Langport

Floods used to devastate this Somerset market town every winter until the rivers were properly tamed. Now Langport sits peacefully above the drained Somerset Levels, a proper working town that hasn't been tarted up for tourists - which is exactly its appeal.

The River Parrett winds lazily past Bridge House, where local legend claims King Alfred once sheltered. More certain is The George Inn's role as a coaching stop - the building still dominates the narrow high street with its Georgian confidence. St Mary the Virgin watches over it all from higher ground, its tower visible for miles across the flat countryside.

What makes this area special is the contrast. Five minutes from town you're deep in ancient woodland at Ash Wood, or exploring the remains of Roman luxury at Low Ham Roman Villa. The mosaics there are extraordinary - proper Roman craftsmanship depicting scenes from Virgil's Aeneid. Pitney Roman villa offers another glimpse into how the other half lived 1,600 years ago.

Barrington Court lies just southeast, a Tudor mansion that's worth the short drive for its formal gardens and National Trust tearoom. The surrounding plantations - Four Acre, Eight Acre, Long Sutton - break up the levels with welcome patches of green.

Langport's best reached via the A372 from Bridgwater or Taunton. The train service is patchy at best. Staying at one of the nearby parks makes perfect sense - you're bang in the middle of Somerset's most fascinating landscape, where Roman roads cross ancient drove ways and the levels stretch endlessly under enormous skies. It's flat cycling country too, with barely a hill in sight until you reach Burrow Hill's modest peak.