Swindon

Worth seeing in and around Swindon

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   County Ground

   The County Ground, known as The Nigel Eady County Ground from the 2024-25 season, is a football stadium located in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, and has been home to Swindon Town Football Club since 1896. It has an all-seated capacity of 14,753 currently, which has been the same level since the mid-1990s.

   800 m · football stadium in Swindon, Wiltshire, England · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Swindon Steam Railway Museum

   STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, also known as Swindon Steam Railway Museum, is housed in part of the former railway works in Swindon, England – Wiltshire's 'railway town'. The 6,500-square-metre museum opened in 2000.

   1.1 km · railway museum in Swindon, England · Wikipedia
3. 03
   The Spectrum Building (formerly The Renault Distribution Centre)

   The Spectrum Building is a high tech building in Swindon, England, commissioned by the French car company Renault for their UK operations. Designed by the British architect Norman Foster of Foster Associates, it opened in 1982.

   3.2 km · building in Swindon · Wikipedia
4. 04
   St Mark's Church, Swindon

   St Mark's Church in central Swindon, Wiltshire, England is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Swindon, the archdeaconry of Malmesbury, and the diocese of Bristol. Its benefice is united with those of St Aldhelm, Swindon, St Luke, Swindon, and St Saviour, Swindon, to form the benefice of Swindon New Town.

   1 km · grade II listed church in South Swindon, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Wilts & Berks Canal

   The Wilts and Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Latton near Cricklade.

   2.1 km · canal in the United Kingdom · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Swindon Mechanics' Institute

   Swindon Mechanics' Institute was founded in 1843 and the Grade II* listed building was built in 1854-55. This was in Swindon, Wiltshire, England.

   800 m · education and theatre building in Swindon, England · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Lydiard Park

   Lydiard Park is a 260-acre country park at Lydiard Tregoze, which was its former name, about 3 miles west of central Swindon, Wiltshire, England, in West Swindon parish, near Junction 16 of the M4 motorway. The park, which is included on the Historic England Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II, surrounds the Grade I listed Lydiard House, a mansion built in the 17th and 18th centuries.

   5.7 km · country park in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK · Wikipedia
8. 08
   St Andrew's Church, Wanborough

   St Andrew's Church is in the village of Wanborough in north Wiltshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Bristol, one of only three churches in England to have both a western tower and a central spire.

   5.8 km · Grade I listed church in Wanborough, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Christ Church

   Christ Church, Swindon is a parish church located in the Old Town area of Swindon in Wiltshire. A Church of England establishment, it is part of the deanery of Swindon in the Diocese of Bristol.

   800 m · church in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Holy Rood Church, Swindon

    Holy Rood Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It was founded in 1851 as a chapel and was rebuilt as a church in 1905.

    200 m · church in Swindon, United Kingdom · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

1. 01
   Cotswold Water Park

   The United Kingdom's largest water park has over 150 lakes which were formed by filling old gravel quarries.

2. 02
   Steam: The Great Western Railway Museum
3. 03
   Museum of Computing @ Swindon

   Educational museum with excellent collections of what are now antique computers and games consoles.

4. 04
   Swindon Museum

   Interesting displays on local history, geology and archaeology.

5. 05
   Swindon Art Gallery

   Very important collection of 20th-century British art and includes works by Henry Moore and L.S.

6. 06
   Railway Village

From Wikivoyage: Swindon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Festival of Literature. May (annual). Created in the early 1990s, this event is for those who enjoy readings, poetry and talks from a wide range of authors, performers and speakers. Highlights from previous years include Sir David Attenborough, Will Self, Richard Dawkins, and the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir John Major. Film Festival, Hosted at a number of venues. March (annual).

1. 01
   Swindon Town

   The County Ground, County Road SN1 2ED (Next to Magic Roundabout).

From Wikivoyage: Swindon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

There aren't many types of places to choose from, mainly Indian restaurants and a few non decent pubs here and there.

From Wikivoyage: Swindon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Swindon

Airports

Bristol (BRS), 68 km · London Heathrow (LHR), 92 km · Birmingham (BHX), 99 km

Stations

Swindon railway station, 700 m

• Bristol → Swindon

  58 km · quickest by road, 1h 14m · £6–8
  GuideToday
• London → Swindon

  115 km · quickest by road, 2h 37m · £12–16
  GuideToday
• Birmingham, West Midlands → Swindon

  103 km · quickest by road, 2h 32m · £12–16
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
  Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Swindon

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Swindon. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Swindon – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.