The Shepherds Hut at Beechcroft

Use Beechcroft as your base for explorations of Worcestershire; if you fancy some serious hikes, first stop may well be the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (25 minutes’ drive) to follow sections of Teme Valley Trail, or plod on up to Worcestershire Beacon for views into Wales. Check out a typical Cotswolds AONB village on a stroll past soft-stone cottages edging the River Windrush in pretty Bourton-on-the-Water (55 minutes), or see the area in miniature scale at The Model Village. Feeling flush? There are antiques emporiums and art galleries galore among the old-world pubs of Stow-on-the-Wold (50 minutes). You can try and spot Adam Henson (yes, him off the TV) among the rare-breed sheep and Shire horses at the Cotswold Farm Park (45 minutes), but if you’d prefer an urban day out, Worcester (15 minutes) calls with the ornate hodgepodge of Romanesque/Norman/Gothic-era architecture in its cathedral and colourful displays of priceless porcelain on display in the Museum of Royal Worcester.