# Aldershot

Aldershot is a garrison town in the English county of Hampshire. The Home of the British Army has plenty of military heritage to discover.

## Get in

Aldershot is 40 miles (64 km) south-west of London.

### By car

The M3 London - Southampton motorway passes through Farnborough, Aldershot's northern neighbour. You should exit at junction 4, then follow the signs along the A331 Blackwater Valley Road past Farnborough to Aldershot. Alternatively, to the south of Aldershot is the A31 Hog's Back Road which links Guildford (for the A3) with Winchester.

### By train

Aldershot's station is served by reasonably frequent South Western Railway trains from London Waterloo (55 min, 2 per hour), Clapham Junction (48 min, 2 per hour), and a number of regional destinations: Alton (20 min, 2 per hour), Ascot (30 min, 2 per hour), Camberley (16 min, 2 per hour), Farnham (5 min, 4 per hour), Guildford (17 min, 2 per hour), and Woking (18 min, 2 per hour). If coming from Reading on Great Western Railway, change at Ash for an Ascot-bound train; Aldershot is the next stop.
* 51.2463-0.761 Aldershot Railway Station, Station Road, GU11 1HN. The bus station and taxi rank are directly outside the railway station, and the town centre is about a 5-minute walk. (updated Mar 2020)
The electrified third rail of the line that runs through Aldershot is the first in the world to be directly powered by a bank of trackside solar panels, as part of a pioneering pilot scheme.
About 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Aldershot, Farnborough Main Station has a wider range of longer-distance services, with trains from Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton (and airport), Portsmouth, Bournemouth, and Poole. Farnborough also has quicker and more frequent trains from London Waterloo (35 min, 4 per hour) and Clapham Jct (25 min, 3 per hour). Bus route 1 connects Farnborough Main to Aldershot in about 20 min, and there are also always plenty of taxis waiting.

### By bus

Aldershot is served by numerous Stagecoach bus services from nearby towns, including Camberley (1, 3), Farnborough (1), Farnham (4, 5, 16, 17, 18, 19), Fleet (7), Guildford (Kite) and Haslemere (19). The most reliable timetables and maps for these services are published by Surrey County Council.
All of these routes set down passengers or terminate at 51.2464-0.76072 Aldershot Bus Station, which is on Station Road, GU11 1HQ.

### By plane

Aldershot is well served by airports. For travellers coming directly, the closest airports are:
* London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is 30 mi (48 km) away. Drive to Aldershot via the M4, M25, M3, and A331. Public transport options from Heathrow to Aldershot are indirect and take much longer than driving. You can either take a Rail Air bus shuttle to Woking railway station, and catch the train, or take the London Underground Piccadilly line to Piccadilly Circus, then Bakerloo line to Waterloo, and catch the train from there.
* Southampton Airport (SOU) is 41 mi (66 km) away. Drive to Aldershot via the M27, M3, A31, and A331. There are also frequent express trains between Southampton Airport Parkway and Farnborough Main stations.
* London Gatwick Airport (LGW) is 43 mi (69 km) away. Drive to Aldershot via the M23, M25, A3, A31, and A331. From Gatwick Airport station, take a Reading-bound GWR train to Guildford, from where you can change for an SWR train to Aldershot.
* London Luton Airport (LTN) is 58 mi (93 km) away. Drive to Aldershot via the M1, M25, M3, and A331. Trains connect Luton Airport Parkway to London St Pancras International every 35 minutes. From there, take the London Underground Victoria line to Oxford Circus, then Bakerloo line to Waterloo for a train to Aldershot.
Just to the north of Aldershot is 51.2831-0.7773 Farnborough Airport (FAB), which is a major base for private and business aviation.

## Get around

Aldershot is a small town and it is very easy and quick to get around on foot or by car. The town centre has lots of signs, maps and information boards for pedestrians. Mostly you won't need a vehicle, though getting across the garrison to the military museums from the town centre is a bit of a slog. Parking is widely available, though you will be hard-pressed to find anything free.

### By bus

Buses departing from the bus station serve various neighbourhoods of Aldershot before continuing the journeys elsewhere:
* 1 - town centre, Aldershot Centre for Health, garrison, and on to Farnborough and Camberley
* 3 - town centre, Manor Park, Ash Road, and on to Ash and Frimley
* 4 - town centre, Municipal Gardens, Rowhill, Heath End, Hale, and on to Farnham
* 5 - town centre, Queens Road, Alexandra Road, Rowhill, then as route 4
* 7 - town centre, Aldershot Centre for Health, garrison, and on to Church Crookham and Fleet
* 14 - town centre, North Town
* 15 - town centre, Church Lane, Heron Wood Aldershot Park, Tice's Meadow, then back to the town centre
* 16 - town centre, Manor Park, Ash Road, Lower Farnham Road, Badshot Lea, and on to Farnham
* 17/18/19 - town centre, Municipal Gardens, Grosvenor Road, Eggar's Hill, Weybourne, and on to Farnham
* KITE - town centre, Manor Park, Ash Road, Tongham and on to Guildford

### By taxi

Aldershot has both hackney carriages (black cabs), which can be pre-booked or hailed on the street, and minicabs, which must be pre-booked. Hackney carriage fares are regulated by the borough, and use a meter: weekday daytimes cost £3 base fare, plus £0.20 for every 150 yards (140 m) travelled. Evenings and weekends cost £3.60 base fare, plus £0.20 for every 150 yards (140 m) travelled; after 11PM, this goes up to £4.50 base fare, plus £0.30 for every 150 yards (140 m) travelled. These fares are correct as of March 2020. Minicabs' fares are unregulated, so prices can be negotiated.

## See

* 51.26963-0.750631 Aldershot Military Museum, Queens Avenue, ☏ +44 1252 314598. Daily 10AM–5PM. It tells the story of Aldershot Military Town, and the civil towns of Aldershot and Farnborough. £2 adults, £1 children/concessions, free car parking.
* 51.253388-0.77992 Wellington Statue, Claycart Road, GU11 1QB (1½ miles west of town centre; follow Wellington Avenue (A323) to the Wellington Roundabout, take the second exit and pick up brown signs). Visit any time during daylight hours. Aldershot's most famous landmark, a huge statue of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, two-term prime minister and hero of the Battle of Waterloo, sitting astride his ever trusty steed Copenhagen. The statue was originally commissioned to stand atop the Wellington Arch on London's Hyde Park Corner, but was grossly out of proportion for this task and became a national laughing stock. So it was quietly moved down to Aldershot, where it remains, impressive but ignominious, hidden among the trees and rhododendrons on the fringes of town. Free. (updated Oct 2020)

## Do

* Watch football at Aldershot Town FC, who play soccer in the National League, the game's fifth tier in England. They play at the Recreation Ground (sponsored as EBB Stadium), capacity 7100, 200 yards east of the railway station.

## Sleep

* Waterside Breaks Ltd (Waterside Holiday Cottages & Lodges), 47, Station Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, ☏ +44 1252 339020. Waterside Breaks specialises in offering high quality self-catering waterside holidays and cottages throughout the UK.
* Potter's International Hotel, 1 Fleet Road.

## Go next

* Brookwood Cemetery, on the road to Woking, is the largest in the country. Of particular interest to visitors to Aldershot will be Brookwood Military Cemetery, home to a huge number of British, Commonwealth and Allied war graves from the World Wars and the modern era.