Ask most Brits about Ascot and you'll get one answer: Royal Ascot. Every June, more than 290,000 racegoers descend on this Berkshire town, less than two hours from Central London, to watch thoroughbreds, sip champagne and show off elaborate headwear. But there's a year-round side to Ascot that most visitors never see — and it makes a solid day trip or weekend base.
The town owes its existence to horses. Queen Anne spotted the open heathland as prime racing territory back in 1711, and the racecourse that grew there became one of the most famous in the world. A lively high street blossomed around it, lined with pubs, cafes and bakeries. The atmosphere ranges from exclusive spots like fusion restaurant Onyx to cosy traditional boozers like the Stag Pub, plus boutique clothing shops — no surprise, given race week is as much a fashion event as a sporting one.
The food scene punches well above its weight for a small town. Woven by Adam Smith holds a Michelin star, serving a multi-course tasting menu inside an 18th-century Georgian manor that's now the Coworth Park hotel. The menu leans on British produce — Cornish tuna, Dorset crab, Devon eels — with a playful cheese-and-onion sandwich reinterpretation, and a plant-based tasting option is available. Also Michelin-recommended is Bluebells, a modern European restaurant in forest green and peach pink that earns a 4.8-star Google rating across 650-plus reviews; expect dishes like spiced cod cheeks with broccoli couscous and rabbit with celeriac chips.
Away from the plate, there's a par-70 golf course and the Englemere Pond Nature Reserve, where the heather fields that caught Queen Anne's eye three centuries ago still grow. Windsor Castle is just 15 minutes away by car, and the rolling villages of the North Wessex Downs sit within an hour.
If you do time your visit for Royal Ascot, book early and read the dress code carefully. Each ticket category maps to an enclosure with its own rules, from garden-party attire in the Village Enclosure to top hats and three-piece suits in the invite-only Royal Enclosure. The Gold Cup, run since 1807, is the week's prestige race and falls on Ladies' Day, the third day. The numbers behind the event are staggering: roughly 65,000 bottles of champagne and 3,000 fresh lobsters consumed across the week, tens of millions of pounds wagered, and more than 700 helicopters arriving.
Ascot suits two kinds of traveller. Racing fans and fashion watchers should target June and embrace the spectacle in all its hat-filled glory. Everyone else gets a quiet, green corner of Berkshire with genuinely excellent dining, easy London rail links, and Windsor and the Downs on the doorstep — no fascinator required.
Story via Islands.
