Top Things to Do in East Midlands, England

Bolsover Castle is located in Bolsover, Derbyshire, England. There are three main buildings standing today. The "Little Castle" is a mock medieval keep built in a romantic style. The Terrace Range is a separate block near the Little Castle, and has a suite of state rooms and living quarters, with kitchen area. The Riding School is at right angles to the Terrace Range, running from the car park to the end of the Terrace Range furthest from the Little Castle. There is a Discovery Centre in the Riding School. Parts of the original curtain wall are incorporated in the "Wall Walk" in the castle gardens. The castle regularly hosts historic and cultural events throughout the year and is popular for family picnics. Bolsover Castle was built by the Peverel family in the 12th century. It was taken over by the Crown in 1155 when the third William Peverel went into exile. The castle was strengthened later in the 12th century with the addition of a stone keep and curtain wall around 1173. The castle was attacked in 1216 and fell into disrepair. Sir Charles Cavendish bought the castle in 1608, and rebuilt the castle into an elegant home. The tower, known as the "Little Castle", was completed around 1621. The Cavendish family subsequently added the Terrace Range and Riding School Range. During the Civil War Bolsover Castle was taken by the Parliamentarians who damaged it, and Bolsover again fell into ruin in the 1650s. William Cavendish restored it again by 1676, also adding a new hall and staterooms to the Terrace Range. The castle was later owned by the Dukes of Portland. In 1883 the castle was no longer in use as a residence, and eventually given to the nation by the 7th Duke of Portland in 1945. The castle is now in the care of English Heritage. Bolsover Castle Bolsover Castle Looking NW towards the main keep with the ruined facade on the left.

Monsal Head in the Peak District is one of the most celebrated viewpoints in the national park, a clifftop viewpoint above the deep limestone gorge of the River Wye near Bakewell from which the Victorian railway viaduct — now carrying the Monsal Trail walking and cycling route — spans the dale in a composition of industrial heritage and natural limestone gorge scenery. The viaduct was condemned by John Ruskin when built in 1863 but has long since become a celebrated element of the landscape. The Monsal Dale viaduct carries the Monsal Trail, an 8.5-mile route following the former Midland Railway line through the limestone dales of the White Peak, across the gorge at a height providing views along the dale in both directions. The trail passes through several tunnels, now lit and open to cyclists, providing a complete heritage railway experience through the best section of White Peak limestone scenery. The River Wye below the viaduct provides excellent trout fishing and the combination of the water, the limestone cliffs, the hanging woodland and the viaduct above creates a landscape of considerable variety in a short section of the dale.

Nottingham Castle is a landmark heritage and museum site on the Castle Rock above the city centre of Nottingham, occupying a spectacular natural position on a sandstone promontory that has been the most strategically dominant point in the city since the Norman period. The original Norman castle was replaced by a ducal palace built for the Duke of Newcastle in the seventeenth century, which was subsequently burned by Chartist rioters in 1831 and restored as a museum in 1878, making it the first provincial municipal art gallery and museum in England. The castle complex includes the medieval underground caves and passages carved into the sandstone beneath the rock, the museum and art gallery displaying Nottingham's industrial and cultural history, and the statue of Robin Hood outside the gate. The museum underwent major redevelopment and reopened in 2021 with an enhanced visitor experience.

Castleton in the Peak District is one of the most comprehensively interesting villages in the national park, a settlement in the Hope Valley beneath Mam Tor whose combination of the remarkable concentration of show caves, the ruins of Peveril Castle on the limestone ridge above the village, the Blue John mineral unique to this area and the walking available on the surrounding gritstone and limestone hills creates a destination of exceptional variety and scientific interest. The four show caves accessible from the village represent different aspects of the remarkable cave system that honecombs the limestone below Castleton. Peak Cavern, accessible from the village centre through a dramatic gorge entrance, is the largest natural cave entrance in Britain, its great arched opening once housing a rope-making village of considerable complexity. The Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern contain deposits of Blue John, a semi-precious fluorspar mineral found only in the mines of Castleton and unique to this area of Derbyshire, whose purple and yellow banding has been worked into decorative objects since the Roman period. Speedwell Cavern, entered by boat along an underground canal, provides a different and entirely memorable cave experience. Mam Tor above the village, its summit accessible by a fine ridge walk, provides outstanding views of the Hope Valley and the contrast between the limestone White Peak to the south and the gritstone Dark Peak to the north, one of the most informative single viewpoints for understanding the Peak District geology.

