Coleford

Coleford's hotels and guesthouses make the most of a location most Forest of Dean towns cannot match: everything from Puzzlewood and Clearwell Caves to the Wye Valley and Dean Forest Railway sits within a few miles, so you can base yourself centrally and explore in every direction without long drives. Options range from traditional coaching inns like the Angel Hotel right on the market square, offering easy access to the town's shops, cafes and pubs on foot, to country hotels in the surrounding villages such as the Tudor Farmhouse Hotel at Clearwell, which pairs comfortable rooms with a well-regarded restaurant built around local and forest produce.

Because Coleford itself has no railway station, most visitors arrive by car, and many of the area's hotels and B&Bs are geared towards walkers and cyclists exploring the forest trails, with secure bike storage, drying rooms and hearty breakfasts common features. Rooms fill up quickly around the Coleford Music Festival in July and during the bluebell season in late spring, so early booking is worthwhile at those times. Whether you are after a simple, central town-centre stay or a quieter countryside retreat in one of the villages nearby, Coleford's accommodation options are well suited to a forest-based break rather than a fly-in city stopover, rewarding visitors who plan to spend their days outdoors.

The Forest of Dean is the main draw, and Coleford is arguably the best-placed town from which to explore it.

• Puzzlewood — an extraordinary ancient woodland of mossy rock formations, winding paths and deep gullies left behind by centuries of surface iron mining; said to have influenced Tolkien's Middle-earth and used as a filming location for Star Wars and Doctor Who.
• Clearwell Caves — a genuine working iron mine with passages first dug over 4,500 years ago; self-guided trails lead 100 feet underground through ten show caverns, with adventure caving trips available for those wanting to crawl and squeeze further in.
• Hopewell Colliery — a small, still-active coal mine near Coalway offering guided underground tours led by a Freeminer, giving a first-hand feel for the forest's deep-rooted mining tradition.
• Dean Forest Railway — a heritage steam and diesel line running from nearby Parkend and Norchard, with museum displays, seasonal events and afternoon tea trains.
• Cycling and walking the forest trails — waymarked routes such as the Family Cycle Trail and the more demanding Verderers' Trail loop through conifer and broadleaf woodland, with bike hire available at Pedalabikeaway near Cannop.
• Biblins Suspension Bridge — a rope and cable footbridge over the River Wye a short drive from Coleford, popular with walkers tackling the Wye Valley Walk and canoeists paddling below.
• Coleford market square and clock tower — the town's historic centre, lined with independent shops, cafes and an award-winning bookshop, and the site of a long-running Thursday market.

The Angel Hotel on Market Place is a long-standing coaching inn serving classic pub food in the centre of town, while The Miners Arms and other traditional pubs around the square offer solid, unfussy meals and local ales. For something more special, the Wyndham Arms in nearby Clearwell has built a reputation for its restaurant, and the Tudor Farmhouse Hotel at Clearwell is known for its restaurant using forest and Wye Valley produce. Clearwell Caves' own Lamproom Cafe is a good stop after a visit underground, and the town's independent cafes around the market square are well suited to a coffee or lunch between forest walks.

Camping in and around Coleford means camping in one of England's great forests, and the ground rules are the same as anywhere else in England: wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal, so pitching up in the Forest of Dean itself, on Forestry England land, or in any of the surrounding fields and woodland without express consent is not allowed, however tempting the scenery. What Coleford does offer instead is a good choice of proper campsites, certified sites and glamping options scattered through the villages around the town, many of them set among trees or with direct access to the forest's cycling and walking trails.

The terrain here is very different from the coast or the Cotswolds: expect wooded, undulating ground, old quarry workings, and a mix of broadleaf and conifer cover that keeps many sites shaded and sheltered even in high summer. That shelter is welcome, because the forest can be genuinely wet underfoot after rain, and paths through areas like Puzzlewood become muddy and slippery, so sturdy footwear and, ideally, a pitch with reasonable drainage are worth prioritising when booking. Late spring through early autumn is the most reliable camping season, taking in the bluebell displays of May, long light evenings for forest walks and cycling through summer, and the rich colour of the woodland in September and October, while winter camping here is a quieter, colder, more committed undertaking best suited to those with good kit.

For anyone who would rather skip the tent altogether, glamping has taken off around the forest in recent years, with shepherd's huts, safari tents and wooden pods available in the villages around Coleford, several with wood-fired hot tubs or stoves that make the most of the woodland setting without sacrificing comfort. Whichever way you camp, Coleford's position in the heart of the forest means caves, cycle trails and ancient woodland are never more than a short ride away.