Holbeach

Holbeach itself has a small but useful spread of places to stay, anchored by the Mansion House Hotel in the town centre, which pairs straightforward, comfortable rooms with an on-site restaurant and bar. Guest houses such as Elloe Lodge offer a quieter, more personal alternative, typically with private parking and a garden, well suited to travellers passing through on the A17 or exploring the bulb fields at a relaxed pace. Self-catering cottages are dotted through the fenland villages around the town, giving families and longer-staying visitors more space and flexibility, often at a lower cost than a hotel room.

Because Holbeach is a working market town rather than a resort, choice within the town boundary is limited, and many visitors base themselves slightly further afield in Spalding, about seven miles north, or King's Lynn across the Norfolk border, both of which offer a wider range of hotels, from budget chains to more characterful independents, alongside their own historic centres worth a look. Wherever you stay, Holbeach's position just off the A17 means the whole of South Holland, the Wash coastline and the fenland villages are within easy striking distance, so it pays to think of accommodation here as a comfortable, central base for day trips rather than a destination with an entertainment district on the doorstep. Booking ahead is sensible during the spring bulb season, when the surrounding countryside draws its biggest crowds of the year, and rooms in the smaller guest houses can fill quickly.

Holbeach and its surrounding villages reward unhurried exploration, from soaring medieval architecture to the bulb fields that give this corner of Lincolnshire its spring colour.

• All Saints' Church — A magnificent 14th-century Decorated Gothic church with a 180-foot spire, castellated north porch and the tomb of Sir Humphrey Littlebury; the current building dates to around 1335-1370 and has changed little since.
• South Holland Fens and bulb fields — The countryside around Holbeach produces a huge share of England's tulips and daffodils; a spring drive or cycle along the back lanes reveals dazzling ribbons of colour against the flat, open horizon.
• South Holland Trail — A network of walking and cycling routes threading through the fenland landscape around Holbeach and neighbouring villages, ideal for exploring the drove roads and dykes at a gentle pace.
• Sutton Bridge and Cross Keys Bridge — A short drive away, this Grade II* listed swing bridge over the River Nene has carried the A17 since 1897 and still opens for river traffic; the village also has two lighthouses associated with explorer Captain Vancouver's family.
• Holbeach Market — A twice-weekly tradition going back to the town's 1252 charter, still held in the town centre and a good way to pick up local produce.
• Spalding and the Flower Parade — A few miles north, Spalding is the traditional capital of Lincolnshire's bulb industry and hosts an annual flower parade celebrating the area's horticultural heritage.
• Holbeach Marsh and the Wash coastline — Beyond the sea bank, the marshes and mudflats of the Wash are important for wading birds and offer a taste of the wild, remote edge of the Fens.

The Crown Hotel, a traditional pub that has served the town for more than 300 years, is a reliable spot for home-cooked British food in the town centre. Out at Holbeach Hurn, the Rose & Crown is a proper village pub with rotating real ales and a beer garden. For something different, Beijing Palace serves Chinese and Asian dishes, while Central Fish Bar covers classic fish and chips. On the A17 towards Sutton Bridge, the Lodge Farm Cafe is a well-loved roadside diner, once named Truckstop of the Year, popular with locals and travellers alike for a hearty fry-up.

Camping around Holbeach means embracing the Fens on their own terms: flat, open, big-skied country criss-crossed by drainage dykes and quiet droves, a world away from the hills and woodland pitched elsewhere in the county. As everywhere in England, wild camping is illegal without the landowner's permission, so plan around one of the established touring and camping sites in the area, several of which sit right on the edge of the fenland farmland and make a peaceful, unhurried base for exploring South Holland.

The flat terrain here suits tourers, motorhomes and family tents equally well, with none of the steep pitches or awkward access common in hillier parts of the country, though the exposed landscape does mean weather can roll in fast off the Wash, so a sturdy tent and decent guy lines are worth having. Sites in the area typically combine touring pitches with grassy space for tents, and some add static caravans or glamping options such as pods and wooden lodges for those who want the fenland scenery without packing quite so much kit.

Late spring, when the tulip and daffodil fields around Holbeach are in full colour, is a particularly rewarding time to camp locally, with cool mornings and long daylight hours for cycling the droves or walking sections of the South Holland Trail. Summer brings warmer, drier stretches better suited to lazy evenings outside the tent, though the fens can turn breezy with little natural shelter, so pitching with some thought to the prevailing wind pays off. Autumn has its own quiet appeal as the harvest comes in across the surrounding fields, while winter camping here is a hardier proposition, given the exposed, low-lying ground and shorter days. Whatever the season, the reward for camping in this stretch of Lincolnshire is space, silence and some of the widest skies in England.