East Midlands Airport - Viewpoint 3

The roar of jet engines overhead is your first clue you've found the right spot. Viewpoint 3 at East Midlands Airport sits far enough back to give you an unobstructed view of the runway without feeling you're about to be flattened by a landing 747. It's genuinely thrilling if you're into aviation - planes touch down and take off with real drama, especially during busy afternoon slots.

Kids absolutely lose their minds here. There's something hypnotic about watching a massive aircraft line up, throttle back, and slam onto the tarmac. Plane spotters will camp out for hours with notebooks and cameras, which tells you everything. Adults who aren't particularly interested in aviation? Fair warning - once the initial novelty of "look at that massive thing" wears off, there's not much else to do. It's a viewing spot, pure and simple.

Free to visit, and you can rock up whenever. Best visits are weekday afternoons when there's genuine air traffic rather than weekend lulls. Allow 30 minutes to an hour depending on your enthusiasm level. In winter it's bleak and windswept; summer's warmer but busier with families.

If you're based at Field of Dreams Glamping or Hill Farm Camping just a few miles south near Derby, this makes a decent half-hour detour on a rainy afternoon. Not worth a special trip in isolation, but brilliant as part of a wider East Midlands break where the kids need entertaining.