Great Sampford B&B

Staying at Great Sampford B&B puts you within easy reach of a couple of delightful towns. First of all, the hallowed university colleges and chapels, art galleries and indie shops of Cambridge (40 minutes’ drive) beckon, while medieval Saffron Walden (20 minutes) has a castle, museums and a mix of architectural styles from Tudor to Georgian. Fans of military history will probably want to spend time in hangars full of vintage planes and army vehicles at IWM Duxford (35 minutes), which started life as a base for Spitfire and Hurricane pilots in World War II. Train fanatics can get their fix while pottering around the Victorian station amid restored trains at East Anglian Railway Museum (45 minutes). If you love nothing better than touring other people’s grand houses, a clutch of stately mansions to poke around include Audley End House and Gardens (25 minutes), Hedingham Castle with its medieval watchtower and water gardens, and the recreated Norman village at Mountfitchet Castle (both half an hour).