Things to do in West Midlands
33 places worth stopping for and 4 places to stay on a road trip through West Midlands.
See and do
Walk · Ilam
Dovedale
The Peak's best-known dale, with stepping stones and limestone pinnacles.
- Cave
Cave · WettonHidden gem
Thor's Cave
A huge natural cave mouth high above the Manifold Valley.
History · Ironbridge
Ironbridge Gorge
The world's first iron bridge, set in a wooded gorge with a dozen museums.
Walk · SnailbeachHidden gem
The Stiperstones
A craggy quartzite ridge with a tor called the Devil's Chair and long views into Wales.
Walk · Church Stretton
Long Mynd and Carding Mill Valley
A broad heather plateau reached by a steep stream valley, with sheep, ponies and big views.
Town · Ludlow
Ludlow
A foodie market town with a castle, timber-framed pubs and some of the best independent shops in the Marches.
Viewpoint · Malvern
Worcestershire Beacon
The highest point of the Malvern Hills, with views to the Black Mountains.
- Walk
Walk · Leek
The Roaches
A dramatic gritstone ridge with wallabies in the woods.
- Roadside oddity
Roadside oddity · Weston-under-RedcastleHidden gem
Hawkstone Park Follies
An 18th-century pleasure ground of caves, tunnels, towers and cliffs to wander through.
- History
History · Goodrich
Goodrich Castle
A red sandstone Wye Valley castle that Wordsworth called the noblest ruin in the county.
- History
History · Kenilworth
Kenilworth Castle
A huge ruined castle and Elizabethan palace, the site of the longest siege in medieval England.
- Garden
Garden · Alrewas
National Memorial Arboretum
The UK's national site of remembrance, with 150 acres of memorials and young woodland.
- Museum
Museum · Dudley
Black Country Living Museum
An open-air museum of rebuilt industrial buildings, with a tram, a chip shop and a coal mine.
History · KilpeckHidden gem
Kilpeck Church
A tiny 12th-century church covered in strange, original Norman stone carvings.
Viewpoint · Broadway
Broadway Tower
A Georgian folly on the second-highest point of the Cotswolds with views across a dozen counties.
Walk · WellingtonHidden gem
The Wrekin
A solitary 407m hill rising above the Shropshire plain with an Iron Age fort on top.
History · Craven ArmsHidden gem
Stokesay Castle
A fortified manor house with a medieval great hall and a gatehouse, surprisingly intact.
History · Little RollrightHidden gem
Rollright Stones
A Bronze Age stone circle in a field with an odd legend attached and an honesty box at the gate.
Walk · Much WenlockHidden gem
Wenlock Edge
A 15-mile wooded limestone ridge with scenic road and fossil-rich quarries.
- History
History · BromyardHidden gem
Brockhampton Estate
A moated 14th-century manor and a gatehouse, in 1,000 acres of National Trust farmland and woods.
- History
History · Wroxeter
Wroxeter Roman City
The ruins of Britain's fourth-largest Roman city, with a standing wall and a rebuilt house.
- History
History · Atcham
Attingham Park
A Georgian mansion and deer park beside the River Tern, a short drive from Shrewsbury.
- Town
Town · WeobleyHidden gem
Weobley
A black-and-white timber-framed village at the heart of Herefordshire's village trail.
- Scenic drive
Scenic drive · Rugeley
Cannock Chase
Forest and heath with fallow deer, mountain-bike trails, and quiet viewpoints.
- Viewpoint
Viewpoint · Clee HillHidden gem
Titterstone Clee Hill
A 533m summit above Ludlow with huge views and the remains of an Iron Age hill fort.
- History
History · ClunHidden gem
Clun Castle
A ruined border castle above a very quiet little town in the south Shropshire hills.
- History
History · White GritHidden gem
Mitchell's Fold
A Bronze Age stone circle on an empty heath with big views into Wales.
- Brewery
Brewery · Much Marcle
Weston's Cider, Much Marcle
A family cider mill that has been pressing apples in the same place since 1880.
- Activity
Activity · Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth Cliff Railway
A short funicular ride up a steep sandstone cliff between the low and high towns.
- History
History · Hereford
Hereford Cathedral and Mappa Mundi
A Norman cathedral that houses the Hereford Mappa Mundi, the largest medieval map known.
- Walk
Walk · Ilam
Ilam Park
A National Trust park at the head of Dovedale and the Manifold Valley.
- Walk
Walk · ClentHidden gem
Clent Hills
Rounded hills on Birmingham's doorstep with open views and a few legends attached.
- History
History · Eastnor
Eastnor Castle
A Regency mock-castle with Pugin interiors and a deer park at the foot of the Malverns.
Food stops
Places to stay
Campground · CraswallHidden gem
Chapel House Farm Campsite
Wild, isolated campsite under the Black Mountains.
Lodge · HartingtonHidden gem
Hartington Hall YHA
A hostel in a 17th-century hall in the White Peak.
Lodge · Ilam
Ilam Hall YHA
A hostel in a grand old hall at the entrance to Dovedale.
Lodge · CoalportHidden gem
YHA Ironbridge Coalport
A hostel in a restored Victorian china works beside the Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge.
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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