Cannings Cross Farms Ltd

A working farm on the edge of Devizes that actually lets visitors around - not a museum recreation, but the real thing. Cannings Cross is the sort of place where you turn up and find tractors genuinely parked in the yard, animals being fed on schedule, and the daily rhythms of agricultural life playing out in front of you.

The appeal is straightforward: kids who've only seen cows through car windows get to meet them properly. There's something about watching a two-year-old's face when a sheep eats from her hand that justifies the trip alone. For adults, it's less about spectacle and more about understanding what actually happens on a proper Wiltshire farm - the work, the animals, the seasonal routines that look simple from a distance but clearly aren't.

Give yourself a couple of hours maximum. This isn't a sprawling attraction with ten different experiences - it's a working farm where you're genuinely welcome. Bring wellies unless you enjoy muddy trainers. Best visited during spring and early summer when there's young livestock about and the farm's actually busy.

Camp at Little Owls, just 1.7 miles away, and you're perfectly positioned. It's close enough for a casual morning visit without the faff of a proper drive, and Devizes itself has decent pubs and a canal if the weather turns. The Ridgeway Campsite and Hillview Park are nearby alternatives if Little Owls is full.