Blue Lagoon

The water is an almost unnatural shade of turquoise, the kind of blue you'd expect somewhere in the Caribbean, not a quarry lake near Much Wenlock in Shropshire. That's the first shock when you arrive at Blue Lagoon - the colour is genuinely striking, caused by the mineral content and limestone deposits left over from its days as an active quarry.

It's a swimming spot first and foremost, though you'll want to check conditions before diving in - the water stays cold year-round and there are no lifeguards on duty. On warm summer weekends it gets busy with locals who know what they're doing, paddleboarders, and the occasional family keen to cool off. The surrounding area is modest rather than dramatic: grass banks, a car park, basic facilities. It's not Windermere, and it doesn't pretend to be.

Walkers and photographers tend to get more from it than families with young children - the appeal is the colour and the novelty rather than on-site entertainment. Allow an hour if you're just stopping by for photos, longer obviously if you're swimming. Early mornings or weekday visits are far less hectic.

If you're staying at Lower Hill Campsite just three and a half miles away, it makes a decent afternoon detour alongside exploring Much Wenlock itself. Worth the short drive, but don't plan your whole day around it. The real charm is that it exists at all - a proper unexpected bit of something different in the English Midlands.