Things to do in East Midlands
45 places worth stopping for and 5 places to stay on a road trip through East Midlands.
See and do
- Walk
Walk · Castleton
Mam Tor
The 'shivering mountain': a Dark Peak summit with Iron Age ramparts.
- History
History · Baslow
Chatsworth House
The Duke of Devonshire's palatial estate, with gardens, farm shop and parkland.
- Walk
Walk · GrindlefordHidden gem
Padley Gorge
An ancient oak-wooded gorge with a rushing brook and swimming spots.
- Lake
Lake · Hope Valley
Ladybower Reservoir
A reservoir with a drowned village and a famous dam.
Walk · Hathersage
Stanage Edge
A long gritstone escarpment with huge views over the Hope Valley.
- Walk
Walk · Over HaddonHidden gem
Lathkill Dale
A clear limestone river valley, quiet and good for wildflowers.
Walk · Edale
Kinder Scout
The Peak's highest plateau, with a waterfall and mass-trespass history.
- Walk
Walk · BuxtonHidden gem
Chee Dale
A limestone gorge with stepping stones across the river.
Walk · Bakewell
Monsal Trail
A flat railway path through tunnels and across viaducts.
Scenic drive · Castleton
Winnats Pass
A steep limestone gorge road with a dramatic funnel of rock.
- Viewpoint
Viewpoint · CurbarHidden gem
Curbar Edge
A long gritstone edge with big views down the Derwent valley, easy from the road.
- History
History · Ticknall
Calke Abbey
A National Trust mansion deliberately left in a state of decline, with a huge parkland.
- History
History · Doe Lea
Hardwick Hall
Bess of Hardwick's Elizabethan prodigy house, famous for walls that are mostly windows.
- Cave
Cave · CreswellHidden gem
Creswell Crags
A limestone gorge with caves holding the northernmost Ice Age cave art in Europe.
- Walk
Walk · Newtown Linford
Bradgate Park
A 850-acre deer park in Charnwood Forest with the ruins of Lady Jane Grey's family home.
- Viewpoint
Viewpoint · BamfordHidden gem
Bamford Edge
A gritstone overhang above Bamford with an unusually good view of the whole Hope Valley.
- Cave
Cave · Castleton
Speedwell Cavern
Go down a long staircase and ride a boat through a flooded lead mine tunnel to a huge cavern.
- Walk
Walk · Snake PassHidden gem
Alport Castles
The biggest landslip in the UK, with a gritstone tower that looks like a castle keep.
Walk · Bamford
Win Hill
A steady climb to a rocky summit with Ladybower, Kinder and the Hope Valley laid out below.
- Viewpoint
Viewpoint · Edale
Hollins Cross
The low saddle on the Great Ridge, an easy way up between Castleton and Edale.
- History
History · Goyt ValleyHidden gem
Errwood Hall
The ruined hall and rhododendron gardens in the Goyt Valley.
- Activity
Activity · Matlock Bath
Heights of Abraham
A cable car up to a hilltop park with caves and a tower.
- History
History · Bakewell
Haddon Hall
A well-preserved medieval manor house with terraced gardens.
- Cave
Cave · Castleton
Treak Cliff Cavern
A show cave with Blue John stone, found nowhere else in the world.
- Cave
Cave · Castleton
Peak Cavern
A huge natural cave mouth under Peveril Castle, nicknamed the Devil's Arse.
- History
History · YoulgreaveHidden gem
Arbor Low
A Neolithic stone circle with fallen stones, on open farmland.
- Cave
Cave · Buxton
Poole's Cavern
A show cave on the edge of Buxton with an easy woodland walk above it.
- History
History · HathersageHidden gem
Carl Wark
A windswept Iron Age hillfort of gritstone, with big moor views.
- Town
Town · Eyam
Eyam
The plague village that locked itself away in 1665.
- History
History · Stanton MoorHidden gem
Nine Ladies
A small Bronze Age stone circle in birch woods on Stanton Moor.
- History
History · Castleton
Peveril Castle
A ruined Norman castle above Castleton with views over Cave Dale and the Hope Valley.
- History
History · Cromford
Cromford Mills
The world's first water-powered cotton mill, now a World Heritage site with shops and cafes.
- Museum
Museum · Crich
National Tramway Museum, Crich
Ride vintage trams through a recreated street and out into the Derbyshire countryside.
- History
History · Kedleston
Kedleston Hall
A Palladian house for the Curzon family, with fine neoclassical state rooms.
- History
History · Bolsover
Bolsover Castle
A fantasy castle built in the 1600s for entertaining, with painted rooms and a riding house.
- History
History · Belvoir
Belvoir Castle
A fairy-tale castle on a hill above the Vale of Belvoir, home of the Dukes of Rutland.
- Walk
Walk · HathersageHidden gem
Higger Tor
A rocky tor above Burbage Valley, a short scramble from the road with Carl Wark next door.
- Walk
Walk · Grindleford
Longshaw Estate
National Trust moor, wood and farmland with miles of paths, and Padley Gorge on the doorstep.
- History
History · SouthwellHidden gem
Southwell Minster
A Norman cathedral in a small market town, famous for its carved stone leaves.
- Cave
Cave · Castleton
Blue John Cavern
A show cave where you can see the banded Blue John fluorspar found nowhere else in the world.
Walk · Edwinstowe
Sherwood Forest and the Major Oak
An ancient oak in the forest linked with Robin Hood legends, reached by an easy path.
Town · StamfordHidden gem
Stamford
A Georgian stone town used as a film set, with independent shops and riverside walks.
Lake · Oakham
Rutland Water
A big reservoir with an osprey reserve, cycle path and a church on a peninsula.
- Viewpoint
Viewpoint · Woodhouse EavesHidden gem
Beacon Hill Country Park
A rocky hilltop in Charnwood Forest with wide views over the Leicestershire countryside.
- History
History · SheldonHidden gem
Magpie Mine
A ruined lead mine on the White Peak plateau, with engine house and chimney still standing.
Food stops
Pub · WardlowHidden gem
Three Stags Heads, Wardlow Mires
A 300-year-old Derbyshire longhouse pub with a nationally important unspoilt interior.
- Bakery
Bakery · Melton Mowbray
Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, Melton Mowbray
The original Melton Mowbray pork pie shop, a bakery since 1851.
- Bakery
Bakery · Bakewell
Original Bakewell Pudding Shop
The shop that claims the original Bakewell pudding recipe, with a cafe upstairs.
Farm shop · Pilsley
Chatsworth Farm Shop
A large farm shop with local meat, cheese and bakery.
Café · EdaleHidden gem
Penny Pot Cafe
A friendly walkers' cafe right at Edale station.
Places to stay
- Campground
Campground · Edale
Fieldhead Campsite
Walkers' camping at the start of the Pennine Way.
Campground · Edale
Upper Booth Farm Campsite
A National Trust farm campsite on the Pennine Way, a two-mile walk from Edale.
Lodge · Edale
Edale YHA Rowland Cote
A hillside hostel at the start of the Pennine Way.
Campground · Edwinstowe
Sherwood Pines Campsite
Forestry England camping next to Sherwood Pines, with pods, serviced pitches and dogs free.
- Campground
Campground · Duddington
Fineshade Wood Campsite
Forestry England campsite in Rockingham Forest with dog wash and bike hire, from £18 a night.
Plan the drive, not just the stops
Roadtrip works out what the drive costs in fuel for your car, splits it into days with the best stops and places to sleep, and finds the cheapest fuel on the way.
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