Wallingford

Wallingford's hotels and guesthouses make the most of its riverside setting and historic streets, with several occupying old coaching inns that have been welcoming travellers since well before the age of the motorcar. Staying in the town centre puts you within walking distance of the Market Place, Castle Gardens and the Thames towpath, while a short drive out brings you to larger country-house style hotels in the surrounding villages, some with spas, gardens or golf courses attached. Riverside guesthouses and B&Bs offer a quieter, more personal alternative, often with views straight over the water towards the Chilterns.

Because Wallingford is such a well-known Midsomer Murders location, several accommodation options lean into the connection, and it's an easy base for exploring the wider filming trail across South Oxfordshire and the Chilterns. It also works well as a stopover for those walking or cycling the Thames Path or National Cycle Route 5, with many places happy to store bikes or dry out wet kit. Booking ahead is worth doing over the summer months and during any local festival or regatta weekend, when the town's relatively small number of rooms fills up quickly.

Wallingford rewards a slow wander more than a tick-list of sights, but there's still plenty to fill a day or a long weekend.

• Wallingford Castle Gardens — once among the largest and strongest castles in England, and the site of the 1153 Treaty of Wallingford that ended the civil war known as the Anarchy, the castle itself was demolished on Cromwell's orders in 1652. What remains is a peaceful public park of grassy earthworks, mature trees and flowerbeds, with information boards tracing the outline of the vanished stronghold.
• Wallingford Bridge and the Thames Path — the town's stone bridge has spanned the river here since the 14th century, and the riverside meadows either side make for an easy, level stroll. Join the Thames Path proper for longer walks towards Benson and the Chilterns, or downstream towards Cholsey and Goring Gap.
• Wallingford Museum — a compact local-history museum housed in a medieval merchant's house on the High Street, covering the Saxon burh, the castle, and the town's more recent fame as a Midsomer Murders filming location, complete with props and photographs from the show.
• Midsomer Murders locations — Wallingford stood in for the original "Causton" and has featured in more than twenty episodes since the series began. The cobbled Market Place, the Corn Exchange and various pubs and shopfronts around town will be instantly familiar to fans, and a self-guided trail leaflet is available locally for tracking them down.
• The Corn Exchange — this Grade II-listed Victorian hall from 1856 on the Market Place doubles as Wallingford's cinema and theatre, hosting films, live music and touring theatre companies year-round.
• Winterbrook House — a private Georgian house on the southern edge of town where Agatha Christie lived from 1934 until her death in 1976, writing many of her later novels there. It isn't open to the public, but literary fans can view it from the road and stop for a drink at nearby pubs she is thought to have known.
• River cruises and boat hire — traditional Thames passenger boats run seasonal trips from Wallingford's riverside, and rowing boats, punts and canoes can be hired for those who'd rather explore the water under their own steam.

For a town of its size, Wallingford has a lively food scene. Five Little Pigs, named after the Agatha Christie novel written just up the road at Winterbrook House, is a well-regarded neighbourhood restaurant known for sharing plates and produce grown by local gardeners. The Market Place and surrounding streets hold a good spread of independent cafés and coffee shops, alongside traditional riverside and town-centre pubs serving classic British food. A large Waitrose sits just outside the centre for self-caterers, and the weekly street market brings local produce, baked goods and crafts to the town square.

Camping around Wallingford means gentle Thames Valley countryside rather than dramatic wilderness: flat water meadows along the river giving way to rolling farmland and the wooded slopes of the Chilterns just to the east. As in the rest of England, wild camping is not legal here without the landowner's explicit permission, so plan on a licensed campsite or a farm pitch rather than pitching up on the riverbank or in open fields — the exception is a small pocket of legal wild camping on Dartmoor, many counties away, which doesn't apply in Oxfordshire. The good news is that the area is well served by proper sites, from simple riverside meadows for tents and campervans to smarter touring parks with electric hook-ups, and a growing number of glamping options for those who want the setting without the packing list.

The terrain is largely level and easy-going, making it popular with families and cyclists following National Cycle Route 5 or the Thames Path, both of which pass close to the town. Riverside sites let you fish, launch a canoe or simply watch the boats go by, while pitches further from the water tend to be quieter and better sheltered when the weather turns. Midges and the odd flood after heavy rain are the main practical concerns of a riverside pitch, so it's worth checking a site's flood history and choosing higher ground if you're visiting outside a settled summer spell.

Late spring through early autumn is the sweet spot for camping here, when the meadows are dry, the days are long, and the Thames is at its most inviting for a paddle or a pub-garden evening. May and June bring the freshest greenery and fewer crowds than the school holidays, while September often delivers some of the calmest, driest camping weather of the year. Winter camping is possible at sites that stay open year-round, but conditions underfoot can be heavy going and river levels rise quickly after rain.

For a softer introduction to sleeping outdoors, glamping sites within easy reach of Wallingford offer bell tents, shepherd's huts and safari-style cabins, often with proper beds, wood-burners and their own bathrooms — a good middle ground between a hotel and a tent, and a popular choice for a first camping trip with children.