The Old Prison

Victorian prisons aren't typically on the holiday checklist, but Gloucestershire's Old Prison in Cheltenham is one of those places that actually justifies the detour. The building itself is genuinely unsettling - all austere stone and narrow corridors that feel exactly as oppressive as they were meant to. You wander through the cells, read the stories of actual inmates, and get a proper sense of what Victorian justice looked like when it was at its most brutal.

It's the kind of museum that works brilliantly for teenagers with even a passing interest in social history or crime. Adults find it absorbing too, though the exhibits can feel a bit dated in places. Kids under ten might get bored within the hour - there's not much interactive stuff to hold their attention, and the atmosphere, while fascinating, is decidedly grim.

The whole thing typically takes ninety minutes to two hours if you're reading properly. Admission details aren't widely publicised online, so ring ahead before you go. Cheltenham itself is just minutes away, so you can easily combine this with the usual Cotswolds circuit. If you're camping at Bourton-on-the-Water Caravan and Motorhome Club - just four miles out - or glamping at Cotswolds Meadow, the prison works as a rainy-day option or a break from the honey-coloured villages. It's not scenic, but it's genuinely thought-provoking.