Leicester Golf Centre

The driving range at Leicester Golf Centre is where you go if you want to hit balls without the formality of a full round. It's straightforward stuff - buckets of balls, floodlit bays if you're there after dark, and enough space to actually swing without worrying you'll decapitate someone two bays over. The practice greens are decent, though honestly the real draw here is just turning up with mates and having a laugh while working on your handicap.

Golfers will obviously get the most from this - it's their sort of place. But if you're teaching kids the basics or you just fancy loosening up before tackling a proper course nearby, it does the job. You can spend twenty minutes or two hours depending on how many buckets you burn through. There's something quite meditative about it, even if you're rubbish.

Based near Leicester itself, it works well as a pit stop during a caravan holiday if you're staying at Green Acres or Fox's Furrow. Neither is more than a few miles away, so you could easily swing by for an hour without it eating into your day. Check their website for rates and whether you need to book a bay - these places vary on whether you can just rock up or if you're queuing about.

Won't set the world alight as a holiday highlight, but if golf's your thing, it's a solid warm-up.