Reading

Reading eats well, and in enormous variety. With hundreds of restaurants across the town, you could spend a week here without repeating a cuisine, from quick café stops like Monty's Café and Munchiies to sit-down meals at Nirai or a reliable Nando's when you want something familiar. Pub dining has a strong presence too, with venues such as New Beginnings Reading at Queens Arms and New Directions at Cedar Court doing food alongside the drinks, and Norcot Food Pantry offering something a bit different for those after local, community-minded options.

The town itself is Berkshire's commercial hub, built around the Thames and Kennet rivers, with a centre that mixes shopping streets, office blocks and pockets of older architecture. It's a working town first, which means the restaurant scene has grown to serve locals rather than tourists, and that shows in the range and reliability of what's on offer rather than any single flashy food quarter.

Visitors tend to stay centrally, close to the station and the main eating streets, with options ranging from characterful spots like Bel and the Dragon-Reading and the Bull Inn to more straightforward choices such as the Best Western Reading Calcot Hotel and Beech House Hotel. Caversham Lodge sits over on the quieter, leafier side of the river in Caversham, useful if you want a bit of distance from the town centre buzz while staying close to it.

Beyond the table, Reading has enough going on to fill a weekend. Escape Hunt Reading and the Reading Mystery Treasure suit those after a puzzle-driven afternoon, Bubble Football and Cloud Stables offer more active options, and families with younger children are well served by Active Tots and the Mad Hatters Pottery Painting Cafe. The Reading Rep Theatre adds a cultural evening option if you fancy a change of pace from eating out.

For those wanting to get out of town, Bucklebury Farm & Deer Safari Park makes for an easy day trip into the surrounding Berkshire countryside, and Ellis' Hill Farm Campsite gives a simpler, more rural base for anyone who prefers to camp rather than book a room. Either way, you're never far from another good meal back in town.