Malton

A Friday afternoon market fills the cobbled streets with Yorkshire voices haggling over farmhouse cheese and locally-shot game. Malton has earned itself a proper reputation as Yorkshire's food town, and it shows - artisan bakeries and independent delis line the Georgian streets where Roman legions once marched.

The town sits bang in the middle of the Yorkshire Wolds, surrounded by rolling chalk hills dotted with ancient woodlands like Crow Wood and Langdale Wood. It's farming country through and through, which explains why the Saturday market draws folk from villages across North Yorkshire. The Eleanor Cross marks the town's medieval importance, while the Waggoner Memorial tells a more recent story of local lads who served in the Great War.

Sledmere House dominates the landscape just east of town - one of Yorkshire's grandest Georgian piles, complete with formal gardens and a cracking collection of Turkish art. The Museum of the Wagoners' Special Reserve sits nearby, telling the tale of the Yorkshire farmers' regiment that fought at Gallipoli. Less grand but equally atmospheric, Stack Garth Plan and Wold Plantation offer proper countryside walks through beech and oak.

York's only 17 miles southwest via the A64, making this an easy escape from the tourist crowds. The train from York takes 20 minutes when it's running, though the car gives you freedom to explore the Wolds properly.

Staying at one of the nearby parks puts you right in the heart of walking country, with footpaths threading through Haver Dale and Claypits Wood. You're close enough to nip into Malton for the weekly market or a decent pub lunch, but far enough out to hear nothing but sheep and skylarks.