The essential guide to the Chilterns

Pushing the revolving lychgate, I entered the precincts of the Norman church that gave Chalfont St Giles its name. Outside, gravestones and monuments lay in various states of disrepair, but the church itself was evidently a living, vibrant place. To my surprise – because it was a Friday afternoon – the door was open and I was able to go inside.

There, Kathleen Martin introduced herself as one of a team of parishioners who take it in turns to keep St Giles open to the public every day of the week. In many parts of Britain, that would be inviting vandalism, but Chalfont St Giles is a contented, community-spirited sort of place, where it is hard to imagine the local youth having much to be disaffected about.

Less than 25 miles from London, the village of Chalfont St Giles resembles an old black-and-white postcard. There's a green and a duck pond, and a line-up of half-timbered houses and ancient pubs that have film and TV producers beating a path to its door. Perched on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, this is where well-heeled people come to escape the rigours of London, while remaining in touch with the capital.

The flight from the city to this privileged corner of England has been going on for centuries. When the Great Plague struck London in 1665, one of the first to head to the hills was the poet John Milton. A pupil, Thomas Ellwood, found him a "pretty box in Giles Chalfont", and it was there that Milton completed his masterwork, Paradise Lost.

The pretty, low-beamed cottage is still here today, spotlessly maintained as a museum and study centre, and the only one of Milton's houses still standing. The study where the blind seer composed his verse is the most atmospheric of the four public rooms in a museum brimful of first editions and other priceless Miltonia.

Milton returned to London, but the urban drift to the Chilterns continued, especially when the Metropolitan railway blazed a trail here in the 1890s. Half a dozen miles north of St Giles, Old Amersham is more photogenic still. Its wide, handsome High Street has a confection of well-proportioned Tudor and Georgian buildings, secret courtyards and gardens, and smart restaurants and coffee shops that could be auditioning for the cover of a glossy country living magazine. A recent survey placed Amersham third in the list of the UK's richest towns, and house prices are still eye-poppingly high.

But it's more than just a pretty face. The dinky museum tells how 17th-century non-conformists were burnt at the stake, and when Oliver Cromwell passed through after defeating the King's men at the Battle of Aylesbury in 1642, he was hailed by cheering crowds. Ironically, the remarkable, square-shaped Baptist Chapel set back from the High Street is known these days as King's Church, and you reach it up a pathway next to the King's Arms.

It was all change when the railway arrived a mile up the hill, putting the names of Amersham and Chesham Bois on the London Underground map. With the trains came the rapid development of "Top Amersham", as the old-towners know it, an inter-war ribbon of mock Tudor and semi-detached suburbia, gently lampooned as "Metroland" by John Betjeman.

Ten miles deeper into Buckinghamshire, Wendover completes the set of former coaching towns that complement the rural idyll of the Chilterns. Lying in a gap at the foot of their highest escarpment, Wendover was a natural halt on the London-Buckingham run. The town is well connected – there are two fast trains every hour into London run by Chiltern Railways – and remains a notable refuelling centre, with its many pubs and restaurants recently supplemented by Rumsey's Chocolaterie, where the confectionery is made in-house.

The ancient Icknield Way passes nearby, and the 86-mile Ridgeway Path actually runs down the main street from lofty Ivinghoe Beacon. The trail skirts the cricket field and a natural spring that is home to kingfishers and herons, before reaching the lychgate of St Mary's church, which lay at the heart of the village in Norman times.

Today, commerce has pushed Christianity to the margins, especially on Thursdays – market day. But as a new contagion descends on the City of London, sleepy Wendover – like Chalfont St Giles and Old Amersham – aptly fits the title of the epic poem Milton wrote after his year-long sojourn in the hills: Paradise Regained.

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TRAVELLER'S GUIDE

Getting there

Chiltern Railways (www.chilternrailways.co.uk) runs trains from London Marylebone to a range of stations, including Amersham, Wendover and Great Missenden

Visiting There

Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles (01494 872313; www.miltonscottage.org) is open from Tuesday to Friday (as well as Bank Holiday Mondays) between 1 March and 31 October, from 10am-1pm and 2-6pm. Admission £4 for adults; £2 for under-15s.

Amersham Museum (49 High Street; 01494 723700; www.amershammuseum.org) opens 2-4.30pm on weekends and Bank Holiday Mondays between Easter and the end of October, and also on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 1 May and 30 September. Admission £2.

Wendover Information Centre (01296 696759; www.wendover-pc.gov.uk) open 10am-4pm Mon-Sat.

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