Kirkby-on-Bain

Kirkby-on-Bain has no hotels of its own, but its location on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds and a short drive from Woodhall Spa and Horncastle puts a good range of accommodation within easy reach. Woodhall Spa, historically a Victorian spa town, has long catered to visitors and golfers heading for the Hotchkin and Bracken courses, and its hotels range from traditional country-house stays, such as the Petwood Hotel with its Dambusters heritage, to smaller guesthouses and B&Bs suited to a quieter countryside break. Horncastle, a compact market town built around its antiques trade, offers further pub and guesthouse accommodation, handy for exploring the town's shops and markets on foot before heading out into the surrounding villages.

Further afield, the wider Wolds and the Lincolnshire coast towards Skegness open up a broader choice, from farmhouse B&Bs tucked into the chalk hills to seaside hotels for those combining a Wolds trip with a day at the coast. Self-catering cottages are common throughout the villages around the Bain valley, often converted farm buildings or cottages with gardens, well suited to longer stays or families wanting space rather than hotel rooms. Whichever base you choose, the flat, well-connected roads around Kirkby-on-Bain mean nowhere in the area is more than a short drive from anywhere else, so accommodation choice can be led by budget and style rather than by location.

None of the big attractions are in Kirkby-on-Bain itself, but the village is well placed for exploring this corner of Lincolnshire on foot, by bike or by car.

• River Bain and the old gravel pits — the river runs straight through the village, and the flooded former gravel workings just outside it are now a Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve, good for a quiet walk and birdwatching.
• Woodhall Spa Golf Club — a few miles north, this is one of England's great inland golf venues, with the championship Hotchkin course regularly ranked among the best in the country alongside the shorter Bracken course.
• The Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa — built as an Edwardian country house, requisitioned in the Second World War as the Officers' Mess for RAF Woodhall Spa's 617 Squadron, the Dambusters. Its Squadron Bar is filled with wartime memorabilia and a prototype bouncing bomb sits in the grounds.
• Horncastle antiques trade — voted one of Britain's best antiques towns, Horncastle's shops and multi-dealer centres, including Horncastle Antiques Centre in a converted factory, are worth a browse.
• Horncastle market and Sir Joseph Banks Centre — the town holds markets on Thursdays and Saturdays, with a farmers' market on the second Thursday of the month, and the Sir Joseph Banks Centre tells the story of the Lincolnshire-born botanist who sailed with Captain Cook.
• Lincolnshire Wolds — an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty rising to the north, offering walking and cycling routes through chalk hills, hedgerowed lanes and small villages.
• Tattershall Castle — a short drive away, this striking 15th-century brick tower, built for Ralph Cromwell and now in the care of the National Trust, dominates the flat fenland skyline.

The Ebrington Arms on Main Street is the village's own pub, a genuinely old building that has been serving the community for centuries. Beyond the village, Woodhall Spa and Horncastle both have a reasonable spread of pubs, cafes and restaurants, and the Petwood Hotel's bar and dining rooms are open to non-residents as well as guests. Horncastle's Thursday and Saturday markets, plus the monthly farmers' market, are a good source of local produce, bread and meat if you are self-catering.

Lincolnshire does not offer the wild, open-access camping found in parts of Scotland: in England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is against the law, so a pitch on private land, a certified site or a campsite is the way to stay near Kirkby-on-Bain. The countryside itself, however, suits camping well. The land around the village is gently flat river valley, giving way a few miles north to the rolling chalk of the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with quiet lanes and bridleways that reward those camping nearby with a base for cycling and walking rather than driving between sights.

Small caravan and camping sites are dotted through the villages around the Bain valley and towards Woodhall Spa and Horncastle, many run as farm diversifications with a handful of pitches rather than large holiday parks, which suits the low-key character of the area. Facilities vary from basic touring pitches with electric hook-up to more developed sites with shower blocks, so it is worth checking what is provided before booking, especially outside the main season. Glamping has also taken hold in this part of Lincolnshire, with shepherd's huts, pods and safari tents offering a more comfortable alternative to a tent while keeping campers close to the Wolds and the coast.

Late spring through to early autumn is the best window for camping here, when the ground is drier and daylight hours longer for walking and cycling; the Wolds can be exposed and the valley low-lying, so waterproof kit is worth carrying even in summer. Winter camping is possible on sites with all-weather facilities but is a minority pursuit in this flat, open part of the county, and many smaller sites close for the season. Whatever time of year, booking ahead is sensible, as the best-placed small sites near Woodhall Spa and Horncastle fill up around golf and antiques events.