Reading

Ask anyone who has visited recently and they will tell you about the shopping, the restaurants and the nightlife. Talk to someone who has lived here a while and they will praise the beautiful stretches of river, the acres of parkland and ancient woodland.

Reading is surprising in so many ways: Michelin Star restaurants; over eight hundred listed buildings and monuments; boutique hotels; a world-renowned red-brick university; family friendly museums; two National Trails and two great rivers on our doorstep.

Famous as one of the UK’s top ten retail destinations, Reading offers so much more than superb shopping. The Forbury Gardens, is the town’s floral heart, beautifully laid out next to the monumental ruins of Reading Abbey, and the peaceful towpaths of the Kennet and Avon Canal, where you will find Reading Gaol and the Oscar Wilde gates.

There is so much to intrigue and inspire, including mile upon mile of unspoilt Thames frontage, where you can walk, take a cruise, feed the swans or watch elite rowers in training. You can also walk from the Thames along Kennet Mouth to find yourself at Blake’s Lock, where you can see the Riverside Museum and relax in a waterfront restaurant that started life as a Victorian pumping station.

Nothing stands still for long in Reading, and that is as it should be in a town that enjoys a pivotal location in the South East, at the romantic heart of Royal Berkshire. With Heathrow just 30 minutes away, Reading is easy to find from all parts of the world.