Wiltshire's ancient landscape is unmatched anywhere in Europe: Stonehenge and Avebury's great stone circles, the mysterious mound of Silbury Hill, and burial chambers you can walk into. Children who shrug at museums light up when they can actually touch five thousand years of history at Avebury.
Our tip: base yourself near Avebury (free, atmospheric, climb-on-the-stones friendly) and do Stonehenge as an early-morning strike mission. Blackland Lakes is perfectly placed for Avebury; Coombe Touring Park covers the Stonehenge-and-Salisbury southern approach.
The 8 closest sites in our guide, road distances are approximate
23 miles
££
Wiltshire
Calne, Wiltshire
About 7 miles from Avebury. Fishing lakes, a nature trail, farm animals and a legendary kids' play meadow between Calne and Devizes.
22 miles
££
Wiltshire
Honeystreet, near Pewsey, Wiltshire
About 7 miles from Avebury. Pitch beside the Kennet and Avon Canal at a legendary 1810 pub, under the Alton Barnes White Horse.
30 miles
£
Wiltshire
All Cannings, near Devizes, Wiltshire
About 8 miles from Avebury. A tiny farm site in the Vale of Pewsey where alpacas do the welcoming and firepits do the evenings.
32 miles
£
Wiltshire
North Newnton, near Pewsey, Wiltshire
About 11 miles from Avebury. Pitch in the meadow behind an 18th-century coaching inn on the Avon, with a play area and dinner thirty seconds away.
26 miles
££
Wiltshire
Seend, near Devizes, Wiltshire
About 13 miles from Avebury. Canal-side camping beside the Kennet and Avon. Towpath bike rides to the astonishing Caen Hill lock flight.
37 miles
£
Wiltshire
Rowde, near Devizes, Wiltshire
About 13 miles from Avebury. Canalside camping on a working farm at the foot of the Caen Hill flight, with narrowboats drifting past your tent.
27 miles
££
Wiltshire
Lacock, Wiltshire
About 15 miles from Avebury. A calm, flower-filled park a stroll from Lacock, the National Trust village where Harry Potter was filmed.
26 miles
££
Wiltshire
Little Lype Farm, Charlton, near Malmesbury, north Wiltshire
About 18 miles from Avebury. A working beef farm near Malmesbury where kids meet the cows, raid the play barn and you get proper hot showers.
Blackland Lakes near Calne is about 10 minutes from Avebury and 35 minutes from Stonehenge. For Stonehenge plus Salisbury Cathedral, Coombe Touring Park south of Salisbury is the better base, about 20 minutes from the stones.