Marlborough

Marlborough's places to stay range from boutique rooms above historic coaching inns on the High Street to countryside bed and breakfasts set in Georgian farmhouses just outside town. Because the town itself is compact, almost everywhere listed here puts you within walking distance of the shops, pubs and restaurants that line the High Street, and within a short drive of Savernake Forest, the Marlborough Downs and the wider Avebury landscape. Several of the properties occupy buildings that survived, or were built after, the great fire of 1653, giving even modestly priced rooms a genuine sense of history rather than reproduction character.

At the upper end, boutique conversions of former coaching inns and townhouses offer individually decorated rooms, four-poster suites and marble bathrooms, while keeping the timber beams, fireplaces and uneven floors that come with buildings several centuries old. The mid-range is dominated by working inns and small hotels that combine comfortable, well-equipped rooms with lively bars and dining rooms downstairs, making them a sociable choice for a weekend rather than a purely quiet retreat. For a lower-key stay, family-run guest houses and farmhouse bed and breakfasts on the edge of town or in nearby villages offer simple, well-kept rooms, often with private parking and a proper cooked breakfast, at a noticeably gentler price than the High Street hotels.

Whichever category you choose, book ahead for weekends from late spring through early autumn, when the town's popularity with walkers heading for the downs, the canal and Avebury pushes occupancy up sharply, and rooms in the smaller guest houses can sell out weeks in advance.

Marlborough's own streets and the countryside around it offer plenty to fill several days.

• Avebury Stone Circle — the largest stone circle in the world, with the modern village built partly inside it and free access to the stones at any time of day.
• Savernake Forest — an ancient forest of veteran oaks and the Grand Avenue of beech trees, criss-crossed by waymarked walking and cycling routes right from the edge of town.
• The Merchant's House — a restored 17th-century town house on the High Street, built after the great fire, with painted floors, panelling and a walled garden open to visitors.
• St Peter's Church — a late-medieval church at the top of the High Street, now used as a heritage and visitor centre with occasional exhibitions.
• Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow — the largest man-made prehistoric mound in Europe and a Neolithic chambered tomb, both a short drive west towards Avebury.
• Marlborough White Horse — a chalk hill figure cut into the downs above the town, reached by a short but steep climb with views back over the rooftops.
• Crofton Beam Engines — a pair of working Victorian steam beam engines on the Kennet and Avon Canal near Great Bedwyn, still the oldest working engines of their kind in the world.
• Kennet and Avon Canal towpath — a level, well-maintained walking and cycling route linking Marlborough to Great Bedwyn, Pewsey and Devizes.

Marlborough's High Street punches well above its weight for a town of its size, helped by a well-known restaurant from chef Rick Stein occupying a former bank building and serving the same seafood-led menu found at his Cornwall sites. Elsewhere the street is dotted with independent cafes, delicatessens and a long-running bookshop-cafe culture that reflects the town's connection to Marlborough College and a steady flow of walkers off the downs. The historic coaching inns, several dating from the town's rebuilding after the 1653 fire, serve solid pub food alongside cask ales from local Wiltshire brewers such as Wadworth, whose beers turn up on bars across the town. A weekly market has traded down the middle of the High Street since medieval times, and still brings local produce, plants and general stalls into the centre, while farm shops on the edge of town sell Wiltshire cheeses, watercress from the Kennet valley and game from the surrounding estates. For a quieter option, the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath towards Great Bedwyn passes several rural pubs that make a good lunch stop on a longer walk or cycle ride out of town.

Camping around Marlborough means trading the town's Georgian streets for the open chalk downland, working farmland and forest edges that surround it, with sites ranging from a few miles outside town to a short drive towards Calne or Pewsey. None of the sites sit inside Marlborough itself, but all are close enough for a day trip into town, a walk on the downs, or an evening at one of the villages along the Kennet and Avon Canal, and each offers a genuinely different style of camping.

Nearest to town, working farm sites keep things deliberately simple, with grass touring pitches, electric hook-up and modest facilities set among genuine countryside rather than a purpose-built holiday park, which suits campers who want quiet over amenities. Further out towards Calne, an established touring park built around a series of former gravel-pit lakes offers a fuller range of facilities, including a shop, play area and fishing, making it a better fit for families or longer stays who want more to do without leaving the site. Across the whole area, the emphasis is on access to walking and cycling rather than resort-style extras, with the Marlborough Downs, Savernake Forest, the Ridgeway and the Kennet and Avon Canal all within easy reach of a bike or a good pair of boots.

Facilities vary considerably between the sites, so it's worth checking hook-up availability, shop opening and dog policies directly with each campsite before booking, particularly outside the main summer season when some reduce their operating hours or close for the winter.