For fans of Jane Austen, visiting the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton is the number one thing you should do while in England. It is like a pilgrimage, returning to the place where Jane Austen wrote and edited her famous books. It honestly felt so special to be there, almost sacred.
Here’s the ultimate guide to spending a day in Chawton, including how to get from London to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton and why you must go.
History of the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton
Jane Austen was Born in Steventon
Jane Austen wasn’t born in Chawton, she was born about 45 miles away in a village called Steventon, where her father was rector.
When Jane’s Father Died, They Lived with Relatives and Friends
Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra never married, and once their father died, they didn’t have a place of their own to live.
The sisters and their mother stayed with friends and relatives until Jane’s brother Edward inherited the Chawton House estate, including a cottage.
Jane’s Brother Inherited an Estate — Chawton House and Chawton Cottage
Edward offered the cottage, now known as the Jane Austen House Museum, for them to live in together. All three lived there for the remainder of their lives.
Jane Austen lived there the last eight years of her life, until her death in 1817.
Jane Austen’s House Became an Estate Office and Men’s Club Before a Museum
After the Austens’ deaths, the house reverted into an estate office and then a men’s club. The house wasn’t turned into a museum until 1949 when a local woman founded the Jane Austen Society in order to save the house. Since then, the house has been meticulously restored.
Quick Facts about Visiting Jane Austen’s House in Chawton
Location: Chawton, a small village with a population of 445
Distance from London: 50 miles
Opening Dates: In summer, open daily (May 27 – September 29), opening days vary in other seasons. See website for more information.
Hours: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. with last admission at 4 p.m.
Ticket Prices: £13 per adult
Purchase tickets.
Why Visit Jane Austen’s House?
See how Jane Austen was inspired. The house is so special because Jane wrote and/or edited all six of her most famous beloved novels in this house. As you walk around, you can see how a place like this could have inspired Jane — it was safe, it was beautiful, and it was peaceful.
See how Jane Austen once lived. The museum has done a great job of bringing the house to life. Furniture has been carefully selected and arranged to what they believe it would have looked like while Jane lived in the house. They’ve even been able to replicate the original wallpaper.
Shop for Austen souvenirs. There is also a wonderful gift shop with a lot of Austen inspired goodies. I bought several things there, including a pencil pouch and bookmark.
How to Visit the Jane Austen House in Chawton
You can book your tickets online or at the door. But note that they limit capacity to 12 visitors every 20 minutes.
We visited on a Tuesday in the summer, and there were only a few other people touring the house aside from a school group. It’s not a huge tourist destination like Windsor Castle. It might be more crowded on a weekend, but you can probably expect a calm, peaceful experience.
You’ll likely run into other Jane Austen fans, who are also here to pay tribute to an incredible author who has inspired so many. I overheard one girl, around my age, tell her father that she wanted to return to the front door once more “to say goodbye” before she left. I understood the feeling.
Day Trip from London to Jane Austen’s House, Chawton: What to Do At and Near Jane Austen’s House
Tour Inside the Jane Austen House Museum
Many important items and artifacts related to Jane Austen have been collected and put on display inside the house museum.
Some of the most significant items in the museum include:
- Jane Austen’s actual writing table
- First editions of her books
- Jane’s jewelry
- Drawings of Jane Austen
- Props from film adaptations of her books
Why is Jane’s writing table so small? Seeing her writing table in person was a special experience. The table is tiny due to the fact that she had to hide her writing from everyone outside of her closest family members and friends. No one else knew that she wrote her six novels until long after her death.
How Jane’s writing table came to the museum: The Jane Austen House Museum shares that “At some point after Jane’s death in 1817 the table was passed to a family servant, William Littleworth, and in 1913 it came into the ownership of the Knight family.” The Knight family included Jane’s brother, who changed his surname upon inheriting Chawton House. “In 1957 it was given to the Jane Austen Society for display at the House.”
Explore the Small Garden at the Jane Austen House Museum
There is also a small garden around the house with beautiful flowers and greenery. Be sure to take some time to walk around and admire it. In Jane Austen’s time, the garden was actually much bigger and included vegetables, which Jane’s mother tended to. No surviving layout of the garden exists today.
However, the Jane Austen House Museum has planted wildflowers and plants common in Hampshire and created a simple cottage garden, likely similar to Jane Austen’s garden. Today, you’ll see roses, summer annuals, perennials, climbing shrubs, and an oak tree, among other plants.
It is believed that Jane Austen planted an oak tree in the garden. Though, this tree no longer exists, its descendant does. You’ll find seating under this tree. You’re free to picnic at any of the benches or on the lawn itself.
Follow the Jane Austen Trail to Chawton House
Once you’ve finished touring the Jane Austen House Museum and purchasing your souvenirs at the gift shop, I’d suggest walking down Gosport Road to Chawton House, the manor where Jane’s brother Edward lived.
Jane herself often walked along the same path to visit her brother and nieces and nephews. It’s a short 10-minute, half-mile walk.
