A riverside village, a ridge of hills and a lot of old stone
You can walk out of the gate and be on a footpath through the fields, or be at a cathedral, a castle or a 5,000-year-old burial mound inside half an hour's drive.
Upton-upon-Severn
Less than two miles away, and the reason most people stay here. A small riverside town with pubs, restaurants, fish and chips, Chinese and Indian takeaways, a hardware store, convenience stores and a petrol station.
Its landmark is the Pepperpot — the copper-domed tower of the old church, now a small heritage centre — and the marina sits just along the water. The riverside fills up in summer for the town's jazz, blues and folk weekends.
The quiet lanes around the village are made for bike riding, with views across to the Malverns most of the way.
Eating, drinking and walking nearby
The Yorkshire Grey
The pub next door. Menu and opening times at yorkshiregrey.co.uk.
The Wheelhouse Marina
A mile away at Tingdene Marina, with a big outdoor deck looking over the boats. Food is served all day and there's often live music at weekends. Opening times are on their Facebook page.
Walking trails
Public trails run locally, with one starting inside the site, leading through fields and meadows down to the River Severn and into Upton. There are stiles to climb and some fields have livestock.
Further afield
The Malvern Hills 20 min
A ridge of ancient hills with paths the whole length of the top, looking across the Severn vale one way and into Wales the other. Great Malvern sits on the slope below with its spa-town streets.
Worcester 25 min
A cathedral city on the same river. The cathedral itself, the Civil War streets around it, the racecourse and county cricket down at New Road.
Tewkesbury 15 min
Medieval streets and narrow alleyways where the Severn meets the Avon, with the abbey at the middle of it and boats along the quay.
Things to see locally
Drive times from the site.
Not a real castle at all — a folly designed by Robert Adam in 1766, part castle and part church, built as an eye-catcher for the Croome estate.
A domed hilltop rotunda designed by James Wyatt, put there for the view: the Severn vale one way, the Malverns the other.
The airfield where wartime airborne radar was developed and flown. The museum at Croome tells the story, and entry is included with a visit to Croome.
Capability Brown's first complete landscape, with Robert Adam interiors inside, a river walk outside and a National Trust cafe.
One of the largest parish churches in the country and the tallest Norman crossing tower in the world. The 1471 battlefield is a short walk away.
The largest collection of Worcester porcelain anywhere, on the site of the factory that started making it in 1751.
A rare Saxon chapel of 1056 that spent centuries hidden inside a farmhouse before anyone realised what it was. Free entry.
The cottage where Edward Elgar was born in 1857, now cared for by the National Trust, with his manuscripts and belongings in the visitor centre alongside.
Changing exhibitions, local history and the Worcestershire Regiment galleries, in the middle of town. Free entry.
A castellated Georgian house tucked under the Malverns, with a deer park, a lake and an arboretum to walk round.
The largest cruck-framed barn in Britain, raised for Pershore Abbey in the 1300s and still standing on its timbers. Free, open limited days.
Norman church holding the most complete set of Romanesque wall paintings in northern Europe. Free entry.
Ruins of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1246 that grew rich on pilgrims. Cloister arches, orchard and a small museum.
A Neolithic burial mound on Cleeve Hill, around 5,000 years old, with a false entrance to fool robbers. Steep walk up, big view down.