Swindon
Swindon has more for families than its reputation suggests, and most of it is a short drive from the centre. Lydiard House and Park gives you a Georgian house, walled garden and wide parkland with play areas, and it is free to walk around. The Museum of Computing is small but unusually good with older children, full of machines they half recognise. Roves Farm suits younger ones, with animals and indoor play. Avebury and its stone circle are half an hour south and make an excellent free afternoon out in the open.
