Horse Riding

The Great West Way’s rich natural landscapes aren’t just for humans - horses love them too. And seeing the sites on horseback is probably the best way to imagine what it must have been like for the first travellers along King Charles II’s Great Road from London to Bristol.

Along the touring route you’ll find lots of picturesque bridleways, great for exploring off-the-beaten-track. Have a look at the Ordnance Survey maps wherever you’re heading and create your own bespoke route. Some top spots include sections of The Ridgeway National Trail, Cotswold Water Park and the Lambourn Valley near Hungerford - an area famous for racehorse training.

If you’re new to horse riding, take a lesson at one of the horse riding centres - equipped for kids and adults - along the touring route. There’s also guided hacks, horseback safaris and even luxury horse riding holidays.

The Cotswolds

The Cotswolds offers the sort of chocolate box views that many imagine when they think of England. Its honey-coloured limestone villages and rolling farmland, dotted with curly-haired Cotswold sheep, make up the largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the country.
North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

The rolling North Wessex Downs encompass some of England’s finest landscapes. The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) was created in 1972 to conserve and enhance the natural beauty and tranquillity of these landscapes.
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Wiltshire

Between London and Bristol & Bath, and venturing up into the Cotswolds, you’ll find the county of Wiltshire. Patchwork fields, chalk plateauxs and irresistibly pretty villages. It’s not all rural heartland, of course, there’s market towns and a city to explore too...