The White Horse, Guildford

Warm summers days are meant for spending time at a pub. If you like the idea of a quiet drink in a plush but relaxed environment, then the White Horse in Guildford is worth a visit. 

The White Horse is just over the bridge by Debenhams. It is a glorious white building surrounded by beautiful plants and being along side the river, it has that real tucked-away feel.

The outside is small, so at first we had to wait inside before we spied a table free in the sunshine.

Strawberry and Lime cider anyone?

It is a little pricy in here. The Cider came to £4.50, which is not a huge amount and understandable from the vibe the pub carries. The White horse also displays a sign stating over 21's only, helping it continue its metropolitan atmosphere.

Once outside the cider did not last long...

This pub also has something many other establishments would dream of, a balcony terrace. To reach it there is a beautiful black spiral staircase and room for just a few benches to enjoy the views of the river and the surrounding town.

Cost: A bit on the expensive side.
Activities: Drinking; Eating (there is a food menu if required).

The Surrey Sisters x

The Watermill Inn, Dorking

Our Granny, Aunt and Great Aunt recently came down for the weekend and we needed somewhere close to their hotel for a big family meal. This is how we stumbled upon The Watermill Inn.

It's a Chef and Brewer pub, so has the usual hearty pub grub menu with lots of variety to meet everyone's taste. The staff were friendly, joking around with us all ensuring we felt right at home.

The best part about this pub is its location, overlooking the rolling hills of Surrey. I can imagine it to be the perfect romantic landscape, especially on a warm summer evening.

The Watermill Inn was also a chance for my Mum, Dad and Uncle to reminisce about when they were younger and the pub use to have a dance floor, with the three of them coming down for the weekly 'disco'. It sounded super cute and lots of fun, if only the disco was still going today!

I think we all agreed though, the puddings were ammmaaazing! I'm not really one for sweet things but they were just too tempting. Below are our top three...

Cookie Cup- My cousin just couldn't wait, understandably! 

Traditional Apple Pie and Custard

My favourite- The Eaton Mess cheesecake.

Finally, Mum and I couldn't resist but to finish off the evening with a glass of prosecco at the bar.

Bubbbbly

So there you go, the Watermill Inn, Dorking. Great atmosphere, yummy food, and pretty views.

Cost: Reasonable, pretty standard pub prices (see chef and brewer website).
Activities: Eating; Drinking.

The Surrey Sisters x

Chessington World of Adventures

Half term soon approached and we wanted to take our friend's child out for an action packed, fun-filled day at Chessington World of Adventures. We took advantage of our Merlin Annual Pass and mum's hard earned Tesco Clubcard vouchers. This meant entry only cost us £8.50 in clubcard points rather than the usual £93.60 for one adult, one student and one child.

So for those who have never been, the theme park is huge. We began by looking at all of the fish in the Sea Life Centre. This area was completely geared up for younger children, which was fantastic. As you walk in, you are ushered into a 'pod' where a clip of Octonauts is played before you are shown through to see the assortment of fish.

Clown fish Aka Nemo

After, we went on a few rides suitable for the little one. I am a complete coward so even the 'baby rides', as my sister calls them, were a tad too much for me but the little one loved them and that's what counts! 

Although as a rule we are not too keen on zoo's, seeing the animals was another great part of the day. The sea lions did a show, which was great to see but the lions at feeding time was fantastic and soon became the highlight of the day. I'd love to go on Safari in South Africa, Kenya or Zambia. However for now, Surrey will have to do!

The Trail of the Kings- Sumatran Tigers

The Trail of the Kings- lion enjoying his lunch

Lunch cost £20 for the three of us and we bought snacks along the way, as well as ride photos and various other merchandise, so it can be an expensive day out if you are not careful. Due to the merlin annual pass we managed to get 20% off everything we bought throughout the day which makes a huge difference. If you do go to Chessington try a chocolate coated giraffe waffle- just be prepared for a chocolatey beard!

From shooting zombies on Tomb Raider to getting soaked on Bubble Works a great day was had by all.

Cost: Entry fees are high, however there are various vouchers and offers around.
Activities: Rides; Zoo; Aquarium; 

The Surrey Sisters x

The Anchor, Wisley

Yesterday the plan was to head over to RHS Wisley Gardens, however, just as we pulled in we realised our membership cards were still at home. So plan B engaged and we went to The Anchor pub for a lunch al fresco.

The Anchor Pub, Pyrford Lock, Wisley

The sun was shining, unusually, which lead to us to hunt for a table. The place was busy with families on bike rides, canoeists stopping for a break, dog walkers and friends sharing bottles of wine. Eventually, we managed to get a table right by the lock, enabling us to watch the boats saunter by and the ducks glide along the water while mum went to get our drinks (which took her around 15 minutes as the queue was trailing out of the door). 

The 'Rosy and Jim Boat' which did a 3 point turn, very impressive!

