Andover is a market town of 50,000 people (2020) in Hampshire. It is well-known as the location of an important Royal Air Force base. Surrounding Andover is the Hants portion of the North Wessex Downs, which includes interesting small towns such as Whitchurch.
The town's largest employer is the Ministry of Defence. RAF Andover was opened on Andover Airfield, to the south of the town, during the First World War and became the site of the RAF Staff College.
Andover is on the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, 18 miles (30 km) west of Basingstoke. It is 20 miles (32 km) NNW of Winchester, 35 miles (56 km) north of Southampton and 65 miles (105 km) WSW of London.
The M4 motorway, to the north, can be reached by way of the A34 trunk road, which continues to Birmingham; or via Marlborough, Wiltshire.
Andover station 📍 is on the London Waterloo to Exeter line. Trains arrive from Salisbury, Yeovil Junction, Exeter St Davids, Basingstoke and London Waterloo (with a usual intermittent stop of Woking) and some stopping services to places such as Whitchurch.
The Lights arts and entertainment venue hosts professional artists throughout the year.
Finkley Down Farm, Finkley Down Farm Park, North Way, SP11 6NF, 51.221985°, -1.451831°, +44 1264 324141, info@finkleydownfarm.co.uk. Daily 10AM-5:30PM, booking essential. Meet, feed and handle the residents of Piggy Penthouse, Meerkat Mansion, Cluckingham Palace, and many more domesticated and wild farmyard animals. The "farm" has lots of activities for toddlers and kids up to pre-teen, from tractor go-karting, to crazy golf, trampolines, and indoor and outdoor play areas. In the summer, additional birds of prey displays and goat racing take place. On-site picnic area and café. Adult £13, child aged 2-16 £11, aged 1 £5, under 1 free, disabled visitor and carer £11. Animal feed pot £1.50. Cash not accepted 2021-08-14
Rooksbury Mill Local Nature Reserve, Barlows Lane, SP10 2HA (This address and postcode are for parking, although you can walk for along a footpath 📍 from the big roundabout by Sainsbury's and the Odeon), 51.1972°, -1.4906°, +44 1264 368000, community&leisure@testvalley.gov.uk. Daily dawn-dusk. Green Flag nature reserve covering former mill ponds, their feeder channels and surrounding chalk grassland and woodland. Rooksbury Mill, first recorded in the 17th century, functioned as a flour mill until the early 20th century, and now a private residence. The reserve is good for short walks and for communing with nature. It's also possible to fish here, though getting a licence is a little complicated for visitors compared to commercial fisheries in the area (see below). Free 2021-08-19
Thruxton Circuit, 51.210278°, -1.600556°. 2021-08-14
Anton Lakes, 51.2226°, -1.4911°. 2021-08-14
Bombay Sapphire Distillery (Laverstoke Mill), London Road, Whitchurch, RG28 7NR (In the hamlet of Laverstoke, E of Whitchurch), 51.2351°, -1.2964°, +44 1256 890090. M-Th 11AM-6PM, F-Su 10AM-8PM; last entry 2 hr before closing. Email via online contact form. Gin distillery housed in an 18th-century paper mill. The tour takes you around the distilling chamber, botanicals glasshouses, and the dry room where the gin is infused with aromatic vapours. You can also learn to create two cocktails in a mixology masterclass with one of the experts. The tour is somewhat corporatised, mostly ignoring the site's prior history, but on the plus side everything about the visit, from the displays of electric blue bottles, to Thomas Heatherwick's glasshouses, to the cocktails you sample at the end, is highly instagrammable. Guided tour + one cocktail (2 hr) £17.50 pp, concessions £15.75; tour + cocktail masterclass + two cocktails (3.5 hr, over-18s only) £45 pp; both include a cocktail at the end. Booking required 2021-08-12
Black Chalk Vineyard, The Old Dairy, Fullerton Road, Cottonworth, SP11 7JX ( S of Andover on A3057), 51.156°, -1.4582°, +44 1264 860440, info@blackchalkwine.co.uk. Public tours Th-Su, by reservation. Private tours M Tu Th.. Small-batch producer of white and rosé sparkling wines, whose flavours are influenced by the Hampshire chalkland terroir. Although the company only launched in 2015, both of their creations are already picking up international awards. The winery offers guided tours of the vineyard, followed by tastings and the option of lunch. Not wheelchair accessible. Public tour and tasting £20 pp. Public tour, tasting and lunch £32 pp. Private tour, tasting and lunch £50 pp. Wine £19-£40 per bottle. Cash not accepted 2021-08-13
Mill Trail - a circular walk of up to seven miles partly along the Test.
Walk or cycle to Watership Down
Walk around Longparish
The John Russell Fox, 10 High St, SP10 1NY, 51.20703°, -1.47896°. Wetherspoon pub with bar meals and 30 room hotel. 2020-12-27
The café at Whitchurch Silk Mill is a great choice for locally-sourced light bites.
Crown Inn, Upton SP11 0JS, 51.295°, -1.486°, +44 1264 736044. W-F 12:00-23:00, Sa 10:00-23:00, Su 12:00-22:00. This country restaurant gets great reviews. 2021-11-18
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