Along the way, you’ll see a thatched cottage where a friend of Jane Austen lived. We also encountered some sheep grazing under a tree.
The Jane Austen Trail extends the other way as well, into town, totaling about 1.5 miles.
You’ll see “Jane Austen Trail” signs when you are near an important monument related to Jane Austen. Learn more about the Jane Austen Trail in this PDF.
Explore Chawton House and Gardens
Jane’s brother Edward inherited Chawton House from the Knight family who couldn’t conceive kids of their own. They took a liking to Edward and asked him to be their heir on the condition he change his last name to Knight. He accepted and moved into Chawton House, taking over upon their death.
Chawton House is an interesting house in its own right, though most tourists visit due to its connection to Jane Austen.
You can tour Chawton House and gardens for £10 a person.
Tour the Library at Chawton House
The Chawton House library houses a collection of books by women writers, some of which are known only to exist at Chawton House. Over 4,500 of the books in the Chawton House library are rare and early editions from the 17th to 19th centuries, all by women writers. It seems a fitting legacy for the house that Jane Austen once called a second home.
Walk about the Gardens at Chawton House
Be sure to also explore the gardens around Chawton House, which include a shrubbery walk, a walled rose garden, and an herb garden. Two main paths also wind through the 275 acres of parkland.
We loved walking around Chawton House, just as Jane Austen did over 200 years ago.
You can even quite literally follow in her footsteps with the Jane Austen Garden Trail, a route that includes small signs with quotes from Jane Austen’s works.
Book a Hawk Walk at Chawton House
Did you know you can walk with a hawk, owl, or falcon around Chawton House’s parkland? You can book a 1- or 2-hour Hawk Walk experience with the resident falconer, starting at £75.
Where to Eat and Drink in Chawton
Have Lunch at Chawton House in the Old Kitchen
You can, conveniently, have lunch at Chawton House, at The Old Kitchen Tearoom. We did, and very much recommend it. Seating is in a courtyard, near the garden, and it was just lovely.
The Old Kitchen was built in 1592 and still maintains a few historic features, such as a brick alcove range and copper kettles. The courtyard was also very charming.
You can also pre-book afternoon tea for about £20 a person (with a week’s notice).
Check the website for the latest opening times as it does change depending on the season.
Have Tea and Pastries at Cassandra’s Cup
While you are on your way back into town, don’t forget to stop at Cassandra’s Cup, which is across from the Jane Austen House Museum. We stopped in on our way back, just as it was closing, and got some of their last pastries. They were absolutely delicious!
(I had told the employee we were looking for something sweet, and he cheekily replied, “Besides me?” Gave us a good laugh.) The decor inside is also very charming, with teacups hanging from the ceiling and antique-looking furnishings.
Cassandra is the name of Jane Austen’s beloved sister. Stop in to have a cup of tea while admiring through the window Jane Austen’s house across the street.
Have a Drink at The Greyfriar Pub
As an alternative, you can check out The Greyfriar pub next door to Cassandra’s Cup for pub fare and drinks. This has been the village pub for over 150 years, though I doubt Jane Austen ever visited (but I could be wrong).
How to Get to Jane Austen’s House from London Without a Car
If you’re like me and don’t want to rent a car while in the U.K., don’t worry. Luckily, the train system in the U.K. is brilliant, so it’s not only possible to reach Jane Austen’s House in Chawton from London without a car, but it’s very easy to do so.
Step 1: Take the Train from London to Alton
If you’re in London, there is a direct train route from London Waterloo Station to Alton Station, and the ride takes a little over an hour. Alton (population: 17,000) is the nearest town and railway station from Chawton.
How to book your train tickets: You can purchase your tickets on the Trainline app.
How to save money on train tickets: I used our Two Together Railcard for 33% off. Since we did a lot of train travel on our trip to the UK, this railcard was 100% worth it. I was traveling with my mom so the Two Together Railcard made sense for us (see all other railcards).
Step 2: Take a Taxi or Bus from Alton Station
From Alton Station, it’s 2.5 miles, or less than a 10-minute drive, to the Jane Austen House in Chawton.
Taxi: We took a taxi (there was a taxi office at the train station), and they gave us their card and told us to let them know when we were ready to be picked up.
It was all very simple, and everyone was so friendly and willing to help us get where we needed to be.
Bus: There is also a bus that goes from the Alton Station to Chawton (Winchester to Alton 64 Stagecoach). It arrives every 30 minutes so you’ll need to time it right.
Walk: Additionally, the walking path from Alton Station to Jane Austen’s House is about 1.7 miles and would take roughly 45 minutes.
What About Doing a Group Tour?
You might be wondering if there are any group tours that visit Jane Austen’s House, and the only group tours I found were expensive, private ones. It ended up working out well to travel there ourselves as we had enough time to visit Chawton House, as well.
I hope you can make the pilgrimage to the Jane Austen House Museum one day and enjoy the special experience as much as we did.
