The Smiler

The Smiler isn't a tourist attraction in the traditional sense - it's a roller coaster, and specifically the world's first with fourteen inversions. Located at Alton Towers just outside Stoke-on-Trent, this thing is properly mental. You'll spend most of your time either queuing or screaming your lungs out in roughly ninety seconds of pure adrenaline.

If you're the type who gets bored by gentle rides, The Smiler is exactly what you came for. It flips you upside down, repeatedly, at speeds that make your stomach genuinely confused about which way is up. The engineering alone is worth respecting - watching it from the queue line, seeing those fourteen loops twist and contort, you start to wonder if the designers were taking the piss.

For families, this is strictly for confident teenagers and adults. Younger kids will have to sit this one out. The queue times can be brutal during school holidays - I'd suggest arriving early or going mid-week if you can.

Staying at one of the nearby parks like Lower Micklin or the Star Camping site puts you within minutes of Alton Towers itself, making it easy to chip away at the park across multiple days rather than trying to cram it all in. The Smiler alone isn't a reason to visit, but as part of a full theme park day, it's the crown jewel - if you've got the nerve for it.