Swindon: What To Do When You Visit Swindon

Swindon is in the county of Wiltshire has good transport links to the rest of the country.  It lies around forty miles from Bristol and forty miles from Reading. It is also around eighty miles from London. 

Certainly for those who wish to explore the myriad of attractions that the country of Wiltshire has to offer then Swindon makes an ideal place. There are plenty of good quality hotels in Swindon to stay in and also the surrounding area. As for places to visit there is Cotswold Wildlife Park to the north of the town along with Cotswold Water Park.  Otherwise there are place such as Bowood House and Lacock Abbey to visit as well. 

But there are plenty of wonderful sights to see that are slightly closer to this large town and below we take a look at just a few of these. 

The first place of interest that is only around a 30 minute drive from Swindon is Avebury Stone Circle. This is larger than Stonehenge but less famous. And unlike the nearby Stonehenge you are still allowed to wander around the stones and get up close to them. 

The circle is so large that it actually encompasses part of the village where it is located. Plus surrounding it are ditches and external banks and for you to approach the village you would have had to walk through an avenue of the stones. Originally the stones were left lying on the ground until an archaeologist by the name of Alexander Keiller decided to re-erect them in the 1930's. There is a museum on site including a 17th Century thatched threshing barn and you can find out more about the sites history. The story is an interactive one with great audio visual displays as well. 

As mentioned above to the north of Swindon is Cotswold Wildlife Park which houses a wide variety of animals from across the globe. Along with rhinos, leopards and primates there is a pride of Asiatic lions. There are also smaller mammals such as meerkats together with penguins and other tropical birds. All in all, the park makes for a great family day out.  For the children to help get rid of some of that energy they have they can try out the adventure playground. And in the summer months there is the chance to get close up with some animals and watch some birds of prey.

Another place of interest is Lacock Abbey which was converted into a house in around 1540. Fortunately the sacristy ceiling, chapter house, monastic rooms and medieval cloisters have remained largely intact. But along with exploring the abbey and the sixteenth Century stable courtyard there is also the Museum of Photography for you to explore as well. This museum was established to commemorate the life of the inventor William Fox Talbot who resided at the Abbey between 1800 and 1877. If you have a sense of deja vu about this building then it has been used a number of times as location for TV and film productions including the Harry Potter films.

When you next visit Swindon, book your Swindon hotel here.