Gloucestershire Tourist Guide - Articles

South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, the main town for the area being Stroud.

The River Severn forms the north-western edge of the area, with a wide coastal plain terminated by the Severn Escarpment. East of this is the wide River Frome Valley drainage area. Further east is another escarpment running roughly north-south, passing between Yate and Chipping Sodbury and west of Pucklechurch. The Cotswolds Escarpment forms the eastern edge of South Gloucestershire.

A small part of the Cotswolds and the National Trust site of Dyrham Park are also in the district. South of the motorways are suburbs of Bristol while areas north are rural areas. Some of the inner green belt has been taken away by developments like Bradley Stoke in recent years.

Much of the population is in the northern and eastern suburbs of Bristol, although there are also large population centres in Yate, Sodbury, Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell and Thornbury. All of the villages are well within the commuting belt for Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Cheltenham and even London.

South Gloucestershire is a major transport hub for the West of England where the M4 and M5 motorways meet. Other major routes include the A38, the Avon Ring Road and part of the M32. It also has major connections to the railway network, with major routes from London through the Severn Tunnel to South Wales, and from the South-West to Birmingham and beyond, crossing at Bristol Parkway railway station. It is home to the eastern ends of the two famous Severn bridges, which are the main routes by road to and from South Wales.