Right on our doorstep you'll find sleepy stone villages and picturesque market towns. If you're feeling energetic, why not leave the car behind and hop on two wheels instead.
Stop off at Helpston, the birthplace of the 'country poet' John Clare, where many of the buildings are of local Ketton limestone, and roofed with Collyweston slate or thatch. At the central cross-roads is the heart of the village where you can see St. Botolph's Church, with its homely, stumpy spire, an ancient Buttercross and a memorial to John Clare.
You may like to call in at the Abbey towns of Thorney and Crowland too. Pop into the Thorney Heritage Centre for a look around and then on to Crowland's unique 14th centry bridge that once spanned two waterways.
Many of our villages have streets of historic buildings for you to potter around.
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Several also have museums such as those at Oundle, one of the oldest towns in England. For something that's really different, visit Whittlesey in January to catch their Straw Bear Festival. This is now the only place in Britain that still celebrates this old agricultural custom where you can see the Bear (a man in a straw costume) processing through the town and stopping off at pubs along the way, accompanied by his 'keeper' and followed by more than 200 dancers and musicians in colourful costumes!
As for our market towns, anyone who loves Georgian architecture should head to Stamford or Wisbech.
Both have been used for TV dramas including Middlemarch and David Copperfield and have majestic streets of listed buildings, riverside parkland, and a selection of independent shops and restaurants. Make sure you visit Peckover House at Wisbech, owned by the National Trust, and the famous Elgood's Brewery which has stood alsmost unchanged for more than 200 years and which still produces fine traditional ales for you to stop and try.