Blog (Nature) - Visit Wiltshire

You might not be aware but there are three designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire. These will be celebrated as part of a national ‘Outstanding’ Week taking place from 16-24 September so we thought we’d share with you twelve reasons why you should make a visit to one or more of our AONBs (The Cotswolds, North Wessex Downs and Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs).

As the leaves begin to change and the longer nights draw in it makes a great time to explore some of our timeless nature before the seasons change again. Here we show you 9 reasons why you should pack up your bags and book your autumn break to Wiltshire…

A popular wedding venue, and famous for the Larmer Tree Festival, the venue for our second instameet of the year was the Larmer Tree Gardens.

On a clear evening, there’s nothing better than a spot of stargazing. Wiltshire being a predominantly rural county lends itself to stargazing with the advantage of less light pollution than more urban areas.

Clattinger Farm forms part of the Lower Moor Farm complex of nature reserves owned and managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. 

I joined the Trust for one of their guided walks, highlighting the Snakeshead Fritillaries which dominate some of the meadows here in April. Many people flock to nearby Cricklade to see these delicate flowers but Clattinger Farm is another fine example of wildflower meadows.

I always love visiting Iford Manor’s Peto Garden, it’s a great place to enjoy some tranquillity and every time I make the descent into the village down the narrow country lane I am in awe of the views.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Bowood I joined Bowood House & Gardens in 1986, as a 16 year old boy I remember my first job was to brush the office yard! Today, I am responsible fo..

We arrived at the Pewsey Vale Riding Centre on Sunday morning just before 10am, as the three of us Justine, Angela and I, had been booked in for a two hour hack across the beautiful Pewsey Vale in Wiltshire as a birthday treat for me! All of us can ride but we had not been out for a hack for a while so we were a little out of practice.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust I am the Reserve Manager at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and oversee the management of our 37 Nature reserves dotted throughou..

Oh how we love spring, it’s so beautiful to see the blossoms appearing on the trees, the daffodils popping out along the verges and the bluebells begin to emerge in our woodlands.
We’ve put together a selection of some of our favourite spring photos that we have here at VisitWiltshire, we hope you enjoy them!

Towards the end of January I made a trip to the tranquil setting of Lydiard Park. The morning had been cold and blustery but luckily by the time I pulled up at the car park the weather was beginning to turn for the better. I’d heard that some of the snowdrops were already making an appearance here so I went for a bit of an investigation.

If, like me, the start of the year has left you feeling all a bit ‘January-ish’, it helps to have something to look forward to. So here are 17 great ideas for things to see and do around Wiltshire that are sure to brighten up the first few months of 2017.