Swindon has been included in a selection of Europe's "blandest towns" which "everyone should visit".

Writing for The Telegraph's travel section, Emma Thomson has gathered a list of European towns which she classifies as Swindon-esque in their reputation as "flat, functional and fair game".

Instead of travelling to "elegant" cities with beautiful architecture and "precocious flair" like Rome, Ms Thomson recommends travellers try out "off-the-radar" places like Swindon and give them a chance.

Discussing the Wiltshire town, she writes: "What about gritty, pull-themselves-up-by-the-bootstraps places such as Swindon which have – perhaps unfairly – become a byword for boring, but are nonetheless quietly (and rightly) proud of their modest charms?

"It just takes a little effort to peel back the labels of “humdrum”, “dreary” or “dull” and look with a fresh pair of eyes.

"Let's admit it: we all love an underdog."

The article's author describes how she moved from San Francisco to Swindon and was met with sympathetic responses such as "what a shame".

But, in her defence of the town which she has grown a "fondness" for, she nods to the railway history, the green spaces at Lydiard Park and Old Town Gardens, and the famous Liddington Castle with its Iron Age hillfort. 

Liddington Castle was one of the earliest hillforts in Britain and historians have speculated that King Arthur's Battle of Badon Hill was fought there. 

Lydiard Park, which boasts a Palladian House and country park, is on the Historic England Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Ms Thomson also praises the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery as a place which "offers the best selection of 20th century British art outside London".

The museum and art gallery is currently closed so any travellers persuaded to visit Swindon by Ms Thomson's article may be disappointed.

Apsley House on Bath Road controversially closed at the start of the pandemic because its limited capacity and split levels made social distancing difficult.

Swindon Borough Council then decided to move its museum and art collections to a temporary home in the Civic Offices on Euclid Street until plans for the proposed Cultural Quarter come forward.

One Telegraph reader tweeted: "Great article but sorry to say that post pandemic, a ‘best bit’ in our town remains shut. An iconic art collection largely locked away."

Some of the European towns dubbed the 'Swindons of Europe' include Modena in Italy and Strasbourg in France.

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