The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty have been described as “the cornerstone of southern England’s ancient chalk landscapes”.
The North Wessex Downs encompass parts of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. It’s England’s third-largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The AONB encompasses within its 668 square miles (1,730 square kilometres), equivalent to a small county, some of the rarest species-rich chalk grassland and chalk streams, together with ancient woodland, veteran trees, arable farmland, river valleys, heaths, commons, ancient monuments and historic towns and villages. Icons include Avebury, Wilton Windmill, Savenake Forest, Uffington White Horse, Wittenham Clumps, Kennet and Avon Canal, Combe Gibbet, Race Horses around Lambourn and Lapwings - a special farmland bird which is in decline.
See our Discover North Wessex Downs leaflet for text to use or take a look at our Visitor Guide.
Hungerford, the Heart of the North Wessex Downs, is around 65 miles from central London.
Key main road car routes include M4, A4, A34, A338, A339, A343, A345, A346, A361.
For cycling, National Cycle Network (NCN) 4 runs on quieter routes from London right through the AONB via Hungerford and Savernake Forest. There is also cycle access along parts of the Thames Path and Ridgeway National Trails.
Long-distance walking routes: The Ridgeway National Trail, Thames Path National Trail, The Wayfarers’ Way, the Wansdyke Path, The White Horse Way.
Direct trains serve the North Wessex Downs AONB from London Paddington and London Waterloo, Reading, Oxford, Salisbury, Exeter etc.
Railway stations in, adjacent or close to the North Wessex Downs AONB:-
Kintbury, Hungerford, Bedwyn, Pewsey, Theale, Aldermaston, Midgham, Newbury, Racecourse, Newbury (Berks and Hants line)
Overton, Whitchurch, Basingstoke, Andover (LSW main line)
Pangbourne, Cholsey, Purley-on-Thames, Goring and Streatley, Didcot, Swindon (GW main line)
Bus services include Newbury–Hungerford, Hungerford-Lambourn, Hungerford-Swindon, Swindon-Avebury-Devizes, Swindon-Marlborough-Pewsey-Amesbury-Salisbury, Great Bedwyn-Marlborough, Newbury-Basingstoke, Newbury –Andover, Andover-Bourne Valley/Vernham Deane, Wantage-Didcot, Didcot –Blewbury, Wallingford Didcot etc. etc. There are also various on-demand services and regular community-run services e.g. Ramsbury-Hungerford on certain days.
* Open all year
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© Great West Way 2021.
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