Any suggestions for the most quaint, traditional town for a b&b one nighter on the way to Cambridge - driving from Heathrow....

Cambridge.

To get what I think you might mean by "quaint", you'd have to go quite a bit out of your way to get into country villages that haven't become commuter suburbs, or so far away from London that you might as well be in Cambridge anyway.

If you're arriving from a long intercontinental flight, there's a lot to be said for not trying to drive straight away, but staying in, say, Windsor for the first night, and driving straight to Cambridge the next day.

Heathrow to Cambridge is a 90 minute drive (give or take bad traffic)

Slough.

That'll teach you to say "quaint".

(ps Don't stay in Slough).

Just go straight to Cambridge! Or if you have time you can detour up to Oxford ... I always like comparing the two.

Why do you need a car to get you to Cambridge? It's a miserable place to have a car and there's a direct coach service to Cambridge - and the Tube / train combination isn't the worst possible.

Both would avoid the problem of getting to the car hire place and the dangers of driving when jet lagged in an unfamilar country on the "wrong" side of the road

wow - I guess there's not much of interest on the way to Cambridge.... We are starting a road trip to Scotland after getting off an evening flight from Paris. That's why I only want to drive a short distance to stay in a small village good enough for a decent place for dinner and a stroll. What about Woburn????

Go stay here...

http://www.brocketarms.com/

Village is where George Bernard Shaw lived (you can visit his house) Pub is lovely and does very good food and very good beer.....has great character
There's also a ruined church and a 'new' Palladian one...

It's a beautiful place

I'd just stay in Windsor - it is 7 miles from LHR and the next day you can be Cambridge by mid-morning. Or if you want to tour the Castle and leave Windsor after lunch, you can be in Cambridge by late afternoon.

St Albans is a great city with lots to see if interested in Roman Britain & the Abbey. Old Hatfield is very nice too if interested in seeing Hatfield House. The new town however is rather grim and there aren't any decent hotels.

I were gonna say St Albans as well - sweet regional town with a sweet cathedral

St Albans is a city....the place I mentioned in my previous post is about 10 miles (as I remember it) outside. St Albans is indeed nice, but can feel a tad busy....

thanks for all inputs!

St Albans or Ayot St. Lawrence would be fine -- but they are half way to Cambridge. You indicated you don't want to drive far.

Depending on traffic, it's under an hour to get to St Albans, Ayot St Lawrence etc on the M25 from LHR.

"<i>it's under an hour to get to St Albans, Ayot St Lawrence etc</i>"

yep, like I said - 1/2 way to Cambridge . .

Just depends on what you meant by >>a short distance<<

If (big if) the traffic is OK Heathrow to St Albans (or Snorbens) is under 40 mins...