posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Dec 31
The town of Swindon is to be found in the county of Wiltshire, England and can be easily reached by road or railway. It lies around 40 miles from Bristol and 40 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 lots of good quality hotels in Swindon and the surrounding area. It is close to Cotswold Wildlife Park and also the Cotswold Water Park. Other places to visit include Bowood House and Lacock Abbey.
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.
About 30 minutes drive from Swindon is Avebury Stone Circle. This is larger than Stonehenge but less famous. But you still have the opportunity unlike at Stonehenge which is short drive away to wander around the stones and get up close and personal with them.
Avebury Stone circle 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. The stones were re-erected by Alexander Keiller during the 1930′s. Today there is a museum on the site that houses a seventeenth Century thatched threshing barn and tells you 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. There is a pride of Asiatic lions plus rhinos, leopards and assorted primates. There are also smaller mammals such as meerkats together with penguins and other tropical birds. Certainly for a family day out this is a wonderful place to go when the weather is great. There is an adventure playground for the children to help get rid of some of their excess energy. Plus during the summer months they have the chance to get close up and personal with some animals and watch some wonderful birds of prey.
Another place of interest is Lacock Abbey which was converted into a house in around 1540. Yet even so the sacristy ceiling, chapter house, monastic rooms and medieval cloisters have remained largely intact. As well as the abbey and the 16th Century stable courtyard there is also a Museum of Photography for you to explore. The museum was established to commemorate the life of the inventor William Fox Talbot who lived at Lacock Abbey during his life in the 1800′s. If you think you recognize 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 stay in Swindon, choose your Swindon hotel here.
