Discover Wiltshire: Stonehenge, Salisbury and holiday apartments
Accommodation in Wiltshire
Wiltshire combines impressive evidence of early history with cathedrals, manor houses, landscaped gardens and extensive pathways. Between Salisbury, Stonehenge and the historic estates, there are experiences ranging from archaeological discoveries to walks, cycling tours and garden visits.
Culture
In Salisbury, the cathedral rises with Britain’s tallest church spire. Inside, an original Magna Carta from 1215 is preserved; the cathedral also offers free guided tours and demonstrations. Mompesson House complements the city’s historic character as an 18th-century town house in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close. The property includes a walled garden with herbaceous borders and a pergola.
Stonehenge can be experienced as more than just a prehistoric monument: visitors can walk among the reconstructed Neolithic houses. The exhibition in the visitor centre displays more than 250 archaeological objects and finds, including jewellery, pottery, tools and human remains. At the Wiltshire Museum, one collection is dedicated to Bronze Age archaeology and displays gold from the time of Stonehenge.
Lacock, too, preserves a distinctive historic village character. The typically English village has changed little in 200 years; its streets are lined with half-timbered houses and independent shops. The Fox Talbot Museum in Lacock explores the history of photography, Lacock’s role in it and changing photography exhibitions. Westwood Manor is a stone manor house dating from the 15th century with restored rooms. Its collection includes an Italian virginal from 1537.
Great Chalfield Manor is a medieval manor house that was restored in the early 20th century. The associated Arts and Crafts garden includes topiary houses, a rose garden and a spring-fed pond. A one-mile public footpath connects Great Chalfield Manor with The Courts Garden in Holt.
Old Wardour Castle combines a ruin with a grotto, banqueting house, lawns and a lake. A free audio tour tells the story of the castle. Visitors can climb the stone steps to the east tower and enjoy panoramic views across the lawns, lake and surrounding countryside. In the centre of the nearby village of Ludgershall are the remains of a 14th-century cross. Ludgershall Castle is suitable for a picnic, and children can explore the ruins.
Landscape and nature
Stourhead has a landscape garden with a lake surrounded by lawns, trees and classical temples. The estate covers 2,650 acres of chalk hills, ancient woodland, Iron Age hillforts and agricultural land. White Sheet Hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, an SSSI, with archaeological evidence from the Neolithic, Iron Age and Bronze Age.
Old Sarum preserves an Iron Age hillfort. Its defensive ramparts consist of two earthworks separated by a ditch. Footpaths cross 29 acres of rare chalk grassland, offering far-reaching views across the Wiltshire countryside. The World Heritage Site of Avebury can be explored on foot or by bicycle.
Active pursuits
The Caen Hill flight comprises a total of 29 locks. Over two miles, it overcomes a difference in elevation of 237 feet at a gradient of 1 in 44. The towpath beside the Caen Hill locks is open at all times. For longer cycling tours, the 160-mile Wiltshire Cycleway runs along quiet country roads and is complemented by a network of shorter circular routes.
Wiltshire therefore brings different ways of exploring close together: cathedral history and prehistoric archaeology, carefully designed gardens and rare chalk grassland, paths alongside locks and cycling routes across quiet country roads. More places in Wiltshire: Wootton Bassett, Whiteparish, Warminster, Trowbridge, Sutton Benger, Stanton Saint Quintin, Stanley, Shaw, Salisbury, Melksham, Malmesbury, Landford, Hindon, Grittleton, Devizes, Crudwell, Cricklade, Corsham, Collingbourne Kingston, Colerne, Chippenham, Castle Combe, Calne, Bradford On Avon, Amesbury, Beanacre, Ogbourne St George, Ansty, Staverton, Redlynch, Holt, Durrington, Shrewton, Charlton, Marston, Marlborough, Box, Broad Chalke, Froxfield, Stapleford, Limpley Stoke, Westbury, Downton, Market Lavington, Ham, Tollard Royal, Chilmark, Tidworth, Upavon, Larkhill, Ludgershall, Steeple Ashton, Sherston, Purton, Potterne, Lyneham, Figheldean, Erlestoke, Ashton Keynes, Edington, Yatton Keynell, Andover, Christian Malford, Bratton, Wylye, Alderbury, Pewsey, Tytherton Lucas, Manningford Abbots, Shalbourne, Temple, Upper Seagry, Netheravon, Sedgehill.
To the higher-level travel overview: South West England.