Center Parcs Sherwood Forest is one of the most popular short-break holiday resorts in the United Kingdom, operated by the Center Parcs company and situated deep within the ancient Nottinghamshire woodland of Sherwood Forest. The resort offers a distinctive concept that has proven enormously successful across Europe: families and groups rent self-catering lodges or villas set among mature trees, with the site deliberately designed so that the natural environment is the backdrop rather than something incidental to the experience. At its heart is the famous Subtropical Swimming Paradise, a vast indoor water park that keeps the resort viable year-round regardless of Britain's famously unpredictable weather. The combination of outdoor forest activities — cycling, archery, segway trails, climbing — with comfortable modern accommodation and that all-weather centrepiece makes it a particularly compelling destination for families with children, though couples and groups of friends make up a significant share of visitors too. The resort sits within the broader area historically known as Sherwood Forest, a woodland of immense cultural significance in English history and legend. This is the landscape forever associated with Robin Hood and his Merry Men, the outlaw who famously robbed from the rich to give to the poor and whose story has been retold in countless ballads, plays, films and television series spanning many centuries. The medieval royal forest once covered a vast swathe of Nottinghamshire and was a hunting ground for English kings, with Nottingham Castle serving as a regional seat of power. While the forest has shrunk dramatically from its medieval extent, the area still contains ancient oak woodland, and the famous Major Oak — reputedly Robin Hood's shelter and one of the oldest and largest oak trees in Britain — stands at Edwinstowe just a few miles from the Center Parcs site. The resort thus sits within a genuinely storied landscape that gives even a commercial holiday park a certain romantic and historical weight. Physically, the Center Parcs Sherwood Forest site has the feel of a secluded woodland village that has been carefully threaded between the trees rather than imposed upon them. Pinewood Drive and the internal road network are narrow and deliberately quiet, as private cars are largely excluded from the site after check-in, meaning the dominant sounds are birdsong, the hum of cycling wheels on tarmac paths, children's laughter and the distant rush of wind through the canopy. The lodges are typically clad in timber or rendered in natural tones, with many featuring hot tubs on private decks overlooking the trees. The overall aesthetic is one of Scandinavian-influenced forest living — Nordic in spirit, if Nottinghamshire in location. In autumn the forest colours are particularly striking, while in winter the site takes on a hushed, almost magical quality, especially when decorated for the Christmas season. The surrounding landscape beyond the resort's perimeter is a mosaic of farmland, remnant ancient woodland, and small Nottinghamshire villages. The village of Edwinstowe, immediately nearby, is a charming settlement with the Church of St Mary where, according to tradition, Robin Hood and Maid Marian were married — a claim that draws visitors seeking a connection to the legend. Rufford Abbey Country Park, a short drive away, offers beautiful grounds around the ruins of a Cistercian abbey. Clumber Park, managed by the National Trust, provides thousands of acres of parkland, lake and woodland for walking and cycling. The wider area represents the quieter, less-visited heart of the East Midlands, and the market town of Ollerton is the nearest substantial settlement for everyday supplies beyond the resort. Getting to Center Parcs Sherwood Forest is straightforward for those travelling by car, which remains the overwhelming majority of guests. The site lies close to the A614, a main road connecting Nottingham to the north, and signage is clear from surrounding routes. The nearest motorway connections are via the M1 to the west and the A1 to the east, both within reasonable driving distance. Nottingham itself is roughly 20 miles to the south, while Worksop and Ollerton are much closer. Public transport access is more limited, as is the case with most Center Parcs resorts in the UK, and guests arriving without cars should plan carefully, as the nearest train stations at Worksop or Newark-on-Trent still require onward travel. The resort operates a strict check-in system, typically on Mondays and Fridays for short breaks, and accommodation books up many months in advance, particularly for school holiday periods. Visiting in the shoulder seasons — late autumn or early spring — tends to offer a quieter, more affordable experience while still giving full access to all facilities. One of the more fascinating aspects of Center Parcs as a concept is its Dutch origin: the first Center Parcs resort opened in the Netherlands in 1967, founded by Piet Derksen, with the philosophy of immersing guests in nature while protecting that same nature from the kind of development that might otherwise destroy it. The Sherwood Forest site opened in 1987 and was one of the earliest in the UK estate, helping to establish the brand's British identity. The company has changed ownership several times over the decades, passing through various private equity and corporate hands, and in recent years there has been renewed investment in the estate. A particularly notable quirk is that the resort operates its own internal network of rules — no cars after arrival, a culture of cycling, and a managed timetable of activities — creating a kind of temporary society with its own rhythms that guests often find unexpectedly charming after initial adjustment. The combination of ancient English forest, Robin Hood mythology, Scandinavian design philosophy, and Dutch corporate origins gives this corner of Nottinghamshire a quietly cosmopolitan backstory that its woodland setting does little to advertise.

