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The Chiltern Hills extend southwest from the workaday town of Luton, beside the M1, bumping across Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire as far as the River Thames, just to the west of Reading. At their best, the hills offer handsome countryside, comprising a band of forested chalk hills with steep ridges and deep valleys interrupted by easy, rolling farmland. The Chilterns are also one of the country's wealthiest areas, liberally sprinkled with exclusive commuter hideaways-cum-country homes - though there are unappetising suburban blotches too. The obvious base for visitors is Henley-on-Thames , a pleasant riverside town within easy striking distance of the area's key attractions and with a reasonable range of accommodation. The particular target to aim for is the village of Cookham , home to the fascinating Stanley Spencer gallery. Spare a thought also for Reading , beside the Thames at the southern tip of the Chilterns, not so much for itself (it's brusquely modern), but for its two big music festivals, Reading Rock Festival and the World Music extravaganza, WOMAD. Crossing the Chilterns to the north and west of Henley, the Ridgeway National Trail offers splendid hiking, though the most diverting part of the trail is further to the west, beyond the Chilterns and the Thames, amongst the more open scenery of the Berkshire and Oxfordshire downs. Here, on the edge of the Vale of White Horse , the trail sticks to a chalky ridge that provides magnificent views of the surrounding countryside and skirts the giant prehistoric figure after which the Vale is named. Here, you might opt to stay locally in the superb YHA hostel on the ridge above Wantage , in the humdrum town itself or in one of the Vale's quaint villages - tiny Woolstone is perhaps the most appealing.
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