40. Reading, Berkshire United Kingdom: The UK’s Tech Quiet Tech Center

Why Reading, UK?

I love Reading, UK (pronounced “Reding”) as parts of it reminds of the country town in which I grew up in Jamaica; minus the river running through it :-). It’s a very picturesque town that will give you a flavor of the English. Also, I once met, well she passed within inches of me, the Queen of England there as she opened the new train station :-). The tip is to bring her flowers and of course you never try to touch her :-).

 

Where Is Reading, UK

Reading is directly west of London about an hour away by train.

How To Get Here

By Train

Reading has its own train station, so you can use the NationalRail Web site to book your ticket. There is very frequent service from London for about 20 GBP or so. They even offer same day returns for about the same as a single (one way) ticket.

By Plane

The closest major UK airport is London-Heathrow (LHR), but of course you may also fly into any of the other major airports (London-City (LCY), London-Gatwick (LGW), London-Luton (LTN), London-Southend (SEN), London-Stanstead (STN).

There are many airlines flying into the six London airports so you have no shortage of ways to get here.

By Bus

National Express offers bus service to Reading.

By Car

If you are already in the region you can take the drive. Just use a service like Google Maps for directions.

Where To Stay

Reading is actually a college town; also Microsoft and Oracle have large offices there, so there are plenty of places to stay in all the price ranges.

One of the oldest hotels is the Forbury Hotel, which is right next to Forbury Park.

 

==>> You can find a list of hotels from TripAdvisor here.

==>> Try Airbnb.

Where To Eat

You can get a wide array of foods here in Reading, Chinese, Indian, Jamaican and of course fish and chips are the order of the day. There’s even a food truck (Mo’s Kebab) that serves really good Turkish food.

 

 

==>> You can find a list of restaurants from TripAdvisor here.

What To Do

Reading is a walking city and of course you may also take the local buses which go everywhere and are multi-colored so you can’t get lost really. As the Rivers Thames and Kennet run through the town and comes with a foot path in places, you can walk along the river stopping for a pint at the pubs along the way. Also enjoy the beautiful homes as well.

 

 

The house after which Harry Potter’s parent’s house was modeled is actually in Berkshire not far from Reading.

Be sure to see the Park, have a stop in at the Library and do some shopping at the Oracle, which actually has an Apple Store as well.

 

==>> Here is a list of things to do from Trip Advisor.

Additional Information

Visit Britain

Visit England

Visit Reading

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