Land of castles and culture
Take country walks straight from the door, head to the Malvern Hills, ride the rapids and climb the rock faces. Visit ancient courts and castles. Taste the beefiest local beef and the freshest fresh veg. There’s culture to burn with poetry in Ledbury and folk in Bromyard. Dine at The Stagg Inn, visit historic houses and shop till you drop at Hereford’s Old Market and local independents in Hay-on-Wye, Ludlow and Presteigne.
Country Kids
Herefordshire has animal magnetism. At the West Midlands Safari Park, four miles of self-drive safari cruise past leopards and lions. Feed the deer, dodge the lemurs, see the sea lions steal the show. For an alternative view of rural Herefordshire, try llama trekking from Old King Street Farm.
Kids can Go Ape at Wyre, steam their way through Evesham Vale on the light railway, take a river cruise through through Symonds Yat gorge, or enjoy high wires and muddy games at the Wyre Forest Discovery Centre.
Make your own maze at the Amazing Hedge Puzzle, voted Herefordshire’s top private attraction. Elsewhere, paint your own pots, take the Worcester Treasure Trail along the banks of the River Severn, and spot kingfishers and cormorants on an Avonbelle river trip.
Sharpen your shooting skills at the Mid Wales Shooting Centre, or practice your drive at Kington golf course, the highest golf course in England. Go kayaking or canoeing along the River Wye, go-karting at Weobley or quad biking at Oaker Wood Leisure for a fun fuelled day out.
Herefordshire takes you back to the childhoods of yesterday. Wind your watch back to 1957, take a deep breath of country air and prepare to show your kids there’s more to being a kid than iPads and Xboxes.
For the grown-ups
If you can climb out of the hot-tub, pry your eyes from the movie screen or get out of the games room for long enough, there’s a world of beauty out there in rural Herefordshire.
Explore England’s most rural county. This is a land abundant in fields, ancient hedgerows and wooded hills. Walk it, climb it, ride, bike or paddle it. However you choose to enjoy this best-kept secret, it will reward you with sleepy villages, Saxon castles and churches, and mediaeval, timber-framed camera-friendliness.
See Hereford Cathedral and Mappa Mundi, England’s answer to the Bayeux Tapestry. Taste the exhibits at the Cider Museum, turn four wheels into two at Stunt Drive UK, back a nag at the racecourse.
Down the road at Kington is The Stagg Inn, the first pub to gain (and retain) a Michelin star. Within a stagger is the Royal George, and Hereford, City of Culture 2021 candidate, is the place for dining and dancing, theatres, galleries and museums.
Hereford offers some great routes for countryside walks, in particular the Brecon Beacons. Try the Cat’s Back, one of the finest ridges along the Black Mountains, Lord Hereford’s Knob or Hergest Ridge. Or Credenhill Park Wood for archaeological ruins, 13 hectares of woodland and majestic views over Wales.
