open to combat the torrential rain.

Right next to Guildford Castle, the Castle Gardens offer a nice open space which can be used in the summer for a picnic or other activities and if you continue to follow it, you can find a large open area with a hill leading up to Warwick’s Bench. Although not quite as good as Pewley or The Mount, Guildford Castle also offers scenic views around Guildford, especially when looking out from the top of the hill where the Castle itself is.

However, there are some drawbacks with Guildford Castle. In order to access the Castle itself, you need to pay £4.50! For a castle this small this is simply extortionate. During November to January, Guildford Castle was taken over by Guildford Illuminate which had lacklustre reviews and costed £15, meaning that the grounds were shut after 4pm compared to the usual 5pm during the winter months.

Honourable Mention: G Live

Although not as significant as the other places on this list, another smaller place to hangout in Guildford is outside G Live. There is a small green area with a few benches and given its location being right in the middle of town, it is an easy place to go. However, its limited number of benches means it can get busy quickly and there isn’t much to do there so spending a while there can often be less exciting than other places on this list.

1. Stoke Park

Finally, at number 1, the best place to hang out in Guildford has to be Stoke Park. It features a number of different areas fit for many different occasions. Its main selling point is its large field, which can be used for almost any activity. It has a large number of benches and picnic tables, both in the shade and in the sunlight, meaning you can choose which you prefer. It also features a number of covered benches for when it rains, and it has more of them than the Castle Grounds, meaning they don’t get filled up as quickly.

The small lake helps to create scenic views and means it offers many of the same pros as the River Wey without many of the cons. It also features an ice cream shop in the summer, which is a nice touch for warmer days. There are a number of activities to be done here including mini golf, open in the summer, tennis at the public courts, football on the pitches in the main field, and Wild Wood. Although not in the park itself, it is next door to the Spectrum, which also features a range of activities, meaning that there is always something to do at Stoke Park.

Although it is number 1, there are still a few small downsides to it. During the summer, there can occasionally be events at the park which make it busy and can restrict the space, and the mini golf there is only open at certain times. If you go there at lunchtime during school, you can often find yourself having to rush back as it can be easy to underestimate how long it takes to get back. However, when you are there, it is undoubtedly the best hangout spot in Guildford.