Newarke Houses Museum

Two Tudor mansions sit on Newarke Street in Leicester's medieval quarter, their timber frames and leaded windows looking rather more authentic than you'd expect for town-centre buildings. These are the Newarke Houses - a museum that pulls back the layers on domestic life across five centuries, from the 1500s right through to the Victorian era.

Inside, you'll find period rooms furnished as they actually were: kitchens with working hearths, bedrooms with proper four-posters, parlours where you can almost hear the gossip. There's genuine stuff here - not the sterile museum experience. The buildings themselves are the draw as much as the collections. You get a real sense of how ordinary people (well, reasonably well-off merchants and their families) actually lived.

It's ideal if you're into social history rather than grand battles and dusty artefacts. Kids under ten might find it a bit slow; teenagers with any interest in how things worked will get more from it. Allow a good hour, maybe ninety minutes if you read the interpretation properly.

The museum sits nicely within Leicester's historic core, so it pairs well with the nearby cathedral and the Richard III visitor centre. If you're based at Green Acres or Cossiwild Camping - both highly rated spots within six miles - you're well positioned for a morning here before heading to Bradgate Park's open woodland and ruins in the afternoon. Free entry, which doesn't hurt, though opening hours and exact details are worth checking ahead.