Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a bustling commercial town which is nevertheless steeped in history and culture. Milestones Museum, with its impressive replicas of Victorian and 1930s streets, offers a trip back into Hampshire’s heritage while The Vyne is an elegant country house once visited by Jane Austen.

Festival Place is Basingstoke’s lively shopping centre and here you’ll find over 30 restaurants, bars and cafes catering for a wide variety of tastes.

For fine dining and elegant afternoon teas, Basingstoke has some nearby prestigious country house hotels, including Tylney Hall, Audleys Wood and the Four Seasons.

The Basingstoke and Deane Food Trail, promoted by Hampshire Fare, highlights some of the fantastic local food produced in and around Basingstoke. It includes everything from award-winning sausages and pies and luxury Jersey milk ice cream to organic fruits and vegetables, buffalo milk ice-cream and cheeses, rare breed meat products, local ales and even some products made from a rare type of peppermint.

More local produce is available at Basingstoke Market, held every Wednesday and Saturday. Here you can find fruit and vegetables, meats, sweets, olives, cheeses, chutneys, fresh eggs and home-made bread and cakes.

In nearby Fleet and Farnborough you’ll find a selection of Nepalese restaurants, a reminder of the area’s long association with the Gurkhas of the British Army.