Things to do in Salisbury
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Salisbury
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: long days, water meadows at their best, gardens open and the cultural peak in May and June.
Shoulder bargains: quieter and cooler, most things open, with the Charter Fair in October.
Peak summer: Stonehenge is at its busiest, so book entry, buses and dinners well ahead.
Worst months: short days, seasonal closures at the Close houses, Wilton and Larmer Tree, and flooding on meadow paths.
What's on
- Salisbury International Arts Festival late May to early June
Two weeks of theatre, music, dance and literature run by Wiltshire Creative, historically around 150 events.
- Summer Solstice at Stonehenge around 21 June
Managed open access to the circle for solstice night and sunrise, with special buses from Salisbury.
- Salisbury Charter Fair four days around the third Monday in October
A fairground on the Market Place whose charter dates to 1227, displacing the Tuesday market for the week.
- Winter Solstice at Stonehenge around 21 to 22 December
The quieter solstice sunrise at the stones, best paired with the cathedral Christmas services.
Best things to do in Salisbury
Salisbury Cathedral
Britain's tallest spire, the best preserved Magna Carta and the oldest working clock in one unified Gothic cathedral.
The Salisbury Museum
The Wessex Gallery holds the Amesbury Archer and the Stonehenge finds that make the stones make sense.
Arundells
Edward Heath's Close house left as he lived in it, with art, cartoons and a two acre garden down to the Avon.
Mompesson House
A Queen Anne townhouse with fine plasterwork and a walled garden, used as a location in Sense and Sensibility.
St Thomas's Church
A free parish church holding the largest and best preserved Doom painting in England above its chancel arch.
Salisbury Playhouse
A producing regional theatre with a 517 seat main house, new writing, musicals and a beloved pantomime.
Salisbury Arts Centre
A deconsecrated church turned arts venue for comedy try outs, live music, film and free exhibitions.
Salisbury Charter Market
A working market granted in 1227 that still fills the Market Place with Wiltshire produce on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Where to stay in Salisbury
Cathedral Close and City Centre
first trip, car free stays
Everything is a walk from here, the Close is gated and quiet at night, and parking is the only trade.
Harnham and the Riverside
quiet, views and couples
Residential streets south of the river with the cathedral view, home to the city's best hotel, silent at night.
Station and Northern Edge
Stonehenge logistics, late trains and drivers
The Stonehenge buses leave from the station area, and the edge option trades charm for free parking and the road to the stones.
Think twice about
- Southampton Road retail strip and Churchfields
A busy main road of business hotels and sheds with nothing walkable in the evening. Bad on logistics and charm, not safety.
- Amesbury and the Stonehenge junction
Sleeping by the A303 and bussing in as a day tripper misses the city that rewards staying in it. Salisbury itself has no unsafe base area.
Best restaurants in Salisbury
Anokaa
Modern Indian cooking of real ambition, the city's one true splurge and its special occasion room.
Baroushka
A warm Levantine dining room for mezze, lamb shank and fish tajine, and the best value sit down dinner in the city.
Tinga
A lively Mexican restaurant and cocktail bar by the cathedral gate, with a tequila trolley and the city's best tacos.
Haunch of Venison
A pub from 1320 on the national list of historic interiors, with a mummified hand, tiny snugs and game led dining.
The Ox Row Inn
The dependable market square gastropub for steaks, pork belly and sharing platters, by the fire or on the patio.
Côte
A riverside French brasserie by the Playhouse, the reliable pre theatre dinner with terrace tables on the Avon.
Cosy Club
All day dining in a former arts college, from brunch to cocktails, and the easiest mixed group booking in the city.
Boston Tea Party
The best value proper breakfast in Salisbury, served inside the medieval Old George Inn on the High Street.
Outdoor things to do in Salisbury
Stonehenge
The great prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain, best at first entry or late in the day with the audio guide.
Old Sarum
The original Salisbury, a layered hillfort with a Norman castle, first cathedral outline and views to the new spire.
Wilton House
The Pembroke seat for 400 years, with the Double Cube Room, Nadder grounds, a Palladian bridge and a playground.
Harnham Water Meadows
The free Town Path crosses working water meadows to the cathedral view Constable painted, best in evening light.
Avon Valley Path
A waymarked riverside trail from the cathedral to Christchurch, whose Salisbury to Downton leg is a perfect half day hike.
Salisbury & South Wilts Golf Club
A friendly 27 hole downland club whose Cathedral Course frames the spire across the round.
High Post Golf Club
A par 70 downland test on Salisbury Plain with 72 bunkers and some of the fastest greens in Wiltshire.
Larmer Tree Gardens
Victorian pleasure gardens with a Roman temple, singing theatre and free roaming peacocks, entry by honesty box.
Best hotels in Salisbury
The Riverside
A 38 room riverside manor hotel with cathedral views over the water meadows and the city's most praised breakfast.
Mercure Salisbury White Hart Hotel
A historic coaching inn five minutes from the cathedral, with 68 rooms, 12 apartments and a courtyard garden.
The Merchant's House
A 37 room boutique hotel with 15th century features, a bar, parking and dog friendly rooms in the centre.
Caboose
An eight room 1920s style bed and breakfast by the station, and the departure point for the Stonehenge shuttle.
Qudos
Twelve rooms above the city's liveliest late bar, the best value central bed if you are out late anyway.
Premier Inn Salisbury North Bishopdown Hotel
The drivers value pick with free parking and a straight run to Stonehenge, with its flaws stated honestly.
Is Salisbury expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | £85 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | £155 a person |
| Splurge | £300 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Salisbury Cathedral: a few days ahead
- Salisbury Playhouse: a few days ahead
- Salisbury Escape Rooms: a few days ahead
- Stonehenge: weeks ahead
- Salisbury & South Wilts Golf Club: a few days ahead
- High Post Golf Club: a few days ahead
- GoSkydive: weeks ahead
- Caboose: a few days ahead
- Book the Stonehenge entry slot first, then build the bus or shuttle around it.
- The Stone Circle Experience sells out weeks to months ahead, and the Cathedral Tower Tour takes only ten people at a time.
- Check Arundells, Mompesson House, Wilton House and Larmer Tree Gardens against your exact dates, as all run restricted calendars.
- Book Anokaa, Baroushka and Tinga at weekends, and book GoSkydive for the first day of a stay so weather can move it.
Is Salisbury safe?
- Salisbury is a very safe city, with the usual awareness advised around the station late at night.
- The Town Path and water meadows flood and are unlit, so avoid them as a late night shortcut in winter.
- On Salisbury Plain, stay on marked paths near the military training area and never touch anything that looks like ordnance.
- Emergency number is 999 and the non emergency police number is 101.
Salisbury travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- London day coaches giving Salisbury 45 minutes produce the overrated verdict, not the city.
- The free roadside or footpath view of Stonehenge is a photograph, not a visit.
- Chains cluster on the Market Place frontages, while independents on Fisherton Street and Butcher Row are better at the same money.
- The Haunch of Venison food divides reviewers in a way its bar and historic interior do not.
Getting around Salisbury: public transport and more
- Direct trains from London Waterloo take about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, and the station is a 10 minute walk from the cathedral.
- The centre is compact and walkable, and local buses cover Old Sarum and the suburbs.
- For Stonehenge, the hop on hop off Tour bus costs about 22 to 25 pounds return via Old Sarum, while the reserved seat shuttle from Caboose costs 15 pounds return direct.
- Drivers should pre book Stonehenge parking with their ticket and use the Park and Ride sites instead of the 10 pound Close car park.
Who Salisbury suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Salisbury your trip
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