Things to Do in Reading: 12 Days Out Checked, With Prices

Reading gets written off as a place people change trains. It has the burial place of a king, the only full-size hand-stitched copy of the Bayeux Tapestry in Britain, a restored Edwardian lido and one of the largest festivals in the country, and four of the best things in the list below cost nothing. Every venue here was checked against its own website in August 2026, with prices as published.

The quick answer

If you have one free afternoon, go to Reading Museum for Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry, then walk five minutes to the Abbey Ruins and Forbury Gardens. All three are free and all three are within the same few streets.

If you have a whole day and a car, Beale Wildlife Park and Basildon Park are seven miles up the Thames at Lower Basildon and can be done as a pair.

The free ones

Reading Museum and Britain’s Bayeux Tapestry

Reading Museum sits inside the Town Hall on Blagrave Street, RG1 1QH, and holds the only full-size hand-stitched replica of the Bayeux Tapestry in Britain, made by the Leek Embroidery Society in the 1880s. There are ten galleries in all, including one on Huntley & Palmers and 200 years of Reading’s biscuit industry, and one on the Abbey Quarter.

Open Tuesday to Saturday, and admission is free, with a suggested donation of £5 per adult. The Bayeux gallery does close occasionally, so check the museum’s opening times page before making a special trip (Reading Museum).

Reading Abbey Ruins and the Abbey Gateway

Reading Abbey was one of the largest royal monasteries in Europe, founded by Henry I in 1121, and Henry I is buried on the site. The ruins are free to walk around, and the surviving Abbey Gateway is the building where Jane Austen went to school. The museum runs regular guided tours of the Quarter and the Gateway, and recommends starting at the museum itself for the context before you walk the site (Reading Abbey Quarter).

Forbury Gardens

The Victorian public gardens next to the Abbey Ruins, free and open daily, with a bandstand still in use and the Maiwand Lion, the cast-iron memorial to the Berkshire Regiment that is one of the largest sculptures of its kind in the country. It is the obvious place to sit between the museum and the ruins.

The Museum of English Rural Life

MERL, on Redlands Road and run by the University of Reading, is a genuinely good museum that most visitors to Reading never hear about, covering the history of the English countryside, with a garden, café and shop. Free, with a £5 suggested donation.

Open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm, closed Mondays. The archive and library keep different hours and need booking ahead (MERL).

In town, paid

Thames Lido

A 1902 Edwardian swimming baths on Napier Road, RG1 8FR, restored and reopened as an outdoor pool and spa. The pool is 25 metres, heated year round to 24 to 26 degrees, with saunas, a hot tub and a restaurant alongside. It is about five minutes’ walk from the station.

The website lists a Swim and Eat package at £45 per person, which includes a swim plus a starter and a main. Swim and spa prices are handled through the booking system rather than published on the page, so ring 0118 207 0640 or check the booking pages for the current rate (Thames Lido).

Reading Biscuit Factory

A three-screen independent cinema, bar and live performance space on Queen’s Walk, RG1 7QE, in Broad Street Mall, open since July 2021. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 11pm, and on Mondays during school holidays and bank holidays. Ticket prices are on the venue’s own ticket prices page (Reading Biscuit Factory).

The Hexagon

Reading’s main arts venue, on Queens Walk, RG1 7QF, running music, comedy, theatre, National Theatre Live screenings and pantomime across a main house and studio. The autumn 2026 programme includes Jonathan Pie, Al Murray, Chris Ramsey and the Bootleg Beatles.

Worth knowing: the Hexagon is in the middle of a £13.7m revitalisation by the council, supported by a £2.06m Arts Council England grant, which will replace the ground floor retractable seating and add a new 300-capacity studio auditorium. The venue stays open throughout, with the new auditorium due to open to the public in 2027 (What’s On Reading).

Reading FC at the Select Car Leasing Stadium

The 24,161-seat stadium off the A33 at junction 11 of the M4, opened in 1998 and named after former chairman Sir John Madejski. Stadium tours cost £12 for adults and £7 for everyone else and run roughly twice a month depending on demand, taking in the directors’ lounge, the players’ dressing room and the dugout. Match tickets are around £23 to £26 in advance and £4 more on the day, with discounts for under 16s and older supporters (Reading FC).

