Lots to see and do at this 15-acre botanical garden: a koi pond, aviary, butterfly house, bonsai…read morecollection, glasshouses, and many trails winding through various gardens. I was also witnessed a poor wild peacock being chased by children across the Main Lawn. Tickets are low-priced at £7.50 per adult. A 15 to 20 minute bus ride from the main city stops right by the garden. We didn't explore every nook and cranny, but covered the highlights in the hour that we stayed.

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a medium-sized and well-maintained gardens a bit outside the…read morecity center. They have pleasant fields for strolling, a small area with some bird houses for your bird-watching enjoyment, plus some indoor greenhouses with plants from different climates. It's not that large, but you could enjoy an hour or two here. Come when the weather is nice to enjoy some greenery.

Lovely day out with quirky gardens depicting various parts of the world and myths and legends. Lots…read morefor the kids and adults to see including Alice in Wonderland. After wandering about, the cafe was a welcome end to the day underneath the 80 days around the world balloon.

Shugborough is a charming estate with a lively house. We came here often in my childhood, and it…read morehas been well kept the grounds house events such as classic car shows and charming sculpture walks. The courtyard host coffee shops and ice cream, and I live the bridges. The passing bridge is still a favourite for pooh sticks even though I'm a fully grown woman. Nice place, great for a picnic too. PS, its a cracking place to collect conkers!

Shugborough Hall is a National Trust Property located in Stafford. The location and the Christmas…read moremarket event they were holding on the weekend made it the perfect place for the annual Jewellery Quarter residents trip (yes, I am of an age that I go on Coach trips). I have vague memories of maybe visiting this place in the depths of time gone by, although with most National Trust properties - they are much of a muchness. Once you've seen one stately home you kinda get the gist. As you would expect, it's pretty impressive. The driveway must be nearly a mile long to get to the property (and is a little dicey, so be prepared to close your eyes if you're an insecure passenger) and the place is surrounded by rolling green fields. I would imagine in the summer you might see deer (or at least cattle) strolling around as you approach the house. The house itself is pretty magnificent. Some of it's buildings are constructed in what I imagine to be sandstone and the main building is bright white and looks very well kept. There is plenty of parking to be had on site and as well as the house there are gorgeous gardens, a tea room a gift shop and all of the facilities you would expect from a National Trust property. The Christmas event is wonderful. As well as numerous market stalls under cover at the front of the building with lots of craft and local produce, there was live music and food being served all through the day. Once we had gotten in to the market, we grabbed a hot food and a warm drink and began to plan our day. The market had a great selection of gifts to be had! Everything from handmade toys, jewellery, clothing and food was on offer for very reasonable prices. We picked up some great presents (and a little something for me, of course) and had a really nice time chatting to the stall holders who explained how everything was made and where ingredients etc were sourced from. The inside of Shugborough had been specially with a "Christmas by candlelight" theme. Only the downstairs was open (apparently the upstairs is open normally) and all of the rooms were decorated with gorgeous bouquets of flowers, candles and decked out with Christmas trinkets. The staff were also wearing the clothing of the era and were on hand to answer any questions about the house, the history or anything in the rooms. Entrance for an adult to get into both the hall and the market was £8 in advance. I felt this was a fair price to have a look around the house, the gardens and the markets. Obviously a lot of effort goes into making everything look just right for the occasion and it felt very festive. I would recommend a visit to Shugborough during the Christmas event or at any point in the year if you're a fan of stately homes. The gardens must look magnificent in the Summer when everything is in bloom, but even in winter we had a lovely wander around admiring them. I would recommend the hall as a nice afternoon out for the family.

Another way of escaping the city in Leicester. Most of my escape places are also free…read more The Hall (Grade II* listed) is in the midst of two acres of serene walled gardens that are open to the public. The gardens were an important aspect of the Hall in Victorian times (a status symbol that showed the family's wealth). Belgrave Hall provides an oasis of peace and quiet in a busy city. It was built in the early 18th century, in what was then a small village 3 miles from the town of Leicester. Now city traffic passes, almost unnoticed, just beyond the garden walls. In its current role as a museum, the rooms have been designed to appear as they may have been decorated and used in Victorian times, with the contrasting lifestyles of an upper middle class family and domestic servants. This period was when the Ellis family was resident. The beautifully laid out natural room settings create the feeling of having just missed the occupants of the house. Edmund Cradock, a 'nouveau riche' hosiery merchant, built the Hall between 1709 and 1713 and died soon after its completion. Ellis and his wife Priscilla moved to the Hall with eight of their eleven children seven daughters and their youngest son. The family lived there with their servants the cook, housekeeper, parlour maid,aid-of-all-work, coachman and gardener. The Ellis sisters bought the Hall from their brother in 1868, after he inherited it from their father. Upon the death of the last remaining Ellis sister in 1923, the Hall was sold. Little is known of the next owners, the Simons. The Vann's who lived there from 1767 to 1844, ran a thriving hosiery business from the Hall, employing the local framework knitters as outworkers. They gave generously to many local charities, including Leicester's first free school. John Ellis, who purchased Belgrave Hall in 1845 and his family were also noted for their good work in the community. Ellis, a wealthy businessman, was responsible for bringing the railways to Leicester in 1833. In 1936, the estate was sold to Leicester City Council for £10,500 around a third of its actual value. A number of statues and monuments from lost gardens in Leicestershire are now situated within the gardens. The rock and water garden, botanic garden, eco garden and glasshouses compliment the older, formal grounds. Refurbishment work carried out in 2005 included improved access to the gardens. The rooms show how a house of the period worked in great detail. Free admission.

