New Castle

The ruins of New Castle sit on a rise above the Herefordshire landscape, and they're properly atmospheric if you don't mind the fact that there's not much left standing. What you get is a medieval stronghold reduced to its foundations and a handful of stone walls, the sort of place where you can trace the layout of rooms that have been empty for centuries.

It's a decent spot for walkers and history buffs rather than families after a day's entertainment. You can wander round in twenty minutes, work out where the keep would have been, maybe photograph the views across the countryside. The scale of it hits you though - this was a proper fortress once, defending a crossing point that mattered.

There's no visitor infrastructure that I'm aware of, and no entrance fee, which means you turn up as and when. Summer afternoons work best; the castle gets proper muddy after rain. It's the sort of place you'd visit as part of a walking route rather than as a destination in itself.

If you're based at one of the nearby campsites - Trippenkennett Farm or Burhope Farm, both highly rated - New Castle makes an easy morning ramble. It's close enough to explore without a major detour, and it won't eat into time you'd rather spend at the parks themselves. Don't expect grandeur, but do expect to actually feel like you're standing in history rather than just looking at a postcard version of it.