You can buy a bag of duck food for 50p inside the pub

Eventually she returned with 3 large diet cokes and a handful of menus. There was so much to choose from but we settled on two hand carved ham with wholegrain mustard mayo baguettes at £5.20 each and a classic gourmet burger with cheese and bacon for £10.49. The chilli cheese chips sounded too good to resist so we had a portion of those to share between us for an additional £3.95. Not the healthiest lunch around but as it happened the portions were big enough not to warrant dinner that evening.

Ham baguette with some kettles crisps

Gourmet Burger 

Chilli chesse chips, like sloppy joes with mustard and jalapeños

Food quotes lining the plates

Cute pub, perfect for a summers day. Another great thing is you can bring your dogs into the outside area- providing they are well behaved of course! I think our pups would be tempted by a swim...

Cost: Reasonable, a tad on the pricey side.

Activities: Eating; Drinking; Socialising 


The Surrey Sisters x

The George Abbot Pub, Guildford

The George Abbot is a lovely retreat, especially after a hard day's shopping!

We discovered it a few weeks ago when out in Guildford with our mum. All the restaurants were busy, as well as most the pubs, so we went down to the river, noticed the George Abbot and let's just say we've been back several times since.

As the 21 year old student of the family, I have tried a fair few of the pubs in Guildford and this is by far one of my favourites. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, the decor has that lovely English pub feel to it, not forgetting the food and drinks are tasty without braking the bank.

The sharing platters are delicious and varied, perfect for lunches. For example, we had the Giant sharer which left us more than full and £9.99 to heartily feed three is a steal.

There is a large Spanish population in and around the areas local to Guildford, such as ourselves, therefore to find somewhere which makes decent Churros is a real bonus. The George Abott does exactly this! Every visit we have felt compelled to have their sharing portion of Churros y Chocolate. Be warned the sugar does get everywhere as it's a real 'lick your fingers clean' dish!

It's easy forget the time here, especially when you are nattering away, picking at yummy food and having the odd drink, even if it is a cappuccino!

Cost: Dependant on personal budget, but rather reasonable in our opinion.

Activities: Eating; Drinking; Socialising.

The Surrey Sisters x

Did someone say Churros y Chocolate?!

UPDATE:

Recently the George Abbot have been doing 2 mojitos for £6. These are delicious and not to be ignored. Neither are the Teapot cocktails (what a fabulous idea?!) My favourite was the Summer Fizz...

Churros and mojito, anyone?

Summer Fizz teapot cocktail

Lockwood Donkey Centre

The other day we were looking after a friends little one and couldn't resist visiting the Donkey Sanctuary, in Wormley near Haslemere. 

The sun was shining, so it was the perfect day. At first, it was a little difficult to find. We live on the other side of Guildford which coupled with my awful sense of direction, we followed the GPS on our mobiles to find the RSPCA centre, which is down a tiny lane in the village.

Getting a tad lost was totally worth it. The donkeys are beautiful and the people at the centre are ever so friendly, explaining about the centre and the donkeys they house there. 

There is a cute little 'Donkey Walk' around the centre where you can go for a wonder around the different fields to see the residence. The donkey's (and horses) themselves were adorable, they had just been fed when we arrived so were enjoying a rest in the sun. This made us even more sad to hear how some people have mall treated the animals, but it also makes us so thankful for organisations such as the RSPCA.

The centre is open Wednesdays and Sundays 11.30am until 4pm during April to October. The best bet is to check their website before visiting. 

Cost: Free, but they ask for a donation which is more than reasonable seeing all the work they do at the centre.

Activities: Walks; Petting the Donkeys; Little gift shop.

We loved it here. We spent about an hour walking around the grounds, stroking the donkeys and reading about the work the centre does. It is a lovely place to take children too. We can't wait to visit again.

The Surrey Sisters

Good Evening from Surrey

Dear All,

Thank you for visiting our blog. I'm sure you are wondering a bit about who we are so let me begin.

We are two sisters who have spent all of our lives in the heart of Surrey with our family. We have 5 dogs, 3 cats and a fish. We are part spanish and probably due to this, enjoy anything cultural. We are both partial to a cupcake and could spend the rest of our lives shopping. The thing is, we like to go out to different places for tea, coffee, lunch or just for a change of scenery every now and again.

We go to a variety of places, some child friendly as we may take our young cousins out, others suitable for short visits, as well as the odd day trip. I'm a student so mostly the trips are of interest for those watching the pennies but others can be a bit more extravagant, who can say no to the highlife when it calls so graciously?!

Due to this variety we thought we would share our experiences on 'A Local's Guide to Surrey', especially as occasionally we have found it hard to show people where we've been via links online. Now we can upload our photos and fill you in on our personal thoughts. Also, if there are any places where you like to go, or have been anywhere we post about we'd love to hear from you in the comments box! You can also find us on Bloglovin and Facebook.

I hope you find our blog useful and interesting, but most of all, enjoy Surrey!

The Surrey Sisters x

Surrey Skies: views from our garden this evening.