Georgian Theatre Royal

The Georgian Theatre Royal sits on Victoria Road in Richmond, and it's genuinely one of those places that stops you mid-stride. Walking in feels like stepping backwards - the auditorium is exactly as it was in 1788, all balconies and boxes arranged in a horseshoe, the stage lit by what looks like candles but thankfully isn't. You get the full tour: dressing rooms where actors actually still get ready, the pit where the orchestra played, even the old machinery that moved the scenery. It's theatrical archaeology, basically.

This matters most to anyone with a soft spot for theatre history or Georgian life. Kids aged ten upwards will find it genuinely interesting rather than a duty visit - there's something magnetic about standing where real people performed for real audiences over two centuries ago. Families staying at Hewn Yorkshire, just six miles away, could easily combine it with a Richmond afternoon.

Allow a good hour for the tour. Check opening hours and admission prices before you head over - they do operate seasonally and visitor numbers are managed carefully to protect the building. The theatre still hosts performances, which is brilliant, though you'll need to book separately for those.

Richmond itself is worth lingering in. The market square is proper handsome, and the ruins of Richmond Castle are a bracing walk up the bank. The theatre doesn't feel like a museum piece that's been pickled - it's a working theatre that happens to be impossibly old. That's the charm.