Man with Cup

There's a gallery in Colchester called Man with Cup, and it's one of those places that sounds slightly odd until you actually turn up and realise what's going on. It's a proper contemporary art space - the sort of venue that takes itself seriously without being precious about it. The work tends toward the conceptual and installation-based, which means you're not just standing in front of paintings for two hours.

It's best suited to anyone with even a passing interest in modern art, though it won't bore you if you're just after something to do between browsing Colchester's high street and grabbing lunch. Figure on ninety minutes maximum - you can move through it quicker if installations don't grab you, or spend longer if they do. The scale is intimate rather than overwhelming, which is refreshing when you've just come from a sprawling museum.

Colchester itself has enough going on - the castle, the Roman layers - that you can build a proper day around it. If you're staying at one of the nearby caravan parks like Ardleigh or Rushbanks Farm, the gallery makes a sensible wet-weather option or an hour's culture before heading back to base. Colchester Country Park is only a mile and a half away if you need some green space to balance the art out.

Just check ahead for opening hours and what's on - independent galleries don't always keep regular weekday slots, and the shows rotate.