Field of horses

The Field of Horses sprawls across open Nottinghamshire countryside, and it's exactly what the name suggests - a striking public artwork featuring life-size horse sculptures dotted across grassland near Nottingham. It's the sort of thing you either love immediately or walk past thinking it's a bit odd, but most people find themselves stopping to take photos and let the sheer scale of it sink in.

You're basically free to wander around at your own pace, poking between the metal figures and getting different angles depending on where you stand. The whole experience takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on how much you fancy exploring and how many Instagram shots you want. Kids tend to find it engaging enough - it's tactile and you can move around it however you like, which beats standing in front of a plaque reading historical facts.

There's no entrance fee and no fixed opening hours, which means you can turn up whenever suits you. Early morning or late afternoon light works best for photos, to be honest. It's worth combining with a stay at either Peacock Lake Glamping or Gunthorpe Camping, both within six miles. From there you can easily reach Nottingham town centre for proper attractions, but this gives you something genuinely different to do - the kind of quirky local thing that makes a holiday memorable rather than forgettable.