Swindon Hotels

Stay in a Swindon hotel and follow this former Saxon village’s history from tiny market town to thriving railway centre and Wiltshire tourist hub.

Swindon neighbourhoods

Most visitors in a Swindon hotel get their bearings in the Old Town which was the core of Swindon in pre-railway days. It contains the Wood Street shopping area, the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and the former stately home gardens of Lawns Park. Just north, the law courts and library are on Princes Street which forks off Clarence Street. These days town life revolves around the mammoth Brunel shopping centre, which backs on to major thoroughfare Regent Street. The town’s market sits on the other side of the Brunel, on Commercial Road.

Shopping in Swindon

Like so many English towns and cities, quirkier and independent shops are in greatest supply in the Old Town. Seekers of high-street brands and high-end fashion freaks hit the suitably named Brunel mall, home to more than 100 shops, restaurants and cafés plus a play area and a crèche. A farmers’ market pops up behind Wood Street on the last Friday of the month selling homemade chutneys, local cheeses and West Country pies. Perhaps a metaphor for how the town has updated its persona to adapt to the age, the former Great Western Railway works has now been transformed in the Swindon Design Outlet, peddling top names at bargain prices.

Eating and drinking in Swindon

The quieter alleyways and courtyards of the Old Town contain a good selection of international restaurants, particularly Italian, Spanish, Thai and Indian. But you can find chain restaurants and indie affairs all over the city, particularly on busy Commercial Road and Regent Street. Swindon still has a pleasing amount of “proper pubs”, stand-outs being the Glue Pot on Emlyn Square. The Five Bells in Wootton Bassett which still puts out small glasses in front of each pump to let Camra-types know if they’re about to swill golden, brown or dark ales.

Culture and nightlife in Swindon

The 1970s-built Wyvern Theatre is the town’s major venue and sees musicians of every stripe, drama serious and funny and seasonal panto played out in its 635-seater auditorium. The smaller Swindon Arts Centre in the Old Town attracts audiences after a more intimate evening, hosting arty films, lesser-known comedians and small-scale plays. Catch live music every nights at Riffs Bar on Greatfield, local lads XTC’s early haunt.

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