UK - East Midlands
Ashbourne
Ashbourne is a handsome market town in Derbyshire, sitting on the southern edge of the Peak District and making an excellent base for exploring some of the finest countryside in the Midlands.
It has a pleasing mixture of historic buildings, independent shops, traditional pubs and narrow streets, and unlike some of the more famous Peak District destinations, it generally retains the feel of a working town rather than a tourist attraction.
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Barnsdale
Barnsdale Gardens, near Oakham in Rutland, is gardening without all the usual stately-home nonsense.
There’s no vast mansion, no endless gravel drive and no feeling that you need to dress up just to look at a flower bed. What you get instead is a collection of superb gardens that are actually about gardening — imagine that!
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Canons Ashby
Canons Ashby is a wonderfully atmospheric country house and estate in Northamptonshire, tucked away among the rolling countryside near Daventry.
It is one of those places where the journey through the lanes is almost as enjoyable as the arrival, and once you get there you find a rather splendid mixture of history, architecture, gardens and peaceful countryside.
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Chatsworth House
Chatsworth is quite simply one of England's great country houses. Sitting in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside beside the River Derwent, with the dramatic hills of the Peak District rising behind it, this enormous estate has everything you could reasonably want from a stately home — magnificent architecture, superb interiors, extraordinary gardens, extensive parkland and more history than you can shake a stick at.
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Coton Manor
Coton Manor Gardens is one of those delightful English gardens that doesn't need a huge stately home or a famous aristocratic family name to make an impression.
Tucked away in the Northamptonshire countryside near the village of Coton, it is a beautifully maintained private garden surrounding a rather handsome manor house, and is particularly well known for its colourful planting and peaceful atmosphere.
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Leicester
Leicester is one of those cities that has been through an extraordinary number of incarnations. Roman city, medieval powerhouse, industrial centre and modern multicultural city, it has accumulated layer upon layer of history.
It may not have the instant visual appeal of York or Cambridge, but spend some time here and you discover a city with considerably more going for it than first impressions might suggest.
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Lincoln
Lincoln is one of those English cities that announces itself rather dramatically. As you approach from the surrounding countryside, the enormous cathedral and castle dominate the skyline from the top of the hill, while the modern city stretches out below.
It is an impressive sight and gives you a pretty good idea that Lincoln has been an important place for a very long time.
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