Car

Reading - Horsham: 2h

Destinations

South Downs National Park

Stargazing: International Dark Sky Reserve https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/dark-skies-hub/ The South Downs National Park is one of the best places in the UK to experience the magic of a truly star-filled night. As an International Dark Sky Reserve, it offers breathtaking views of the Milky Way, constellations, and celestial displays.

Oxford

  • Ashmolean Museum: https://www.ashmolean.org/ Museum of art and archaeology, founded in 1683. World famous collections range from Egyptian mummies to contemporary art, telling human stories across cultures and across time. Open every day 10-17
  • Pitt Rivers Museum: A cornucopia of ethnographic treasures from shrines to shrunken heads, packed in according to type. Free entrance. Mon 12-17, Tue-Sun 10-17.
  • Walk around Port Meadow.
  • Botanical garden: Britain’s oldest botanical garden. https://www.obga.ox.ac.uk/visit-garden
  • Harcourt Arboretum provides 130-acres of picturesque woodland, coppice and wildflower meadow. https://www.obga.ox.ac.uk/visit-arboretum. 6 miles from Oxford city centre.
  • Mesopotamia walk around uni campus. https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1342749 4.5 km long.

Cotswolds

Forest of Dean

On the borderland between England and Wales lies a region of ancient woodlands with mossy paths that once inspired JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The Forest of Dean is a centre for outdoors adventurers.

Chiltern Hills

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Lots of walking, hiking. Chalk streams. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk_stream

  • Nearby: Bletchley Park, National Museum of Computing.