Bridgnorth

Bridgnorth's hotels and guest houses are split between the two halves of the town, so it is worth thinking about which side suits your plans before booking. High Town accommodation puts you closest to the castle ruins, market square and cliff railway top station, with easy access to the timbered streets and independent shops that make up the historic centre. Low Town options tend to sit closer to the River Severn and the Severn Valley Railway terminus, handy for anyone planning to spend a day on the heritage line or exploring the riverside paths on foot or by bike.

Options range from traditional coaching inns with a pint and a meal downstairs to smaller bed and breakfasts in Georgian townhouses, plus a scattering of countryside hotels and inns in the villages around Bridgnorth for a quieter base with easy access to the Severn Valley. Given the town's modest size, rooms can book up around popular Severn Valley Railway steam events and summer weekends, so it is worth planning ahead for peak dates. Whichever side of the river you choose, nothing in Bridgnorth is more than a short walk or a ride on the cliff railway away from the rest of the town.

Bridgnorth rewards a slow wander, but there is more than enough to fill a few days if you know where to look.

• Bridgnorth Cliff Railway — opened in 1892, this is England's oldest and steepest inland funicular railway, hauling two counterbalanced carriages up and down the sandstone cliff between High Town and Low Town in under a minute.
• Bridgnorth Castle and Castle Walk — the ruined Norman keep, blown up during the Civil War, now leans at a sharper angle than the Tower of Pisa; the surrounding gardens on Castle Walk give one of the best panoramas over the Severn Valley in the county.
• Severn Valley Railway — Bridgnorth station is the northern terminus of this 16-mile heritage line to Kidderminster, with steam and diesel services, a preserved Victorian booking hall and the railway's main engine shed.
• High Town market square and timbered streets — the Town Hall stands on stone pillars in the middle of the square, surrounded by black-and-white buildings, independent shops and a Thursday and Saturday market.
• River Severn and Low Town — a lower, quieter town of Georgian and Victorian houses along the riverbank, with riverside walks, moorings and pubs looking back up at the cliffs.
• Bridgnorth Museum — a small local museum in the Town Hall telling the story of the town, its castle and the cliff railway.
• Daniels Mill — a working watermill just outside town with one of the largest waterwheels in the country, still grinding flour.

The town has a decent choice of independent pubs, cafes and restaurants for its size. The Golden Lion and the Bell and Talbot are long-standing High Town pubs with local ales, while riverside spots in Low Town make the most of their position on the Severn. Bridgnorth's Thursday and Saturday markets are a good source of local produce, and the Severn Valley Railway's station buffet at Bridgnorth is a popular stop for tea and cake between train rides.

Bridgnorth sits in the Severn Valley, with a mix of riverside meadows, wooded cliffs and gently rolling Shropshire farmland around it, and the countryside nearby offers a handful of well-run campsites and glamping sites rather than a huge concentration of pitches. As in the rest of England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal, so it is best to stick to established campsites, certified sites or farms offering camping with clear permission, several of which can be found within a short drive of the town along the Severn Valley.

The terrain around Bridgnorth is a good match for a caravan, motorhome or family tent trip: mostly flat or gently sloping ground near the river, with steeper wooded cliffs closer to the town itself, and plenty of quiet lanes and off-road trails nearby for walking and cycling, including the Severn Valley Way. Sites along the river can be prone to occasional flooding after heavy rain, so it is worth checking ground conditions and any site-specific advice before pitching close to the water, particularly outside the summer months.

Late spring to early autumn is the most reliable season for camping here, when the ground is drier, days are longer, and the Severn Valley Railway and Bridgnorth's own attractions are running their fullest timetables. For anyone who prefers a roof over their head without booking a full hotel, a small number of glamping options in the surrounding countryside offer safari tents, shepherd's huts or pods, giving easy access to the town, the river and the wider Shropshire countryside without the need to bring your own kit.