Wenn Ihr in der Gegend seid: das Schloss ist sehenswert,…read morewenn Ihr die Jagd liebt, aber auch, wenn die Schätze der Herrschaften Euer Interesse wecken könnten. Aber der Garten und insbesondere, der angefügte Landschaftspark mit seinem riesigen, alten Baumbestand, wird Euer Staunen erwecken. Solche Bäume sind selten geworden in Europa. Aus dem Touristen-Flyer: Woburn Abbey has been home to the Dukes of Bedford for over 300 years and is still home to the 15th Duke and his family today. When the 6th Duke inherited Woburn, Humphry Repton, the famous landscape gardener, was commissioned to produce designs to improve the gardens and park. Follow the Garden Trail information boards to find out more about the Abbey Gardens and the redevelopment over the past five years to recreated and replant Reptons original features and themed garden areas.

Our family love it here. Something for everyone. Kids love the ice cream, and we like wandering…read morearound the garden centre. Good place to kill a few hours on a wet afternoon.

Great place to go for lunch - pleasant walk around the lake to the cafe. Prefect spot outside on a…read moresunny day! Take my Nan here most Tuesday's. The staff are really friendly and the food is really good. My favourite is the cheese and bacon staffordshire oatcakes (like savoury pancakes). Although everything else is good too.

This is definitely worth a visit. I was skeptical given the ticket prices (which admittedly aren't…read moretoo bad, I was just being cheap) but I was so so glad I let my friend convince me. There are so many butterflies and it's pretty large, it does take a while to walk through the whole thing and I definitely enjoyed it.

This was a day out with friends and we decided we wanted to go to Stratford upon Avon,…read moreShakespeare's birthplace. As part of things we wanted to see was this Butterfly farm. The admission ticket is valid for all day. We loved the hothouse where all the butterflies are allowed to fly freely, if you sit still then they land on you. It is a hothouse so it is pretty warm inside, try to wear comfortable clothes, avoid boots, jackets and wooly coats. There is also a pond where you can feed coy carp, an arachnid house and insect world which also houses some lizards and fish. This is a fun and relaxing way to spend an afternoon. A very kid friendly place. Tips: The café and toilets are offsite so visit the loo prior to starting your trip around the hothouse.

A quick scan of activities in the area left me with only one thing which held interest: Cotswolds…read moreFalconry Centre. And I wasn't wrong; this place captivated me. A most reasonable entry fee (£12 or less) gets you inside the gates here and from there you can view over 130 predatory birds (think owls, raptors, eagles, vultures, and more) and watch as many "flying displays" as you wish. Having already enjoyed one flying display, I was busy looking at birds when I heard the next flying display start up. I ran over to sit right back down; that's how interesting I found the flying displays. Birds here are treated with respect and the flying displays aren't shows of what staff have taught the birds to do. Here, they let birds be birds which can sometimes result in a large water fowl being released on a windless day, flying to a somewhat distant high tree-top, and sitting there for the duration of the time he is being discussed. Somehow though, staff manage to make the narrative compelling even when this occurs. I learned a lot about the motivations and inclinations of different types of birds, all of it very interesting and enjoyable. For a larger fee and with advance booking CFC also offers "experiences" which looked amazing and which I'd surely spring for were I ever again in the area. This place is great. Don't miss it.

Surprisingly interesting place. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from the sign advertising the…read morefalconry, which is up the same long driveway as the arboretum. It seems like a small facility at first, and old stone building houses a pretty unimpressive reception and gift shop. But once you step past and into the area where they keep the birds, it's actually very cool. They have "displays" of their birds every hour and a half or so, where they bring out several birds from their aviaries to let them fly around. The handlers are very educational and really explain a lot about each bird. And you are free to walk around the grounds and look at the dozens of different species they are housing. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.