Discover Reading

Reading offers several different ways to explore the city’s history: the site of Reading Abbey, museums covering topics from medieval architecture to industrial history, and places along the Thames and the Kennet and Avon Canal. If you’re looking for a hotel in Reading, these highlights can help you shape your stay around culture, waterside walks or an event date.

Reading Abbey and historic buildings

The Reading Abbey Quarter encompasses the former site of Reading Abbey. Its ruins include the south transept, the Treasury, the Chapter House, the dormitory, the reredorter and the refectory. These names refer to different areas of the former complex; the surviving parts are protected as a Scheduled Monument and are also listed as Grade I buildings.

A significant part of the medieval Abbey is the Abbey Gateway, which is also a Grade I listed building. King Henry I founded the Abbey. The Reading Ladies Boarding School later occupied the Gateway: Jane Austen was taught there from 1785 and remained a pupil until December 1786. The building’s connection to literary history makes the Gateway a distinct part of Reading’s historic heritage.

Other buildings also tell the story of different periods in the city’s history. Mill Arch consists of the surviving stone arches that once formed a mill wall. A working mill stood on the site from the 12th century until 1963. Reading Minster, also known as St Mary’s Church, is considered Reading’s oldest church.

Museums: city, industry and rural life

The Story of Reading Gallery features a scale reconstruction of part of Reading Abbey’s cloister, with original Romanesque carvings. The Huntley & Palmers Gallery presents a different aspect of the city’s history: it shows how the company advanced the industrial mass production of biscuits and why Reading became known as “Biscuit Town.”

The Riverside Museum tells the story of Reading’s two rivers, the Kennet and the Thames. It is housed in the listed former waterworks buildings, Screen House and Turbine House. The Museum of English Rural Life has a broader thematic focus: it holds England’s most comprehensive collection of objects, books and archives on the history of food, farming and the countryside. The museums therefore offer distinctly different perspectives, depending on whether you’re interested in the city, its industrial past, its rivers or rural life.

Gardens, water and walks

Forbury Gardens is a Victorian town garden created at the height of the urban parks movement. The famous Maiwand Lion statue also stands in the gardens. Reading itself lies on the Thames and the Kennet and Avon Canal, making these waterways an important part of the city’s geography.

The Thames and Kennet Walk offers a 3-mile route and a longer 4-mile option. The shorter route is listed as taking 1 to 1.5 hours; allow an additional 30 minutes for the longer one. This lets you compare the two options by both distance and estimated time.

The car-free Christchurch Bridge connects central Reading on the south bank of the Thames with Caversham on the north bank, for pedestrians and cyclists. Reading also offers a mix of waterside paths, countryside routes and urban connections for cycling. For those interested in long-distance walks, St James’ Way is a 68-mile route from Reading to Southampton that follows the path of medieval pilgrims. It is an accredited part of the Camino Inglés, a Camino de Santiago route in north-west Spain. Its official starting point is outside St James’ Church in the Abbey Quarter; check local signage before setting out.

Events and getting around

The Reading Festival takes place in Reading every year. Water Fest is a recurring event that celebrates and showcases the Kennet and Avon Canal and historic places along its towpath. If you’d like to plan your trip around either event, check the dates for the relevant edition; the Reading Festival line-ups also vary from year to year.

Reading Museum and the Abbey Quarter are just a two-minute walk from Reading station and the main bus stops. As routes through the station may change, follow the latest signs when you arrive. This information applies to the museum and the Abbey Quarter, not to all locations in the city.

Discover more destinations: Inkpen, Wasing, East Ilsley, Pangbourne, Crockham Heath, Winnersh, Midgham, Compton

For the broader travel overview: Berkshire.