The large county of Wiltshire divides into two distinct areas – north and south – with the vast military training area of Salisbury Plain in the centre.

North Wiltshire is dominated by downland from the M4 to Salisbury Plain. This area is very rural with villages situated in the valleys and Marlborough as an attractive market town. The Vale of Pewsey is particularly popular with buyers due to its beauty and good train links.

Swindon to the north of the M4 is an industrial, unattractive town with many "out-of-town" business parks and factories such as Honda UK. The land to the north and west of Swindon is uninspiring until it meets the South Cotswolds at Badminton. The area from the Downs stretching to the east of Bath is rather built up. Chippenham, Melksham, Devizes and Calne are the main urban areas and it is possible to buy a lot of house for your money here compared with the shires closer to London. Bradford-on-Avon is an oasis in what is otherwise a lesser area and is far enough away from RAF Lyneham, home to the Hercules Squadron, which over-flies much of the area. North Wiltshire is well served for schools, in particular Marlborough and St. Mary's Calne.

Salisbury Plain can be bleak, particularly in winter. Much of the Plain is affected by the Ministry of Defence who regularly hold exercises over several days. The noise from these military exercises and the garrisons in the valleys dampens property prices in the area.

There are mainline stations into London Paddington at Pewsey (approximately 60 minutes), Swindon (approximately 60 minutes), Bath (approximately 90 minutes) and Chippenham (approximately 75 minutes). The M4 motorway runs through north Wiltshire and offers accessibility to London in less than 2 hours.

South Wiltshire is a small but very popular area which is bordered to the north by the Plain, to the east by Salisbury itself and running southwestwards towards Shaftesbury, Blandford Forum and the Dorset border.

The landscape changes dramatically to the south of the Plain with pretty wooded chalk stream valleys and stone villages. The main valleys running through south Wiltshire are the Woodford Valley to the north of Salisbury, the Wylye Valley running to the north-west, the Nadder Valley running due west and the Chalke Valley which provides dramatic scenery as it runs south-westwards into Cranborne Chase.

South Wiltshire is a great draw for second homeowners, being just on the fringe of reasonable commuting distance from London. It is also popular with those who are able to work from home for part of the week, and the good schools in Salisbury and around Shaftesbury have led to an influx of those moving full time to the area.

There are mainline stations into London Waterloo at Salisbury (approximately 90 minutes) and Tisbury (approximately 110 minutes). The majority of the A303, which joins the M3 west of Basingstoke, is dual carriageway and it is possible to reach central London from south Wiltshire by car in under 2 hours.

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