Stonehenge
Camels at Longleat Safari Park 
The Workshop and track at The Steam Railway Museum
Savernake ForestAncient English county Wiltshire is home to world famous prehistoric monuments, the World Heritage Sites of Stonehenge and Avebury. A gateway to the West Country and the Cotswolds, Wiltshire's spectacular landscape mix of chalk downland, ancient woodland, historic canals and beautiful stately home estates and gardens offer numerous opportunities for walking and cycling. The variety of attractions in Wiltshire from top family attractions like Longleat Safari Park and the Steam Museum Swindon to stunning gardens like Stourhead and magnificent medieval Salisbury Cathedral cater for all tastes, from family and walking holidays to cultural and romantic breaks.
» Find Accommodation in Wiltshire
Plentiful in Wiltshire are farmers markets, idyllic market towns and villages with outstanding craft and specialist shops, charming tearooms and traditional inns and historic abbeys and churches. Wiltshire accommodation includes luxury country house hotels with golf and spa leisure facilities, heritage coaching inns, family caravan and campsites near Stonehenge and peaceful countryside lodges. For inbound tourist visitors, Wiltshire is highly accessible from the north and south via the M5 and M4 motorway corridors. Wiltshire centres Salisbury, Swindon and Chippenham all have train links to London Paddington. London Airports Gatwick and Heathrow and Bristol International Airport are all gateway airports to Wiltshire, within easy reach via the M4 corridor. Portsmouth ferries are also a European gateway into Salisbury and Wiltshire.
Gateway to the West Country, Wiltshire is one of Britain's richest counties for ancient monuments and sites from Bronze Age burial mounds to Iron Age forts. The most famous of the prehistoric monuments in Wiltshire are Unesco World Heritage Sites Stonehenge to the north of Salisbury and the Avebury stone circle in the heart of the North Wessex Downs west of Marlborough. Wiltshire is also famous for its many ancient White Horse carvings, 13 white horses in all across the county, carved into the white chalk downland of North and West Wiltshire. Particularly well known White Horses in Wiltshire are The Uffington White Horse in North Wiltshire on the Oxfordshire border and the Westbury White Horse on the western edge of Salisbury Plain near the Somerset border.
A beautifully rural county featuring medieval market and wool towns and villages, Wiltshire is a superb area for walking, cycling and outdoor activity holidays. Outstanding Wiltshire walking holiday locations include Marlborough in the heart of the North Wessex Downs which offers idyllic walking across the Marlborough Downs and woodland walking in Savernake Forest. Family friendly walks in Wiltshire are around the Stonehenge landscape and Wiltshire's many glorious gardens, stately home estates, historic villages and pretty canals around Chippenham and Devizes offer further gentle walking territory in spectacular surroundings. The great English landscape gardener 'Capability' Brown created several stunning landscapes in Wiltshire including the gardens and grounds at Bowood near Chippenham and the famous Grand Avenue of beech trees through Savernake Forest east of Marlborough.
Across the Wiltshire market towns and villages from principal market towns like Chippenham to picture-postcard hill top market town Malmesbury a host of fine local produce markets and farmers markets, specialist independent craft shops, traditional inns and breathtaking historic abbeys, gardens and churches are waiting to be discovered. Wiltshire is an excellent rural holiday base from which to explore Bath and Somerset, the Cotswolds, Dorset, Hampshire and Home County Berkshire, all of which border this ancient English county. Superb gateways in North Wiltshire into the Cotswolds include Malmesbury with its historic abbey and Swindon, Wiltshire's liveliest town with a superb arts and festival scene and great nightlife. Swindon is one of Britain's famous historic railway towns, once home to Brunel's vast Great Western Railway engineering works. The historic railway works buildings today now house the acclaimed Steam Museum Swindon which tells the story of the pioneering Great Western Railway.
Across the Wiltshire market towns and villages from principal market towns like Chippenham to picture-postcard hill top market town Malmesbury a host of fine local produce markets and farmers markets, specialist independent craft shops, traditional inns and breathtaking historic abbeys, gardens and churches are waiting to be discovered. Wiltshire is an excellent rural holiday base from which to explore Bath and Somerset, the Cotswolds, Dorset, Hampshire and Home County Berkshire, all of which border this ancient English county. Superb gateways in North Wiltshire into the Cotswolds include Malmesbury with its historic abbey and Swindon, Wiltshire's liveliest town with a superb arts and festival scene and great nightlife. Swindon is one of Britain's famous historic railway towns, once home to Brunel's vast Great Western Railway engineering works. The historic railway works buildings today now house the acclaimed Steam Museum Swindon which tells the story of the pioneering Great Western Railway.
Rabley Drawing Centre comprises a contemporary art gallery showing regular exhibitions and an independent art school running part-time courses in drawing and printmaking. Its inspirational rural location in converted Victorian barns on the Ainslie family farm near Marlborough in Wiltshire lures artists, students and visitors alike to its unique creative hub. Now running film nights in conjunction with Kennet Valley Arts Trust. Visit the website for information on current events, exhibitions, courses and opening times. Tel: 01672 511999
Wiltshire's jewel, the market city of Salisbury situated in the south of the county near the Hampshire border is within easy reach of Stonehenge. Salisbury is one of Britain's great historic cities, home to the magnificent and iconic medieval Salisbury Cathedral which has Britain's tallest spire up which visitors can take tours to view the medieval scaffolding close-up. A centre for the arts and with award winning museums, acclaimed theatres and a range of attractions, pretty walks and idyllic villages surrounding it, Salisbury is an outstanding cultural city break in Britain, perfect for romantic getaways.
Stonehenge image copyright Pam Brophy. Longleat Safari Park image copyright Pam Brophy. The Steam Railway Museum image copyright Kevin Hale. Savernake Forest image copyright Brian Robert Marshall.
All images copyrighted and licensed for reuse under the creative commons licence.
