Tewkesbury

Two major rivers converge here - the Severn and the Avon - creating a proper medieval market town that's barely changed its bones since Norman times. Tewkesbury wears its age well, with timber-framed buildings leaning companionably against each other along narrow streets that follow routes laid down centuries ago.

Tewkesbury Abbey dominates everything, and rightly so. This massive Norman church survived the Dissolution because locals clubbed together to buy it for £453 - probably the best bargain in English history. The tower's worth the climb for views across the Gloucestershire countryside, while inside you'll find some of the finest medieval stonework in the country.

Wander down Church Street and you're walking through a living museum. Half-timbered houses crowd together, many now housing independent shops and cafes that give the town a pleasantly unhurried feel. The High Street runs perpendicular, lined with more Georgian and Tudor buildings that somehow escaped the worst of modern development.

Just outside town, the landscape opens up into proper Cotswold countryside. Bredon Hill rises to the southeast - an outlying limestone escarpment that offers cracking walks and views back towards the Malverns. The National Trust's Bredon Barn sits at its foot, a magnificent 14th-century tithe barn that's one of the largest in England.

Getting here's straightforward enough. Junction 9 of the M5 puts you five minutes from the town centre, while Cheltenham's fifteen miles east if you need a proper shopping fix. The surrounding area's laced with footpaths and quiet lanes - ideal cycling country if you fancy exploring further afield.

Staying at one of the nearby parks makes perfect sense. You're close enough to walk into town for dinner, but far enough out to enjoy the peaceful Gloucestershire countryside that stretches in all directions.