Salisbury

Salisbury sits where five chalk-fed rivers meet, its cathedral spire rising 123 metres above the water meadows and marking the city out for miles across the Wiltshire plain. Founded in the thirteenth century when the original hilltop settlement of Old Sarum was abandoned for the valley below, it was laid out on a grid of streets that still governs the centre today, a rare piece of planned medieval town-building that survives largely intact.

The result is a compact city that rewards walking. Cathedral Close, Britain's largest and best preserved, is ringed by honey-coloured townhouses and framed by lawns where the cathedral has stood since 1258. Beyond it, timber-framed buildings lean over narrow lanes named for the trades once carried out there — Fish Row, Butcher Row, Ox Row — and a twice-weekly market still fills the Market Place as it has done for eight hundred years.

Salisbury's setting makes it a natural base for exploring further afield. Stonehenge is a short drive across the plain, Wilton House and its gardens sit just outside the city, and the New Forest and Dorset coast are within easy reach. Yet the city holds its own too, with enough museums, riverside walks and independent shops to fill several days before anyone needs to venture out to the surrounding countryside.

Top things to do in Salisbury

The cathedral dominates any visit, but Salisbury has plenty more to offer within walking distance of its spire.

• Salisbury Cathedral houses the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta and the world's oldest working mechanical clock, and visitors can climb the tower for views across the Close and out to the plain beyond.
• Old Sarum is the earthwork and ruined castle where Salisbury began, an Iron Age hillfort later fortified by the Romans, Saxons and Normans before the city moved to the valley in 1220.
• Salisbury Museum, set in a medieval house on the Close, holds finds from Stonehenge and the surrounding chalklands alongside displays on the city's history.
• Mompesson House, a National Trust property on the Close, is a Queen Anne townhouse with fine plasterwork ceilings and a walled garden, best known for its role in the film of Sense and Sensibility.
• Wilton House, on the western edge of the city, is the ancestral home of the Earls of Pembroke, with state rooms designed by Inigo Jones and parkland running down to the River Nadder.
• Stonehenge lies around nine miles north-west of the city and remains the obvious day trip, best visited early or late in the day when the coach parties have thinned out.
• Salisbury Market fills the Market Place every Tuesday and Saturday, a tradition granted by royal charter in 1227 and still the best place to pick up Wiltshire produce.
• The Water Meadows south of the Close offer a flat, easy walk beside the Avon to the spot where John Constable painted his famous view of the cathedral.

Getting to Salisbury

Salisbury has a direct rail link with London Waterloo, with South Western Railway trains running roughly twice an hour and taking around 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes depending on the service. There are also useful connections west to Exeter and south to Southampton and Bournemouth, making the city easy to combine with a wider West Country trip.

By road, Salisbury sits just off the A36 between Southampton and Bath, with the A303 passing close by on its route towards Stonehenge and the South West — useful for anyone arriving from London or the M3. The city centre has several pay-and-display car parks, including a large one at the Maltings shopping centre, and a park-and-ride scheme operates from sites on the ring road for visitors who would rather not drive into the centre itself.

The nearest airports are Southampton, around 25 miles south-east, and Bournemouth, a similar distance to the south, both with car hire available. Bristol Airport is a little further but offers a wider range of international routes.

Best time to visit Salisbury

Spring brings daffodils and blossom to the Close and the water meadows, with fewer visitors than summer and reliably good light for photographing the cathedral. It is a good time to combine the city with an early-season visit to Stonehenge before the main tourist season builds.

Summer is the busiest period, with long days for exploring the Close and surrounding countryside, outdoor seating filling the city's pubs and cafes, and events including the Salisbury International Arts Festival in late May and early June bringing music, theatre and street performance to the city.

Autumn suits anyone who prefers a quieter city, with the water meadows turning colour and the cathedral especially atmospheric in low afternoon light. Half-term weeks are the exception, when family visitors pick up again.

Winter is quiet outside the run-up to Christmas, when the Cathedral hosts carol services and the Market Place fills with a Christmas market. The cathedral interior, lit for evensong, is arguably at its best in the darker months, and hotel rates tend to be at their lowest.

Where to stay in Salisbury

Cathedral Close and the immediate city centre suit anyone who wants to step straight out into the medieval streets, with the cathedral, museums and restaurants all within a few minutes' walk. This is the most atmospheric part of the city but also the busiest with day visitors.

The Fisherton Street and Milford Street areas, just outside the old city walls but still within easy walking distance, offer a wider choice of guest houses and mid-range hotels at lower rates than the centre, along with easy access to the railway station.

For those travelling by car, the edges of the city near Wilton and the A36 give quick access to Wilton House and the A303 towards Stonehenge, while still allowing a short drive or bus ride into the centre for an evening out.

Food and drink in Salisbury

Salisbury's twice-weekly charter market remains the best introduction to local produce, with Wiltshire cheeses, home-cured meats and seasonal vegetables from the surrounding farms sold alongside the usual market stalls. The wider county is known for its chalk stream trout and watercress, both drawn from the same clear rivers that meet in the city, and for game and venison from the surrounding estates in autumn and winter.

The city has a good spread of independent places to eat. Fisherton Mill combines an art gallery and furniture workshop with a café serving all-day brunches in a converted grain store, while Charter 1227 in the Market Place takes its name from the market's royal charter and serves modern British food using produce from the surrounding countryside. The Old Mill at Harnham, a short walk from the Close along the water meadows, occupies a genuine converted watermill beside the Avon and is popular for a riverside pint or Sunday lunch.

Pubs are plentiful and several claim genuine age: the Haunch of Venison, tucked beside the Market Place, dates from the 1320s and is one of the oldest pubs in England, while the New Inn on New Street occupies a fifteenth-century timber-framed building with a walled garden. For something sweeter, the city's tea rooms and bakeries make the most of Wiltshire's dairy produce, and a slice of local cheese from the market makes an easy edible souvenir to take home.