Reading Festival, 27 to 30 August 2026

One of the largest festivals in the country, held at Richfield Avenue on the edge of the town centre over the August bank holiday weekend. 2026 dates are 27 to 30 August (Reading Festival). If you are not going, plan around it anyway: the roads and the station on the Thursday and the Monday are the busiest of the Reading year.

Out of town, worth the drive

Beale Wildlife Park

Seven miles up the Thames at Lower Basildon, RG8 9NW, and the only wildlife park in Berkshire. Meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs, lynx, tayras and parrots, plus a train ride, play area, bouncy pillow and splash pool, in landscaped grounds by the river.

Open year round, with summer hours from March to November of 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm. Prices, booking in advance:

Every ticket is £2 more if bought on the day of the visit, and advance prices expire at midnight the night before, so booking ahead saves a family of four £7 (Beale Wildlife Park). The park’s splash pool was listed as closed when we checked, so confirm before promising it to children.

Basildon Park

An 18th-century Palladian mansion in 400 acres, at Lower Basildon, RG8 9NR, about seven miles north-west of Reading on the A329, restored by Lord and Lady Iliffe after wartime requisition. Formal and rose gardens, four waymarked walking trails and ancient woodland that is worth the trip on its own in bluebell season.

Adult admission £20 to £22 depending on Gift Aid, children £10 to £11, family tickets available, and free to National Trust members. Check the day’s opening times before setting out, as the house, grounds and tea room all keep different hours (National Trust).

It is a mile and a half from Beale Park, so the two make a straightforward day out together.

Mapledurham House and watermill

A 12th-century estate on the Thames at Mapledurham, RG4 7TR, just beyond Caversham, with an Elizabethan manor house, priest holes and a working watermill that appeared in The Eagle Has Landed.

This one needs planning. There is no walk-up access to the watermill, and house tours including the grounds and mill are by prior arrangement. Ring the estate office on 0118 972 3350, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, before travelling (Mapledurham).

Caversham Court Gardens

Free riverside gardens on the Caversham bank of the Thames, on the site of a demolished manor house, with a tea room in season. The council approved a programme of conservation works to the listed buildings and the damaged entrance gates in July 2026, and separately agreed to fell a deteriorating beech tree on safety grounds, so expect some works on site (Reading Borough Council).

Getting there and parking

Almost everything in the town centre list is within ten minutes’ walk of Reading station, which has fast trains from London in 23 minutes. If you are driving in, our guide to parking in Reading compares the council car parks, including two that are free all day on a Sunday, and the station multi-storey, which is the most expensive option in town at up to £26 for 24 hours.

For Beale Park, Basildon Park and Mapledurham you need a car or a taxi. Check the autumn roadworks programme if you are heading out through the town centre between mid-August and the end of September.

Questions people ask

What is Reading best known for?

Reading Abbey, founded by Henry I in 1121 and his burial place; the Huntley & Palmers biscuit industry, which made it “Biscuit Town”; and Reading Festival, held every August bank holiday at Richfield Avenue.

What can you do in Reading for free?

Reading Museum and its Bayeux Tapestry replica, the Abbey Ruins, Forbury Gardens, the Museum of English Rural Life and Caversham Court Gardens are all free, though both museums suggest a £5 donation.

Is there anything to do in Reading with children?

Beale Wildlife Park at Lower Basildon is the main paid option, at £17.50 for an adult and £56 for a family of four booked ahead. In town, the Museum of English Rural Life is free and has a garden and café, and Forbury Gardens is a short walk from the museum.

When is Reading Festival 2026?

27 to 30 August 2026, at Richfield Avenue.

Can you swim outdoors in Reading?

Yes. Thames Lido on Napier Road has a 25-metre outdoor pool heated to 24 to 26 degrees all year, with a spa and restaurant alongside.

Sources

Every venue was checked against its own website in August 2026: Reading Museum, Reading Abbey Quarter, Museum of English Rural Life, Thames Lido, Reading Biscuit Factory, What’s On Reading for The Hexagon, Reading FC, Reading Festival, Beale Wildlife Park, National Trust, Basildon Park, Mapledurham and Reading Borough Council for Caversham Court Gardens and The Hexagon project.

Opening times and prices change, and some venues take bookings only. Confirm with the venue before travelling. Last checked August 2026.