Chatsworth House in the Peak District of Derbyshire is one of the greatest country houses in England, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Devonshire for over four centuries and a house of such extraordinary quality in its architecture, collections and landscape setting that it is frequently described as the Palace of the Peak. The house stands in the valley of the Derwent River in Derbyshire below the eastern edge of the Peak District National Park and its combination of baroque and later classical facades, the magnificent park landscaped by Capability Brown, and the extraordinary collections of art assembled across five centuries of ducal patronage creates an experience of country house visiting that is without equal in the north of England. The current house was largely rebuilt in the baroque style for the first Duke of Devonshire between 1686 and 1707, producing the south and east fronts that define the character of the house seen from the park. The north wing was added by William Kent in the 1750s and the entire house was extended and remodelled in the early nineteenth century by the sixth Duke under the direction of the architect Jeffry Wyatville, who added the north wing and gave the house the extra length that today makes it one of the most extensive country houses in Britain. The interior collections assembled by successive Dukes of Devonshire are of museum quality. The house contains magnificent paintings by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Veronese and Reynolds; an exceptional collection of drawings including works by Raphael and Holbein; and a library of outstanding importance. The decorative arts, furniture, silver and porcelain collections are of comparable quality and the state rooms in which they are displayed represent some of the finest baroque and neoclassical interiors in England. The garden at Chatsworth, combining the formal cascade with the Emperor Fountain, the great rock garden and the working kitchen garden, is one of the most famous in England, and the surrounding parkland with its farmland, woodland and the views to the Peak District moors provide an outstanding setting.

Tissington is one of the most attractive and best-preserved estate villages in the Peak District, a cluster of limestone buildings around a triangular green most celebrated as the origin of the well-dressing tradition. This distinctively Peakland practice of creating large decorated pictures from flower petals, moss, leaves and other natural materials pressed into clay frames around the village wells has been practiced in Tissington on Ascension Day each year for over four hundred years, attracting visitors throughout the dressing season from late spring through summer. The origin of the well-dressings is traditionally attributed to gratitude for the village's clean water supply during the Black Death of 1348 to 1349. Whether this specific origin is accurate or not, the dressings represent a continuation of a very old tradition of venerating water sources that may have pre-Christian roots in the veneration of sacred wells found throughout the British Isles. The village itself is a handsome example of an estate village, its buildings arranged around the green in a composition reflecting the care of the FitzHerbert family who have owned Tissington Hall since the sixteenth century. The Tissington Trail, following the disused railway line through the White Peak limestone country, begins in the village and provides excellent cycling and walking in the surrounding national park landscape.

Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, pronounced Beaver locally, is one of the grandest and most strikingly romantic country houses in England, a Gothic Revival castle of the early nineteenth century crowning a ridge above the Vale of Belvoir in the East Midlands and serving as the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Rutland, whose family has occupied this site continuously since the eleventh century. The present building, completed in the 1830s, replaces several predecessors on the same ridge, the earlier buildings having been demolished, burned or allowed to decay over the centuries, but the continuity of aristocratic occupation gives the site a depth of family history unusual even among England's great country houses. The castle was designed principally by James Wyatt and later Matthew Wyatt in an elaborate Gothic Revival style that captures the romantic imagination of what a medieval castle should look like rather than reproducing the defensive practicality of genuine medieval military architecture. Towers, turrets, battlements and pinnacles create a picturesque composition on the skyline that is visible for considerable distances across the flat Vale of Belvoir below, and the effect in certain lights, particularly at dusk or in winter, approaches the theatrical quality of a stage set for a Gothic novel. The interior of the castle contains one of the finest private collections of furniture, paintings and works of art in England. The paintings include works by Poussin, Holbein, Reynolds and Gainsborough among others, displayed in a series of state rooms of considerable splendour. The Elizabethan Room, the Regent's Gallery, the Ballroom and the King's Bedroom are among the most impressive spaces, and the overall quality of the interior reflects the resources and collecting ambitions of a family that has been among the wealthiest in England for several centuries. The grounds of the castle include formal gardens, parkland and the estate village of Knipton, and a programme of events throughout the year including jousting tournaments and outdoor theatre adds to the visitor offer.

Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire is one of the most unusual and visually striking medieval castles in England: a great tower built entirely in brick at a time when stone was the conventional material for prestigious construction, its deep red colour and soaring height making it visible for miles across the flat Lincolnshire Fens and providing an instantly distinctive landmark in a county of remarkable flatness. Built by Ralph Lord Cromwell, Treasurer of England to King Henry VI, between 1430 and 1450, the castle represents both an architectural experiment and a very deliberate statement of personal wealth and political status. The choice of brick for a building of this ambition was innovative for England in the mid-fifteenth century, though brick had been established as a prestigious building material in the Netherlands and North Germany for generations and had been used in a few earlier English buildings. Cromwell had access to wealth, political connections and presumably knowledge of continental building practice that allowed him to deploy brick on this scale and with this sophistication. The quality of the brickwork is exceptional: the walls are up to three metres thick at the base and the construction has survived remarkably well despite the castle's eventful later history. The interior of the tower, which rises to six storeys and originally had a seventh, preserves exceptional examples of late Gothic decorative stonework in the four great hall fireplaces that dominate successive floor levels. Each fireplace is set within an elaborate stone surround carved with the arms and heraldic devices of the Cromwell family, providing both functional heating for the rooms and permanent heraldic self-advertisement. The quality of this carving, in considerable contrast to the utilitarian brick of the walls, demonstrates the mixed materials approach typical of ambitious late medieval building. The castle was rescued from potential destruction in the early twentieth century by Lord Curzon, former Viceroy of India, who purchased it and had the tower restored. He also tracked down and repurchased the carved stone fireplaces that had been purchased and were about to be shipped to America by a dealer who recognised their value. The castle is now managed by the National Trust and the adjacent collegiate church adds further medieval interest to the site.

Hathersage in the Hope Valley on the edge of the Dark Peak is one of the most scenically and historically interesting villages in the Peak District, a settlement beneath the great gritstone escarpment of Stanage Edge whose combination of the magnificent walking immediately accessible on the surrounding gritstone moorland and edges, the Charlotte Brontë associations from her visits to the village in 1845 that contributed to the Jane Eyre character of Morton, and the grave of Little John, the legendary companion of Robin Hood, in the churchyard creates a destination of unusual literary and legendary depth. The walking from Hathersage is among the finest available from any Peak District village, Stanage Edge immediately above the village providing over a thousand rock climbing routes on the gritstone and the ridge walk along the edge providing views across the Hope Valley and Sheffield to the east and the Dark Peak moorland to the west. The Burbage and Millstone edges visible from the village provide further superb gritstone walking in a landscape that has attracted climbers and walkers from Sheffield since the late Victorian period. The Charlotte Brontë connection, established during her visit to her school friend Ellen Nussey in Hathersage in July 1845, placed the village in the landscape imagination of one of the greatest Victorian novelists. The house where she stayed, Moorseats, the local family names including Eyre that appear in her novel, and the name Morton for the village version of Hathersage all appear as direct borrowings in Jane Eyre, published in 1847.

Ladybower Reservoir in the Upper Derwent Valley of the Peak District is the largest of the three great Derwent Valley reservoirs and one of the most dramatically situated bodies of water in the Peak District, a Y-shaped reservoir beneath the dark gritstone moorland of the eastern Peak whose combination of the dam architecture, the reservoir landscape and the extraordinary history of the submerged villages of Derwent and Ashopton drowned when the reservoir was filled in 1945 creates one of the most historically and scenically interesting reservoir destinations in England. The Dambusters connection is Ladybower's most celebrated historical association. The Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb was tested on the reservoir in 1943 and the bombing crews of 617 Squadron practised their low-level dam-busting approach over the Derwent Valley reservoirs. The annual Dambusters Memorial flypast by Lancaster bombers over the Derwent dam commemorates this connection each year and draws large crowds of aviation enthusiasts. The drowned villages of Derwent and Ashopton create the most poignant dimension of the reservoir story, the communities evacuated when the reservoir was filled and the church steeple of Derwent visible above the waterline in drought years when the water level drops sufficiently. The reservoir shoreline walking and cycling provide excellent access to the surrounding Dark Peak moorland.

Laxton in Nottinghamshire is the only village in England to maintain the medieval open field system of communal agriculture, a system of farming in large unenclosed strips that was the standard agricultural arrangement of medieval England before the enclosure movement of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries converted the great majority of agricultural land to the enclosed fields recognisable in the modern English countryside. The continuation of the open field system at Laxton under the management of the Crown Estate provides the only living example of this ancient agricultural tradition in England. The three open fields of Laxton, West Field, South Field and Mill Field, are still farmed in strips by the tenant farmers of the village in a system managed by the Court Leet, the medieval manorial court that continues to meet annually to adjudicate disputes and allocate strips in a continuation of a tradition that has operated on this site for at least 800 years. The Court Leet is the oldest surviving court of its kind in England and its annual meeting provides a direct connection to the medieval agricultural and legal traditions of the English countryside. The visitor centre in the village provides an excellent account of the open field system and the history of Laxton's remarkable survival, and the walking on the field paths provides direct access to the strips and the field boundaries that demonstrate the system in its working form.

