Basingstoke: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
English|
GBP 48 - 100 Premier Inn Basingstoke Central
 Just 10 minutes´ drive from junction 6 of the M3, situated in Basingstoke leisure park, this modern hotel offers great value, with comfortable, … MoreGBP 52 - 145 Red Lion Hotel
 The Red Lion Hotel is in Basingstoke town centre, 0.5 miles (800 m) from Basingstoke Rail Station. It offers free parking, good-value en suite rooms a… MoreGBP 62 - 175 The Hampshire Court Hotel - QHotels
 On the edge of Basingstoke, just 45 minutes from London, this modern 4-star hotel has an award-winning restaurant and brasserie bar, as well as superb… MoreGBP 20 - 186 Holiday Inn Basingstoke
 Just off the M3, within a mile of the town centre, this Holiday Inn hotel offers an ideal base for exploring Hampshire.
Holiday Inn Basingstoke offer… MoreGBP 44 - 156 Hilton Basingstoke
 Walking distance from the town centre, Hilton Basingstoke has a gym, carvery restaurant and some refurbished bedrooms. Access to the M3 is just 1 mile… MoreGBP 81 - 207 Audleys Wood
 With elegant bedrooms, a traditional restaurant and free parking, Audleys Wood is just a mile from Basingstoke centre. Situated just off the M3 motorw… MoreGBP 40 - 210 Barceló Basingstoke Country Hotel
 This attractive country hotel has a peaceful yet convenient location in beautiful undulating countryside, close to the A30 and with easy access to the… MoreGBP 60 - 83 Fernbank Hotel
 Fernbank Hoel is a 5-minute walk from Basingstoke town centre and offers free Wi-Fi and free off-road parking. It has comfortable rooms with tea/coffe… MoreGBP 50 - 205 Apollo Hotel
 The luxury 4-star Apollo Hotel is close Basingstoke’s Business Parks, the M3 and one mile from Festival Place Shopping Centre. It offers free Wi-Fi,… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Basingstoke: Guide
Basingstoke is a town in Hampshire. It is a 'new town', one of several constructed in the 1950s to accommodate overspill population from London. Throughout the 70's and 80's it was often considered a joke 'dull' town with nothing to offer and had very little to entertain any visitors unless they were into trainspotting or roundabouts (it is alleged that Basingstoke has the highest number of roundabouts per head population of any UK town - but its probably no longer true!).
Recent redevelopment of the town center has seen the growth of a huge shopping area, lots of restaurants and new cinemas and theatre. Basingstoke - it seems -has grown up!
Get in
Basingstoke has a station on the main line from London to Southampton. There is also a line to Reading (England)|Reading. Train times can be found on the or by calling 0845-748-4950 from anywhere in the UK. It takes around forty minutes to get to Basingstoke from London Waterloo station. The station is situated at the edge of the town center and is only a minute's walk from the shops.
Alternatively the town is conveniently situated for the M3 motorway (US English: freeway) also from London to Southampton and is about one hours drive from both. The A33 links the town with Reading and the M4.
Get around
By Foot
Basingstoke does not have a large town center and it is more than possible to visit any shop by foot.
By Bus
Basingstoke is well served by buses. The central bus station is situated in the town center and most buses stop at the station. The buses are regular and serve most outlying areas of the town.
By Car
Basingstoke is easy to drive around and the town center does not suffer from much congestion (except for at peak times). There is ample parking in both 'Top of Town' and and the town's ring road (called 'Ringway') makes it easy to access any part of Basingstoke without much trouble.
See
Basing House, Redbridge Lane, Old Basing (1 mile east of Basingstoke), tel 467294, . Once a major Tudor palace and castle rivalling Hampton Court, Basing House was destroyed in a civil war siege. Now an attractive set of ruins, with an explanatory exhibition. Car parking is very difficult in Old Basing village; instead follow the signs to Basing House car park and get the bonus of a very attractive walk along the crystal clear River Loddon to the house. Alternatively runs once an hour from Basingstoke bus station stopping outside Basing House main entrance. Open Apr-Sep W-Su 2pm-6pm. £1-2.
Silchester Roman Town, Silchester (5 miles north of Basingstoke), . Known to the Romans as Calleva Atrebatum, Silchester was abandoned after the Roman era which means that much of the archeology remains. All that is left on the surface now are a complete ring of city walls, the amphitheater and an little medieval church. Away from the rivers that have dictated the area demographics, Silchester is about as isolated a place as you will find in south-east England; on a spring weekday you are likely to find yourself sharing the ruins only with cows. Open every day sunrise-sunset. Free.
Milestones Museum, Leisure Park, Churchill Way West, tel 477766, . A living history museum, with reconstructed street scenes and buildings from the Victorian era. Open Tu-F 10am-5pm; Sa-Su 11am-5pm; M closed. £3.50-6.50.
Do
Buy
Eat
The Basingstoke area has many restaurants of different types and costs and it clearly isn't possible to list them all here. The following small selection are restaurants which have been visited and recommended by :
Basingstoke's area code (for landline numbers) is 01256 when dialed from within the UK or +441256 from outside the UK.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikitravel article "Basingstoke". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.
The Millstone Pub, Bartons Lane, Lychpit, (adjacent to Basing House car park), tel 331153. This pub, situated by the delightful River Loddon, was until recently a fantastic authentic rustic pub. It has now been 'renovated' so lost some of its character but now does bar food. Thankfully it still has a good range of real ales. A good place to eat before or after visiting Basing House (see 'See'). £6-10.
Drink
Sleep
Contact
Phone
Internet
Get out
Farnborough (Hampshire)|Farnborough, birth place of flying in the United Kingdom.
Winchester (England)|Winchester, a nearby ancient cathedral city with lots to see.