Stourport-on-Severn

The Severn cuts a lazy path through this Georgian market town, its waterways defining everything from the morning mist to the evening pub chatter. Stourport-on-Severn grew from a single Georgian vision - a new inland port where the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal meets the river - and that heritage still shapes every brick-lined basin and wrought-iron bridge.

Wander the canal basins on a Wednesday morning and you'll have them largely to yourself. The town feels properly lived-in rather than polished for tourists, which is exactly its appeal. Hartlebury Castle sits just a few miles north, housing the Worcestershire County Museum in rooms where bishops once held court. It's a bit of a trek but well worth it for the ceramics collection alone.

Chaddesley Woods National Nature Reserve sprawls across ancient woodland to the east - proper walking country where you can lose an afternoon among the oak and birch. Closer to town, the medieval village site at Elmley Lovett offers little more than earthworks, but history buffs will find it fascinating.

The surrounding Worcestershire countryside rolls gently between the Severn Vale and the distant Malverns. Whitlenge Gardens provides a lovely spot for cream tea, while the various fisheries like Moorlands Farm draw serious anglers year-round. St. Michael and All Angels Church anchors the town centre with its Victorian spire.

Stourport sits on the main Worcester to Kidderminster railway line, making it dead easy to reach from Birmingham or the Cotswolds. A caravan park along the canal puts you right in the heart of the waterways network - perfect for exploring both the town's Georgian architecture and the wider Severn Valley by foot or boat.