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The Midlands & the Marches
If you're searching for quintessentially English countryside – green valleys, chocolate-box villages of wonky black-and-white timbered houses, woodlands steeped in legend such as Nottinghamshire's Sherwood Forest, and stately homes that look like the last lord of the manor just clip-clopped out of the stables – you'll find it here in the country's heart.
You'll also find the relics of centuries of industrial history, exemplified by the World Heritage–listed mills of Ironbridge and the Derwent Valley, and by today's dynamic cities, including Britain's second-largest, Birmingham: a canal-woven industrial crucible reinvented as a cultural and creative hub, with striking 21st-century architecture and vibrant nightlife. Beyond them are tumbling hills where the air is so clean you can taste it. Walkers and cyclists flock to these pristine areas, particularly the Peak District National Park and the Shropshire Hills in the Marches, along the English–Welsh border, to vanish into the vastness of the landscape.
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Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout The Midlands & the Marches.
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Warwick Castle
Founded in 1068 by William the Conqueror, stunningly preserved Warwick Castle is Warwick's main attraction. The ancestral home of the earls of Warwick remains impressively intact, and the Tussauds Group has filled the interior with flamboyant, family-friendly attractions that bring the castle's rich history to life. Waxworks populate the private apartments; there are also jousting tournaments, daily trebuchet firings, falconry displays, themed evenings and a dungeon. Sign up for history talks and tours at the entrance to the Great Hall. Tickets and accommodations Tickets must be pre-booked online. Great accommodations are available on-site including woodland lodges and glamping.
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Chatsworth House
Known as the 'Palace of the Peak', this vast edifice 3 miles northeast of Bakewell has been occupied by the earls and dukes of Devonshire for centuries. Inside, the lavish apartments and mural-painted staterooms are packed with priceless paintings and period furniture. The house sits in 25 sq miles of grounds and ornamental gardens, some landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Kids will love the farmyard adventure playground. From Bakewell, take bus 218 (£2.70, 15 minutes, half-hourly). The manor was founded in 1552 by the formidable Bess of Hardwick and her second husband, William Cavendish, who earned grace and favour by helping Henry VIII dissolve the English monasteries. Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Chatsworth on the orders of Elizabeth I in 1569. Look out for the portraits of the current generation of Devonshires by Lucian Freud. Also on the estate is one of the country's premier farm shops and an attached cafe. Walkers can take footpaths through Chatsworth park via the mock-Venetian village of Edensor (en-sor), while cyclists can pedal via Pilsley.
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Lincoln Cathedral
Towering over the city like a medieval skyscraper, Lincoln's magnificent cathedral is a breathtaking representation of divine power on earth. The great tower rising above the crossing is the third-highest in England at 83m, but in medieval times, a lead-encased wooden spire added a further 79m, topping even the great pyramids of Giza. One-hour guided tours (included in admission) take place at least twice Monday to Saturday; there are also tours of the roof and tower (£4; book in advance). The vast interior of the church is too large for modern congregations – services take place instead in St Hugh's Choir, a church within a church running east from the crossing. The choir stalls are accessed through a magnificent carved stone screen; look north to see the stunning rose window known as the Dean's Eye (c 1192), mirrored to the south by the floral flourishes of the Bishop's Eye (1330). There's more stained glass in the three Services Chapels in the north transept. Beyond St Hugh's Choir, the Angel Choir is supported by 28 columns topped by carvings of angels and foliate scrollwork. Other interesting details include the 10-sided chapterhouse – where Edward I held his parliament and where the climax of the Da Vinci Code was filmed in 2005. The best time to hear the organ resounding through the cathedral is during evensong; check times online.
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Hereford Cathedral
After Welsh marauders torched the original Saxon cathedral, the Norman rulers of Hereford erected a larger, grander cathedral on the same site. The building was subsequently remodelled in a succession of medieval architectural styles. The signature highlight is the magnificent Mappa Mundi, a single piece of calfskin vellum intricately painted with some rather fantastical assumptions about the layout of the globe in around 1290. The same wing contains the world's largest surviving chained library of rare manuscripts manacled to the shelves. The cathedral also has one of the four surviving copies of the 1217 Magna Carta, although it's not always on display. Heated by four impressive Gurney stoves, the magnificent cathedral comes alive with evensong, and every three years in August it holds the famous Three Choirs Festival (www.3choirs.org), shared with Gloucester and Worcester Cathedrals. The cloisters shelter an atmospheric cafe. Schedules for 45-minute cathedral tours (per person £5) are posted on the website. Weather permitting, there are also scheduled tower tours (adult/child £5/3) scaling 218 steps; kids must be aged over eight.
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Lincoln Castle
One of the first castles erected by the victorious William the Conqueror, in 1068, to keep his new kingdom in line, Lincoln Castle offers awesome views over the city and miles of surrounding countryside. A major 2015-completed restoration program opened up the entire castle walls and gave the 1215 Magna Carta (one of only four copies) a swanky, subterranean new home. One-hour guided tours, included in the castle admission, depart from the eastern gate; check the blackboard for times. Videos and exhibits explain the document's significance, while the surprisingly bright Victorian prison houses a unique 'separate-system' chapel and displays a Saxon sarcophagous found during the restoration. Watch for concerts in summer. The grounds make an idyllic picnic spot in fine weather.
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Morgan Motor Company
Morgan has been handcrafting elegant sports cars since 1909. You can see the mechanics at work on two-hour guided tours of the unassuming shedlike buildings comprising the factory (prebooking essential), and view a fleet of vintage classics adjacent to the museum. If buying one of these beautiful machines is beyond your budget, it's possible to hire one (per day/weekend/week from £220/595/1050, including insurance) for a spin through the Malvern Hills.
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Coventry Cathedral
The evocative ruins of St Michael's Cathedral, built around 1300 but destroyed by Nazi incendiary bombs in the Blitz, stand as a memorial to Coventry's darkest hour and as a symbol of peace and reconciliation. Climb the 180 steps of the Gothic spire for panoramic views. Symbolically adjoining St Michael's Cathedral's sandstone walls is the Sir Basil Spence–designed modernist architectural masterpiece Coventry Cathedral, with a futuristic organ, stained glass, and Jacob Epstein statue of the devil and St Michael. Volunteers at the Blitz Experience Museum provide a vivid overview of Coventry before the Blitz and in its aftermath. Children must be aged over eight to climb the tower.
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Library of Birmingham
Resembling a glittering stack of gift-wrapped presents, the Francine Houben–designed Library of Birmingham is an architectural triumph. The 2013-opened building features a subterranean amphitheatre, spiralling interior, viewing decks and glass elevator to the 7th-floor 'secret garden' with panoramic views over the city. In addition to its archives, and photography and rare-book collections (including Britain’s most important Shakespeare collection), there are gallery spaces, 160-plus computers and a cafe. The British Film Institute Mediatheque provides free access to the National Film Archive. The ground-floor reception can also provide tourist information.
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Coventry Transport Museum
This stupendous museum has hundreds of vehicles, from horseless carriages to jet-powered, land-speed-record breakers. There's a brushed-stainless-steel DeLorean DMC-12 (of Back to the Future fame) with gull-wing doors, alongside a gorgeous Jaguar E-type, a Daimler armoured car and, for 1970s British-design-oddity enthusiasts, a Triumph TR7 and an Austin Allegro 'Special'. View the Thrust SCC, the current holder of the World Land Speed Record and the Thrust 2, the previous record holder. Kids will love the 4D Thrust speed simulator. Also on display are 300 bicycles and 120 motorcycles.