Reading
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📷 Paul Gillett· CC BY-SA 2.0A Deo et Regina | From God and the Queen
About
Reading is a borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is Berkshire's largest town, with a total built-up area population of 355,596. Most of its built-up area lies within the Borough of Reading, although some outer suburbs are parts of neighbouring local authority areas. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Reading, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Why visit
Reading is more practical than visually coherent, but offers a few worthwhile stops. Visit the romantic Reading Abbey ruins where Henry I is buried; tour the excellent Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) and the Reading Museum, which holds the Bayeux Tapestry's only full-size replica; walk the Thames Path to the Goring Gap for a compact stretch of river. The Reading and Leeds Festival (late August) brings massive rock crowds. Use Reading as a base for nearby Henley-on-Thames, Windsor Castle, and Oxford; all within an hour. The new Elizabeth line gives swift access to central London.
When to avoid
Reading is a workaday commuter town; don't expect a chocolate-box English experience. The town center has serious traffic and limited parking. Friday and Saturday nights in the Oracle shopping center area can get rowdy. The Reading Festival weekend turns the entire town into a logistical nightmare; book trains and accommodation months ahead. Skip the post-festival cleanup days. Rail strikes occasionally disrupt the Paddington line. Some neighborhoods south of the river have higher crime rates.
Summer (Jun to Aug)
Summers are mild, often warm, and the driest stretch of the year; daytime highs of 21 to 23°C with cool nights at 12 to 14°C. July and August occasionally hit 28 to 32°C in heat waves but extended hot stretches are rare. The Thames Path has more rowing crews, narrowboats, and riverside pub gardens. The Reading Festival in late August dominates the local scene. Long evenings (sunset past 9 PM in June) make for excellent outdoors dining. Pack light layers, a light rain shell (showers happen anytime), and comfortable walking shoes.
Winter (Nov to Feb)
December through February are the cooler or wetter period in Reading. Winter in Reading is often a useful cultural season if the itinerary is built around interiors and shorter outdoor sections. For Reading, ask how much the season limits walking, transport, and day trips, not just what the thermometer says. For Reading, the season often favors interiors and shorter local routes: museums, churches, galleries, theaters, bookshops, cafes, and nearby streets. Outdoor time in Reading should stay flexible; check hours and spend on a ride when weather, darkness, or distance would otherwise dominate the plan.
The next week in Reading
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Today
Drizzle
13° / 5°
0.9 mm
UV Moderate
Sat
Drizzle
13° / 6°
2.3 mm
Sun
Rain
15° / 8°
4.8 mm
UV Moderate
Mon
Drizzle
13° / 7°
0.6 mm
UV Moderate
Tue
Drizzle
17° / 10°
7.2 mm
UV High
Wed
Overcast
21° / 11°
UV Moderate
In May 16
JFMAMJJASOND
Air quality
No monitoring station within 25 km.
Weather
25° / -1°
Typical high / low
2 mm rainfall this month
Daylight
15.6h
05:13 – 20:46local
Year-round climate
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
Airports near Reading
7 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is London Heathrow Airport (LHR) at 36 km.
Getting around Reading
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Local transit operators
Reading RailAirVectareWhites CoachesBerry's CoachesWest Berkshire Council Transport ServicesFlixBus-euFlixbusReading BusesNewbury & DistrictThames Valley BusesNational ExpressOxford Bus CompanyThames TravelB MetroStagecoach SouthMegabusCardiff BusCarousel BusesGreat Western RailwayCrossCountry
Operators and modes aggregated by TransitLand from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.
Sister cities
Sources
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
- Wikipedia →
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
- Wikidata →
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
- NASA POWER →
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
- Open-Meteo historical weather →
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
- Open-Elevation →
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
- tz database →
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
- Site credits →
Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.