Maldon, which is just less than an hour’s drive from Romford, has been recognised as one of the best places to live in the county as part of the Muddy Stilettos Top 300 Places to Live series.
The 2025 list placed Maldon third when ranking Essex locations this year, behind only Saffron Waldon and Chelmsford.
Muddy Stilettos said: “One of the oldest towns in Essex, beautiful Maldon has more than 200 Grade ll listed buildings and a wonderful waterside location on the Blackwater Estuary.
Maldon is on the Blackwater Estuary(Image: CARL ALLEN)
“Once a thriving port, it’s now buzzing with boutiques, bars and great restaurants.
“Strong community spirit – and some of the best chocolate in the country – make this a flavourful, interesting place to live.”
Muddy Stilettos highlighted a range of eateries such as the Maldon Coffee Company for an “excellent brew” and Le Bouchon for “French classics”.
The 2025 Travellers’ Choice Awards were announced at the end of September highlighting the top restaurants and eateries across the world as well as the UK specifically.
Amongst the categories is the ‘pet-friendly’ section where Mrs Salisbury’s of Maldon ranked 11th best in the world and second best in the UK.
The tea room, founded by Michael Bloomfield and Charlie Goss in 2014, has a 4.9 out of five rating on Tripadvisor from over 1,900 reviews and a 4.8 rating on Google from more than 800 reviews.
A host of “indie” shops were also singled out by the lifestyle magazine such as Jacob’s Farmshop in Goldhanger Road which sells local fruit and veg, eggs, honey, chutney and jam amongst other goods.
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Muddy Stilettos advises the first stop for clothes to be the 2024 Muddy Stilettos Essex Awards best women’s fashion/accessories finalist Willow & Fox.
It added: “And then there’s chocolate, sigh.
“The Muddy Stilettos 2024 National Awards winner for best local food/drink producer is (excitingly) local chocolate maker TEMPRD.
“Its range of 17 flavours are worth moving to Maldon for alone.”
Maldon hosts festivals and events throughout the year and the Maldon Carnival was described as an August favourite, with floats from schools, community groups and businesses.
The Maldon Regatta every September sees traditional and modern boats racing to cross the finish line at the end of the prom.
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Promenade Park is home to Splash Park, open from June to September, as well as Pirates Bay Adventure Golf, crabbing lake, a BMX track, skateboard park and play area.
Madison Heights has soft play, bowling, roller skating, an arcade and pool tables, while the Maldon Promenade Zoo is home to more than 70 species of animal – many of which are rescued.
Muddy Stilettos labelled Maldon’s best kept secret as “not really a secret” – Maldon Salt.
The company, run by the fourth generation of the Osborne family, harvests seawater from the Blackwater Estuary during the spring tide, then subjects it to an evaporation process to form the salt’s crystals.
According to Rightmove, the average house price in Maldon was £368,577 over the last year.
The majority of properties sold in Maldon during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £357,920.
Detached properties sold for an average of £499,284 and terraced properties fetched £291,859.
