Lewis Carroll

Charles Dodgson - Lewis Carroll to the world - spent formative years in Wallingford, and the connections run deep through the town's streets and buildings. This isn't a museum with turnstiles and gift shops; it's more a literary pilgrimage through the places that shaped the man who invented Alice. The rectory where his father served, the river walks that inspired the boating scenes in Alice's Adventures - these are the real draws. You'll find yourself retracing the steps of a Victorian mathematician who scribbled stories to amuse the dean's daughter, glimpsing the Oxfordshire landscape that fed his imagination.

For literature enthusiasts and Carroll devotees, it's genuinely compelling - not tourist-trap stuff. Families with kids old enough to have read or watched Alice will find the locations mean something. Younger children, frankly, will get bored fairly quickly unless they're seriously engaged with the books already. The town itself is manageable on foot, though you'll want an hour or two to really soak in the atmosphere and locate the key sites. There's no formal visitor centre that we can establish from available information, so come prepared with a decent guide or map.

Stay at Rolling Fields Glamping just 1.4 miles away - brilliant for a comfortable base - or opt for Ridgeway View Campsite at 4.6 miles if you prefer something more low-key. Either gives you access to Wallingford's wider charms: the castle ruins, the riverside, decent independent shops. Carroll's story is quietly told here, which rather suits him.