City of Parks and Railways: Why Everyone Should Visit Swindon

In the north of Wiltshire, between the Cotswolds and North Wessex, Swindon is a large and growing city in the hilly countryside. It was a small traditional market town until the mid-19th century when the construction of the Great Western Railway turned Swindon into a transportation hub.

Today this city attracts all lovers of the railway, rural sisterhood and wonderful landscapes, online casinos, and a home atmosphere.

Let's explore the best things to do in Swindon:

1. Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway's Swindon Plant operated for over 140 years until 1986 and was at one time one of the largest rail facilities in the world.

In 2000, some of the listed buildings became a museum commemorating the history of the Great Western Railway.

One of the figures you will meet is Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer who almost single-handedly designed the railroad and its infrastructure.

2. Museum of Computer Science

The exhibition at the Swindon Museum of Computing is a 75-year chronology of the development of computer technology.

A couple of rare exhibits are Science of Cambridge MK14 from 1977 and Nintendo Powerglove from 1989. A good idea at the Museum of Computing is that almost everything is operational and playable, so parents can introduce kids to the joys of Gameboy, Pong, or Space Invaders.

3. Lydiard Park

On the western outskirts of Swindon is a Palladian country house on 260 acres of parkland.

The house is open for excursions in the summer when you can enjoy the main hall, dining room, living room, guest bedroom, and dressing room adorned with ornate stucco, gilded furnishings, marble fireplaces, silk wallpaper, and family portraits.

The complex is open all year round and culminates in a restored walled garden built in the 1740s and planted with the same fruit trees and flowering plants as nearly 300 years ago.

4. Swindon Museum and Art Gallery

The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, located in Swindon's Old Town, is essentially a shared attraction.

The art gallery is housed in a modern building and has a good reputation for the work of prominent figures in 20th-century British art such as Henry Moore, Lucian Freud, L. S. Lowry, and Graham Sutherland.

5. Swindon and Cricklade Railroad

The Midland and Southwest Junction Railroad first opened in the 1880s and served much of the West, from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire to Andover in Hampshire.

It was eventually expanded in 2014 to a stop in the Tau Valley on the northern outskirts of Swindon. This is an impressive feat considering the line is run by volunteers.

The line has both steam and diesel locomotives and is generally open on weekends, with regular murder mystery nights, children's treasure hunts, steam cider, and sausages in summer, and "special Santa Claus" for Christmas.