Entry to the house at Chartwell is via timed tickets, which can be purchased in advance or on the day on a first-come first-served basis. Tours are self-guided, though guides are stationed in each room and can answer visitors’ questions and offer additional information. Entry to the house includes access to the gardens and the studio, where a collection of Churchill canvases are on show. If you don’t plan on visiting the house itself, opt for tickets for the gardens and studio only, which come at a reduced price.
Chartwell is in Kent in southeast England, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from London. Trains run from London Victoria to Edenbridge, which is about 4 miles (6 kilometers) away. There are no buses running from Edenbridge to Chartwell, so visitors who come by train will need to take a taxi to the property.
The studio and gardens can be visited year-round. The house, however, closes for most of winter (November through February) opening only for select weekends during the Christmas period.
As well as landscaped gardens—including a rose garden and a kitchen garden complete with edible crops—the estate also encompasses a playhouse built by Churchill for his daughter Mary, and some 80 acres (32 hectares) of farmland and woods. Walking trails around the gardens lead to various points of interest including a treehouse, a World War II bomb crater, and a camp made by the Canadian troops who were stationed here during World War II.