Melton Mowbray

Two things made this Leicestershire market town famous: pork pies and Stilton cheese. You'll know you've arrived when the aroma from Dickinson & Morris bakery hits you - they've been crafting proper pork pies here since 1851, and their shop on Nottingham Street is still the place locals queue for lunch.

Melton's weekly Tuesday market takes over the town centre, just as it has for eight centuries. The surrounding countryside rolls away in gentle hills, with patches of ancient woodland like Gartree Hill Covert and Bunny's Spinney breaking up the farmland. It's hunting country - the Quorn, Cottesmore, and Belvoir hunts all operate from here.

Saint James Church Burton Lazars sits just outside town, marking the spot where medieval lepers once sought sanctuary. The Site of St. Mary & St. Lazarus Hospital nearby tells a grimmer tale of those forgotten times. More cheerful is a wander through the town's Georgian streets, where independent shops still outnumber chain stores.

Leicester lies 17 miles southwest, but Melton feels worlds away from city bustle. The A607 brings you straight in from the M1, though the prettier route winds through villages from Grantham to the north. Trains run hourly to Leicester, then connect to London or Birmingham.

Staying at one of the nearby parks puts you right in the heart of the Vale of Belvoir. Eye Kettleby Lakes offers fishing and walks barely two miles out, while sites like Frisby Lakes Lodge Park give you a proper countryside base. From here, you can explore the rolling farmland that produces some of England's finest cheese, then return each evening to that unmistakable pork pie perfume drifting across town.