Greetham

Greetham itself has no hotels, but its position on the western edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just three miles from Horncastle, makes it easy to find comfortable accommodation nearby. Horncastle, a compact market town famed for its antiques trade, has a handful of traditional coaching inns and small hotels within its historic centre, many occupying the same listed buildings that give the town its character. Bed and breakfasts are dotted through the surrounding villages, often run from farmhouses or converted barns, and tend to suit visitors keen to explore the Wolds on foot or by bike rather than stay in a town centre. Further afield, Lincoln offers a wider choice of hotels, from budget chains to boutique conversions of the city's historic buildings, and is a reasonable base if you plan to combine a Wolds visit with the cathedral city, around 40 minutes away by car. Because Greetham lies away from the busier Lincolnshire coast resorts, accommodation here tends to be quieter and less geared towards peak-season crowds, which suits visitors looking for a rural rather than a seaside stay. Booking ahead is still worthwhile during the summer months and around Horncastle's antiques fairs, when rooms in the town itself can fill up quickly. Whichever option you choose, the drive out to Greetham and Somersby, through classic Wolds scenery of hedgerowed lanes and gentle hills, is part of the appeal.

The surrounding Wolds and nearby Horncastle offer far more than the hamlet's size would suggest.

• Somersby — the neighbouring village that shares Greetham's parish, and the birthplace of Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who was baptised at St Margaret's Church. The wooded brook he wrote about still runs through the village.
• Horncastle — a historic market town three miles west, known nationally as a centre of the antiques trade, with sections of Roman wall still visible and the 13th-century St Mary's Church at its heart.
• Lincolnshire Wolds AONB — the rolling chalk hills begin just east of Greetham, offering some of the county's best walking and cycling away from the flat fens further south.
• Cadwell Park — the well-known motorsport circuit near Louth, a short drive north, hosts motorbike and touring car race meetings through the season.
• Sir Joseph Banks Centre — in Horncastle, a small museum commemorating the Lincolnshire-born botanist who sailed with Captain Cook.

Greetham has no pub or shop of its own, so most visitors head into Horncastle for its market-town mix of independent cafes, tea rooms and traditional pubs, or to the surrounding Wolds villages, several of which have well-regarded country inns.

Greetham sits right where the flat Lincolnshire farmland gives way to the first folds of the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that begins just east of the hamlet. It is a good, low-key base for anyone wanting to camp within reach of genuine hill walking without heading all the way to the Peak District or Yorkshire Dales. As in the rest of England, wild camping is not legal here without the landowner's permission, so plan around established campsites and glamping sites in the Wolds and around Horncastle rather than pitching informally in fields or woodland.

The terrain around Greetham is gently rolling rather than dramatic, characterised by narrow lanes, hedgerows and small streams like the one Tennyson wrote about at neighbouring Somersby. This makes it comfortable, approachable country for family camping trips, with plenty of quiet roads for cycling between villages. Sites in the wider Wolds area range from simple, small-scale campsites on working farms to glamping options in shepherd's huts, safari tents and converted barns, which suit visitors who want the countryside setting without full-on tent camping.

The best season to camp here runs from late spring through to early autumn, when the Wolds are at their greenest and evenings are long enough for a walk after pitching up. Summer weekends can be popular, particularly when Horncastle's antiques fairs or Cadwell Park's race meetings draw extra visitors to the area, so booking ahead is sensible. Outside these months, Lincolnshire's exposed, breezy landscape means conditions can turn cold and wet quickly, so this is very much a fair-weather camping destination rather than a year-round one. For those without their own tent, the growing number of glamping sites scattered through the Wolds villages offer a comfortable alternative that still puts you within a short drive of Greetham, Somersby and Horncastle.