Chalk and cheese.

Byline: By Mike Torpey

In this part of our popular series Great Drives put together by Mike Torpey, aimed at pointing you in the direction of some of the most interesting and scenic motoring routes in Britain, we head for the chalk and cheese region of Wiltshire and north Somerset. The routes are circular, so you can join at any point, and are brought to you in association with Thomas Cook's Signpost Guides.

Anyone with an interest in archaeology and architecture should make a beeline for this mysterious area with its prehistoric structures like Stonehenge and Silbury Hill.

Bath, which combines Roman ruins with England's most complete Georgian buildings, makes an ideal starting point.

Follow signs south-east to Claverton to catch the American Museum in Britain, a fascinating slice of US life and history.

Turn right at the A36, heading south through a steep wooded combe for a mile before turning left over the river at Limpley Stoke towards the old wool town of Bradford-on-Avon; then follow signs east via Great Chalfield Manor.

Head north past Whitley to the little weaving village of Corsham and on towards Lacock, where one of the windows in the abbey was the subject of the world's first photographic negative in 1835.

Continue east, turning left briefly on the A342, then right on the A4. Bowood House, on the right, is a magnificent Robert Adam house in superb grounds.

Drive through Calne to Avebury, where the circle of 100 standing stones is the largest in Europe.

Marlborough, seven miles east, is a Georgian coaching stop with period houses. Turn right down the A345 through Pewsey and across the chalky uplands of Salisbury Plain - extensively used by the Ministry of Defence.

A mile north of Amesbury look for signs to Woodhenge and two miles south-west off the A303 is Stonehenge, though access to the stones is limited to organised tours.

Return towards Amesbury and head south via Old Sarum, an ancient fortified settlement on a bleak hilltop, to Salisbury.

The A36 west leads you to Wilton, the famous carpet-making centre, and on to Warminster, turning west on the A362.

Longleat and its safari park, signposted left off the road, was one of Britain's first statley homes to be opened to the public.

Take the A361 towards Shepton Mallet and on for another 10 miles to Glastonbury. The Vale of Avalon, where the town lies, has been a place of Arthurian legends for centuries.

From here, turn right on the A39 to Wells, then north-west past the Wookey Hole caves returning to the A371 to Cheddar and its breathtaking limestone gorge.

Take the gorge road across the Mendip Hills on the B3135 and B3371, following signs via Midsomer Norton and Radstock back to Bath.

Points of interest on or close to the route - Bath, Lacock, Avebury, Marlborough, Pewsey, Stonehenge, Longleat, Glastonbury, Wells, Wookey Hole, Cheddar. For more information, and suggestions for accommodation and food, see Thomas Cook's Signpost Guide to England and Wales (pounds 14.99).