Ely

Ely is compact enough that almost anywhere within the historic centre puts you within walking distance of the cathedral, so the choice of where to stay comes down more to style than to logistics. Travellers who want to fall out of bed and straight into the cathedral precinct should look at the boutique hotels and coaching inns clustered around St Mary's Street and Fore Hill, several of which occupy genuinely old buildings with the creaking floors and low doorways to prove it. These central options tend to have the best restaurants attached, useful for an evening meal without needing to move the car.

For a quieter base, the Waterside and riverside stretch of the city offers a short, pleasant walk into the centre along the Great Ouse, with the advantage of moorings, pubs and a more residential feel once the day-trippers have gone home. This suits couples and anyone who prefers an evening stroll by the water to a room above a busy high street.

Those travelling with a car, or wanting more space and a rural outlook, might look just outside the city at the surrounding villages of Stuntney, Littleport and Wicken, all within a few miles and easily reached by road or bike. Country house B&Bs and converted farmhouses here tend to offer larger gardens and grounds, and often a warmer welcome for dogs, at the cost of a short drive or cycle back into town for dinner. Families, in particular, may find the extra space and parking of these edge-of-town options easier than a historic centre with limited kerbside parking. Whichever area you choose, Ely's small size means nothing is ever more than about fifteen minutes away on foot or by bike, so the decision matters less for convenience than for the kind of stay you are after: cathedral views and cobbled streets, a riverside evening, or a rural retreat with the city close at hand.

Ely rewards a slow visit, and most of its sights sit within a ten-minute walk of one another.

• Ely Cathedral is the obvious starting point, and its Octagon Tower Tour climbs into the roof space for a close look at the medieval carpentry holding the lantern aloft.
• Oliver Cromwell's House recreates the domestic life of the future Lord Protector and his family during their decade in Ely, alongside displays on the wider Civil War period.
• The Stained Glass Museum, housed within the cathedral itself, is the only museum in Britain devoted entirely to stained glass, spanning medieval panels to contemporary work.
• Ely Museum occupies the city's former gaol and covers local history from prehistoric fen finds to the eel trade and the draining of the marshes.
• Ely riverside and Jubilee Gardens line the Great Ouse with moored boats, waterside pubs and a Sunday antiques and craft market during summer months.
• Babylon Gallery, next to the river, hosts changing exhibitions of contemporary art and craft in a converted maltings building.
• Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, a short drive or cycle from the city, protects one of the last remnants of undrained fenland, complete with a working wind pump and grazing Highland cattle.
• Ely Market fills the square on Thursdays and Saturdays with local produce, and expands into a general market on Saturdays, giving a good sense of the working town beyond the cathedral precinct.

Eel has been Ely's defining local food for centuries, and though wild eel is far scarcer than in the past, it still appears smoked or in traditional recipes on several menus around the city, particularly during the annual Eel Festival. The surrounding Fens also produce excellent asparagus, soft fruit and root vegetables, which turn up on seasonal menus at restaurants such as The Old Fire Engine House, a long-standing restaurant and gallery near the cathedral known for straightforward English cooking using local, seasonal ingredients.

The riverside is well stocked with pubs serving fenland ales alongside pub classics, and Peacocks Tearoom on Waterside has built a strong local reputation for its extensive tea list and home baking in a characterful Georgian building. Ely's Thursday and Saturday markets are good places to pick up local cheese, bread and produce, while the Saturday general market widens the range further. For a more formal meal, several of the city's boutique hotels run their own restaurants open to non-residents, making dinner bookings worthwhile even for visitors staying elsewhere.

The land around Ely is about as flat as England gets, which makes for easy cycling between pitch and cathedral but also means campsites here are defined more by water, hedgerows and open sky than by dramatic scenery. Most sites sit a few miles out of the city along the River Great Ouse or towards villages such as Wicken and Queen Adelaide, offering grassy touring pitches, hook-ups for caravans and motorhomes, and increasingly a handful of glamping pods or safari-style tents for those without their own equipment. The flat terrain and well-drained fen soil generally make for firm, level pitches, though the low-lying ground can turn heavy after prolonged rain, so it is worth checking site conditions with the owners before travelling in a wet spell.

Wild camping has no general legal right in England, Wales or the Fens, and the flat, largely farmed and privately owned land around Ely offers few practical or legal opportunities for it in any case; the region's official campsites, several run by local farming families, are the realistic option and tend to be good value compared with more touristy parts of the country. Weather here is typically drier than the national average, since the Fens sit in one of England's lowest-rainfall areas, though the open, exposed landscape means wind can be more noticeable than in sheltered or wooded counties, particularly for tent campers.

The best months for camping around Ely run from late spring to early autumn, broadly May to September, when long daylight hours suit cycling the flat fen lanes and the riverside campsites are at their liveliest. July and August bring the warmest, driest weather and the fullest facilities, but also the highest demand, so booking ahead is wise. Shoulder months of May, June and September offer a quieter, cooler alternative with the Fens' big skies and bird life, including the wintering wildfowl at nearby Welney, still within easy reach, while winter camping here is a minority pursuit better suited to well-equipped motorhome owners than to tents.