Hurley sits on the south bank of the Thames between Marlow and Henley, a village with a lock and weir and the remains of a Benedictine priory. The parish is a large one, stretching south to the A4 and taking in Warren Row, parts of Burchetts Green, Knowl Hill and Littlewick Green. Details below were checked on 31 October and 1 November 2026.
Getting there
- Bus: route 228 (Thames Valley Buses) runs between Maidenhead and Henley via St Mark’s Hospital, Highway, Stubbings and Hurley.
- Train: there is no station; Maidenhead and Marlow are the nearest.
- Parking: a free village car park near the river (Royal Borough tourism site); the council lists no public toilets in Hurley, though the lock has a toilet for boaters.
Things to see and do
- St Mary the Virgin and the priory: the parish church is part of the original priory church; a Benedictine priory stood here by the river until the Reformation, and pieces of it survive in private houses around the village.
- Hurley Lock, Mill Lane: an Environment Agency lock with card payment, an accessible toilet, water and waste points; the visitor and base moorings and the shower were closed for safety when the agency’s page was last updated in July 2026.
- Hurley weir draws canoeists, and the parish council notes an annual canoe rodeo.
- The Thames Path runs through the village, with walks to Marlow one way and Henley the other.
- Hurley Riverside Park, Shepherds Lane: a family-run touring, camping and holiday-home park close to the Thames Path, open from 1 March to 31 October each season.
Eating, drinking and staying
Confirmed trading on 31 October 2026: The Olde Bell on the High Street, an inn with rooms, restaurant and garden bar, now in Best Western’s BW Signature Collection; Hurley House Hotel on the Henley Road, the former Red Lyon pub, a ten-room boutique hotel with a restaurant; and The Dew Drop Inn on Honey Lane, a Brakspear country pub with food Wednesday to Sunday. Details are on our hotels and pubs and bars pages. Hurley Village Shop and Cafe on the High Street is listed on our cafes page.
Events
Hurley Regatta is an annual, largely local event on the river, according to the parish council. The Environment Agency published a navigation restriction for it on Saturday 15 August 2026, since withdrawn; no organiser website or 2027 date had been published when we checked.
A little history
Hurley appears as Herlei in the eleventh century. The priory was dissolved in 1536. The parish council describes The Olde Bell as the priory’s guesthouse, dating from the twelfth century, and one of the oldest hostelries in Britain; the inn’s age is its own and the council’s claim rather than a documented fact, and we repeat it as such. The village hall was rebuilt in the 1980s after a fire and is run by the Hurley Village Association.
Parish council: hurleyparish.org.uk.