Frequently Asked Questions about Visiting Jane Austen’s House in Chawton
How far is Jane Austen’s House from London?
Jane Austen’s house is about 50 miles from London, which is roughly an hour’s drive. However, there’s a train that goes almost directly there, from London to Alton. 50 miles is not too far of a distance, so it makes for a good day trip from London.
How much time should you expect to spend visiting Chawton and Jane Austen’s House?
The Jane Austen House Museum is not very big, so it wouldn’t take more than an hour to tour it. However, if you want to take your time, it could take 1.5 to 2 hours.
The walk from Jane Austen’s house to Chawton House is about 10 minutes.
Chawton House is bigger, so you could spend about 2 hours there, including time for lunch at the Old Kitchen Tearoom, or possibly more if you also want to walk around the estate.
Altogether, your day in Chawton could be as short as 4 hours to as long as 7 hours, approximately.
We spent about 5 hours in Chawton. We got there a bit late in the morning, around 11:30 a.m., had a 1 p.m. entry time to tour the Jane Austen House Museum (they let us in early), toured Chawton House afterwards, made it to eat at the Old Kitchen Tearoom before it closed (at 3:30 I think) and then were able to get a quick pastry before Cassandra’s Cup closed at 5 p.m. After that, we were soon heading back on the train to London.
Should you stay overnight in Chawton?
I debated for ages whether to stay the night in Chawton or just go for a day trip. A day trip ended up being perfect. Chawton is very small and almost everything closes early, so a day trip works well.
However, if you’d like to spend more time in Chawton, Alton, or even nearby Winchester, it’d make sense to find a hotel in one of those areas.
Is Jane Austen’s house worth visiting?
Yes, Jane Austen’s house is definitely worth visiting. It’s a beautiful cottage in a beautiful small English town. We loved this chance to get away from the big city of London and explore a place that was so meaningful to Jane Austen.
Can you visit Jane Austen’s house?
Yes, Jane Austen’s house is open for visitors to tour. Please double check the dates you are planning to visit to make sure they are open.
Did Jane Austen live in Chawton House?
No, Jane Austen didn’t live in Chawton House, she lived in Chawton Cottage, which is now known as Jane Austen’s House Museum. Her brother Edward lived in Chawton House, so she visited often.
What should I visit in the UK if I’m a Jane Austen fan?
If you’re a Jane Austen fan, you should visit the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton, Chatsworth House in Bakewell (the filming site of Pride and Prejudice‘s Pemberley), and Bath, of course.
You could also visit Jane Austen’s burial site in Winchester Cathedral.
Map of Jane Austen Locations in Chawton
Other Posts to Help You Plan Your Trip to England
Day Trip to Chatsworth House (Pride and Prejudice’s Pemberley)
18 Things to See and Do in Bath, England
Weekend in Bath England Itinerary: What to Do in Bath UK for 2 Days
Guide to the Best Free Walking Tour in Bath, England
Day Trip to the Cotswolds from Oxford or London
The Best Library Afternoon Tea in London (with Views of Big Ben!)
Day Trip to Highclere Castle from London (Downton Abbey)
One Day in York, England Itinerary: What to Do in This Medieval City
Hi!
I love what you’ve shared! Thank you!
We are going to try this on our first trip to London. I’m very excited! We were going to take the train from London, but I was hoping to get your advice on how much time you would suggest to have for the visit including walking from the station and visiting both the cottage and Chawton House and have time to check out the gardens at each, without rushing. I also want to take into account getting to stop for a break at Cassandra’s Cup and The Old Kitchen Tearoom. My guy is not an early riser, LOL, but I want to make sure we get to do it all before everything closes for the day. We can also choose a weekday if that is better.
Thanks so much for your time,
Kelly
Hi Kelly, thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the article and thought it was helpful. I’m excited for your first trip to London! The Jane Austen house is not very big, so it wouldn’t take more than an hour to tour it. However, if you are wanting to take your time, it could take 1.5 to 2 hours. The walk from Jane Austen’s house to Chawton House is about 10 minutes. Chawton House is bigger, so you could spend about 2 hours there, including time for lunch at the Old Kitchen, or possibly more if you also want to walk around the estate. Cassandra’s Cup could be a short 15-minute stop if you only want to get a quick pastry. And then if you’re walking from the station to Chawton, it could take about 45 minutes. If you can get a taxi, I’d recommend that to save time, as the taxi ride is only 10 minutes. So adding all of that together, your day in Chawton could be as short as 4 hours to as long as 7 hours, approximately. We spent about 5 hours in Chawton. We got there a bit late in the morning, around 11:30 a.m., had a 1 p.m. entry time to tour the Jane Austen house, made it to eat at the Old Kitchen before it closed (at 3:30 I think) and then were able to get a quick pastry before Cassandra’s Cup closed at 5 p.m. After that, we were soon heading back on the train to London. Hope that helps!