Sherwood Farm

If you’re keen to discover the Cambridgeshire fens on foot or by bike, there are bags of quiet routes to follow through the open landscapes. The National Trust-owned Wicken Fen Nature Reserve (15 minutes’ drive) is a great starting point for visitors, with boat cruises along waterways surrounded by reed beds, bird hides for spotting wildfowl and a traditional fenland cottage decked out in 1930s style. With an all-year programme of events, Newmarket (20 minutes) is the UK home of horse racing, while the historic city of Ely (15 minutes) beckons with its impressive cathedral, history museums and boat trips along the River Great Ouse. There’s more culture to soak up at the ruined Benedictine abbey in Bury St Edmunds (35 minutes), and of course, the university city of Cambridge (50 minutes) has ornate colleges like Kings and Trinity to explore, as well as the famed Fitzwilliam Museum and enticing modern art at Kettle’s Yard gallery. If you’re travelling with kids, they can get up close to goats, alpacas and cuddly donkeys on tractor rides round South Angle Farm Park; another family-friendly option is Ben’s Yard (both 10 minutes); park your offspring in the adventure playground while you browse for locally made honey and chocolates in the artisan shops.