Stanage Edge in the Peak District is the most famous gritstone climbing crag in Britain, a continuous escarpment of millstone grit approximately four miles long above the Derwent Valley near Hathersage whose south-facing cliff faces provide over one thousand rock climbing routes. The edge is not only the principal centre of Peak District climbing but one of the most important venues in British rock climbing history, the location where many pioneering climbs that established British climbing culture were first achieved. The gritstone of Stanage has a distinctive friction quality that has shaped the technique of generations of British climbers, the rough granular surface requiring a different approach from limestone crags. The walking along the top of the edge provides one of the finest moorland ridge walks in the Peak District, with views westward across the Sheffield valley and eastward over the White Peak providing a panorama of the entire national park character. The Long Causeway, an ancient packhorse route crossing the edge at its highest point, provides the historic connection between the Dark Peak and White Peak. The combination of the climbing heritage, the ridge walking and the views make Stanage one of the most visited single destinations in the Peak District.

Situated in the middle of England, Kenilworth Castle is 8 miles north of Stratford on Avon. The red sandstone ruins are surrounded by a curtain wall. The castle has recently undergone a restoration project which includes the Elizabethan gardens, stables and the gatehouse, with the rest of the site including the three storey Norman tower being left unrestored. Facilities Open daily throughout the year between 10am and 5pm, and until 4pm November to March, visitors can stroll around the castle's ruins and to now also visit the newly restored 'Leicester's Gatehouse'. One of the gatehouse's exhibitions brings to life the love story between the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I. It has major items on loan from private collectors and museums which include a copy of the letter that the Earl of Leicester sent to the Queen; a letter she kept by her bedside until her death. The gatehouse also has another exhibition, authentic room displays, an audio tour detailing the history of the castle and its occupants as well as a shop, visitor centre and tea room. As well as the audio tour the castle also offers two other tours the first entitled 'From Fortress to Palace' is a description of the castle's history and development; two weeks advance booking is required. The second tour is a tour of the gardens. A member of the gardening team takes visitors through the inspiration behind the garden design by the Earl, the tour also tells the tale of the love story between the Earl and his Queen. The first building on the site was a Saxon fortification, around 1125 Geoffrey de Clinton was responsible for building a square stone tower on the site. King Henry II took possession of the castle and during his reign it was extensively enlarged, strengthened and transformed into a great palace. In the 1560's the castle was again improved and modernized by Robert, Earl of Leicester, he added a gatehouse on the northern boundary wall and a suite of luxurious Tudor apartments; known as Leicester's Building, and formal gardens. Leicester and Queen Elizabeth I were close friends and she was entertained at the castle on many occasions including one occasion in 1575 where she stayed for nearly three weeks during which time she was entertained with music, dancing, feasts and pageants, it was the most lavish extravaganza that England had ever seen. After Leicester's death the castle once again came into the hands of the monarchy and throughout the Civil War was taken by both the parliamentarians and the royalists. After the end of the English Civil War in 1649, Oliver Cromwell's parliamentarian partially demolished the castle, with one wall of the keep being blown up and the battlements destroyed. During the 1650's the gatehouse was converted to living accommodation and the lake drained and in 1984 the castle and grounds were handed over to English Heritage. The Arts The festivities held for Queen Elizabeth were said to have been the inspiration for William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer nights Dream'.

Edale in the Hope Valley of the Peak District is the southern terminus of the Pennine Way, Britain's first and most celebrated long-distance walking route, a small valley village beneath the great escarpment of Kinder Scout that provides the starting point for the 430-kilometre walk to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders. The combination of the Pennine Way tradition, the excellent walking available from the village on the Kinder Scout plateau and the dramatic Dark Peak landscape that begins immediately above the valley makes Edale one of the most historically significant and most visited walking destinations in Britain. The Kinder Scout plateau above Edale was the scene of the Mass Trespass of 1932, when a group of Manchester ramblers deliberately trespassed on the private moorland in defiance of the landowners who excluded public access to the high moors. The subsequent prosecution of the trespassers created national publicity and contributed to the long campaign for access to open country that eventually resulted in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000. The event is commemorated each year and has been recognised as one of the most significant acts of civil disobedience in the history of outdoor recreation in Britain. The village of Edale provides the visitor services, cafes and the Moorland Visitor Centre of the national park that serve both Pennine Way walkers beginning their journey and day visitors using the Hope Valley railway line to access the Peak District walking without a car.