After an amazing time in Wales, my great British road trip has brought me back to England. And to one of the most beautiful parts of England, too. I’m spending a day in 3 of the prettiest villages in Wiltshire, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for me.
Prettiest Villages in Wiltshire
After traveling to the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Chester, and Wales, my boyfriend and I drive our camper van to Wiltshire in search of villages that make us go “ahhhhh”.
1. Castle Combe
And Castle Combe is just such a place. Nestled at the bottom of a hill in the Cotswolds, this beautiful village has been on my list of places to travel in the UK for ages.
A postcard-perfect high street lined with stone cottages gives way to chocolate-box side streets and little shops with teapot signs overhead.
It’s everything I love about an English village, and I can’t quite believe it’s real.
We spend our whole time wandering up and down the high street, taking in the details and capturing the scene with our cameras.
When it’s time to leave, I keep turning around to make sure it hasn’t disappeared.
2. Lacock
From Castle Combe we drive to another of the prettiest villages in Wiltshire: Lacock. It’s bigger and more spread out than Castle Combe, but has just as much charm.
The yellow stone buildings warm up as the sun brightens the sky, and the streets are full of lovely shops and pop-up stands selling jams and baked goods.
On one side of the village lies Lacock Abbey, which started life as a 13th-century nunnery and successively became a country house and then a museum.
Many scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed here, and as soon as I enter the cloistered halls I can see why.
My boyfriend and I tour Lacock Abbey, taking in the medieval halls and Victorian rooms before exploring the gardens outside. It’s a perfect compliment to the village, and adds an anchor to the area.
3. Avebury
Leaving Lacock, we drive east to Avebury, a village famous for its stone circles.
We arrive to discover that there’s a lot more to the area’s Neolithic heritage than we imagined, and we could have easily dedicated an entire day to this place.
But even with the little time we have, we manage to admire the village’s thatched-roof cottages, visit the gardens at Avebury Manor, and walk around the stones.
We’re enchanted by the fact that the circles are part of the village and vice versa, and love how there doesn’t seem to be a boundary between the two.
Unlike Stonehenge, which feels remote, Avebury’s stones feel like they’re part of the community.
Our time being part of the community is running out, though, and we have to get back on the road. The next stop on our great British road trip is London (yep!), so stay tuned…
How about you? What do you think are the prettiest villages in Wiltshire?
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31 Comments on Lady’s Guide to the 3 Prettiest Villages in Wiltshire
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so pretty!
Yeah!
Cricklade and South Cerney (although that may technically be in Gloucestershire) are both worth a visit.
Thanks, Ruth!
I’m sad it sounds like we are down to the last stop on your road trip! But I’m sure you have plenty of engaging posts planned until your next venture out. Thanks, Julie.
It’s actually only half over, so there will be a lot more posts coming soon.
That’s great news. I will look forward to the rest of your trip reports!
I visited these three places last month and was astonished by their beauty and charm. We found chocolate shops, bakeries, gardens, and pubs (all my favorites)! All three towns are close enough to visit in one day but worth taking two days to visit.
That’s great! I agree that two days is a good amount of time.
I’ve not been to Avebury for almost ten years, but your amazing photos make me eager to go back and re-visit. Especially with such beautiful little villages close by to see as well.
That’s great! I hope you get a chance to go back again.
I live not too far from these three. We often visit. Lacock at War is a fun event too but sadly cancelled this year.
I hope it goes ahead next year!
Hmmm…might need to visit Lacock. What a lovely area! We have been reviewing your blogs for planning our trip. So helpful. Looking forward to hearing more about this trip of yours!
I hope you can visit Lacock. It’s really beautiful. I’m glad you’ve found the blog helpful for your trip planning, too!
The images illustrating this post make me want to jump into a vehicle and drive south to Wiltshire. They’re absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks!
These are sooo stunning!! I need to go back to the UK and explore some villages 🙂
Thanks! I hope you get a chance to.
You have taken some wonderful photos! I can’t wait to read about your trip to London.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it when you do.
Those places are so picture perfect it’s hard to believe they are villages that people live and work in.
True! I think if I lived in one I would just want to look out the window all day.
I loved Lacock but Castle Combe stole my heart! We got a pound cake from an honor bakery set up on a little table outside a home – it was delicious!
That’s great! I love that idea.
Gosh these places look so picturesque and perfect! I want to visit them now!!
I hope you can at some point. They’re such pretty villages.
I have been wanting to visit Castle Combe for years! I tried last year, but had the worst ever weather on my Cotswold trip that it was a complete wash out! Gale force winds and driving rain made me decide not to bother with Castle Combe and did indoors things instead!
Always fancied Lacock Abbey too… and the Fox Talbot Museum… maybe I should make my next week away to Wiltshire! …. so many places in the UK…it’s hard to choose!
I hope you get a chance to go to all of them someday!
Hi, Castle Combe is so nice, I used to go to drag racing there as a teen sit on top of the car with sandwiches.
I am from Gloucestershire, that is definately worth a visit.
Hope to make it back home to the UK soon.
I hope you can soon!