I was blown away by pretty UK town with lovely high street and lavender fields

Journalist at SurreyLive Laura Nightingale was "on a mission to explore the length and breadth of Surrey", which is how she came across the town of Banstead. "I was blown away by its charm and beauty," she penned. "The clean and pretty parade was dotted with lots of independent shops and cute coffee shops."

Located on the northern edge of the North Downs – a ridge of chalk hills – Banstead is surrounded by the beautiful English countryside. But even closer by town, just a mere five minutes from the high street, is Mayfield Lavender Farm. "Thousands of tourists flock to the 25-acre organic purple fields every summer, and I was one of them," Laura wrote.

"You can spend hours walking and sitting among the delicate lilac blooms, soaking up the sunshine and breathing in the fabulous floral scent."

Entry to Mayfield Lavender Farm is £6 for adults and £1.50 for children; and once inside, you can tuck into lavender-infused goodies.

Laura elaborated: "I was able to leisurely tuck into a super scrumptious lavender cupcake and a lavender latte surrounded by the just the humming of bees and tweets of birds."

Described as a "must-visit" attraction if you're near Surrey this summer, it's not the only draw to the area.

"[I] felt like I was in a quaint European city," Laura noted, after spotting a traditional butchers, a greengrocers, and a few restaurants.

Fego Restaurant had the "most wonderful looking pastries" such as sourdough banana bread, cinnamon sticky buns, pecan and bitter chocolate brownies and pistachio croissants.

"I would happily move there," Laura said of Banstead after learning of the property prices.

Rightmove statistics show that the majority of properties sold in Banstead during the past year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £627,249.