Marbury

Marbury is not a place of hotels in any great number, and that is part of its charm. This tiny village near the Shropshire border has no large chains or resort-style stays, so accommodation here means small, characterful options rather than big brand names. The nearby towns of Whitchurch and Nantwich, both within a short drive, hold the bulk of the area's hotels, inns and guest houses, ranging from traditional coaching inns in Whitchurch's historic centre to independent B&Bs on the edge of Nantwich, a town well known for its black-and-white timbered buildings.

For a more distinctive stay, the neighbouring Combermere Abbey estate offers self-catering cottages set within its walled garden and parkland, a genuinely special base for exploring the meres and mosses landscape that defines this part of Cheshire. Several working farms in the villages around Marbury, including Wrenbury and Marley Green, also offer bed and breakfast rooms, which suit visitors keen to combine a comfortable night's sleep with early starts for fishing on the meres or walking the Sandstone Trail.

Whichever option you choose, this is a part of Cheshire best enjoyed slowly: quiet lanes, canal towpaths and glacial meres reward visitors who are happy to base themselves nearby and explore on foot, by bike or by narrowboat, rather than expecting everything on the doorstep. Booking ahead is sensible for the smaller farm stays and the Combermere cottages, particularly around the May bank holiday when Marbury Merry Days draws extra visitors to the village.

There is no crowded tourist trail here, which is exactly the appeal. Days out tend to be built around water, woodland and slow walking rather than ticket-and-queue attractions.

• Marbury Big Mere — the largest of the local meres, overlooked by St Michael's Church, used for coarse fishing and a good spot for a quiet lakeside walk.
• Quoisley Meres — a Site of Special Scientific Interest just outside the village, important for wetland birds including gadwall and great crested grebe; footpaths skirt the reserve rather than crossing it, so bring binoculars.
• Llangollen Canal towpath — join the towpath at Wrenbury or Whitchurch marinas to walk or hire a narrowboat through classic Cheshire and Shropshire canal scenery, past locks and lift bridges.
• Combermere Abbey estate — a former Cistercian abbey turned country house a short drive from Marbury, with parkland, walled gardens and a large mere of its own, open on selected days.
• The Sandstone Trail — a 34-mile waymarked walking route across Cheshire's sandstone ridge; the southern stretches are within easy reach for a half-day walk.
• Whitchurch — the nearest market town, just over the Shropshire border, with a historic centre, independent shops and the parish church of St Alkmund.

Marbury itself no longer has a village shop or pub, having lost both by the late 1990s, so food and drink options mean a short drive to neighbouring villages and towns. Wrenbury, on the Llangollen Canal, has a canalside pub popular with boaters. Whitchurch and Nantwich both offer a wider choice, from traditional pubs to cafes and restaurants in their market town centres, along with farm shops scattered through the surrounding dairy country that reflect the area's agricultural character.

Wild camping is not legally permitted in England without the landowner's permission, so any camping trip near Marbury means booking a proper site rather than pitching up on the meres or canal banks, however tempting the views. The good news is that this corner of Cheshire, on the border with Shropshire, has a genuine campsite on its doorstep: Marbury Camp and Lodge, a small glamping and touring site set on the former Duchy of Lancaster estate near Combermere Abbey, just outside the village itself. It offers grass pitches for tents and caravans, some with electric hook-up, alongside furnished glamping pods for visitors who would rather not bring their own tent.

The terrain around Marbury is gentle and low-lying, shaped by the glacial meres and mosses that give this stretch of the Cheshire-Shropshire border its distinctive character. Campers based here are well placed for walking around Marbury Big Mere and the Quoisley Meres Site of Special Scientific Interest, joining the Llangollen Canal towpath at nearby Wrenbury or Whitchurch, or tackling a stretch of the 34-mile Sandstone Trail. Fishing, quiet cycling along country lanes and birdwatching around the reedbeds are the natural pastimes here rather than anything more boisterous, which suits the peaceful, rural mood of the area.

Late spring to early autumn is the most comfortable season for camping, when the ground is drier and the meres are busiest with breeding wildfowl; the rural lanes around Marbury can become soft and occasionally flood after heavy winter rain, so a caravan or motorhome trip outside the summer months is worth planning around the weather. For anyone who prefers solid walls and a proper bed without giving up the outdoor feel, the glamping pods at Marbury Camp and Lodge, or similar pod and shepherd's hut style stays elsewhere in the district, offer a comfortable middle ground between a tent and a hotel room, with the same meres-and-mosses scenery on the doorstep either way.