Stoney Stanton

Stoney Stanton is not a hotel destination in its own right, so most visitors base themselves nearby in Hinckley, Leicester or the wider Leicestershire and Warwickshire countryside. Hinckley, five miles west, has a practical spread of budget and mid-range chain hotels alongside country pubs offering rooms, making it a sensible base for anyone splitting their time between the village, Stoney Cove and attractions such as Bosworth Battlefield or Twycross Zoo. It also has the advantage of a railway station on the Birmingham to Leicester line, useful if part of your trip involves public transport.

For more choice, Leicester itself, around ten miles north-east, has a full range of city centre hotels from budget chains to boutique options, plus the restaurants and evening life of a compact university city. It also gives easy access by rail to London and the wider Midlands if you want to build a longer trip around a short Leicestershire stay.

Rural bed and breakfasts and coaching inns are dotted throughout the surrounding countryside, particularly around Market Bosworth, which combines a historic market town feel with easy access to the battlefield heritage centre and the Battlefield Line steam railway. Wherever you choose to stay, Stoney Stanton and Stoney Cove are within a short drive, making a comfortable rural or town base an easy way to explore this quiet corner of Leicestershire without needing to be in the village itself.

Stoney Stanton itself is modest, but it sits within easy reach of some genuinely good days out across Leicestershire and neighbouring Warwickshire.

• Stoney Cove — the UK's National Diving Centre, a flooded former granite quarry on the edge of the village with wrecks including the Stanegarth, a Nautilus submarine replica and a recovered Elizabethan-era vessel, plus a training pool, dive shop and on-site bar and restaurant.
• Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre — around a 20-minute drive away near Market Bosworth, marking the site of the 1485 battle where Richard III was killed and the Tudor dynasty began, with an interactive museum and waymarked trails across the battlefield.
• Twycross Zoo — one of the UK's leading zoos, on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border, notable as the only UK zoo to keep all four great ape species alongside one of Europe's largest gibbon collections.
• The Battlefield Line — a heritage steam railway running through the countryside around Market Bosworth alongside the Ashby Canal, one of only two preserved railways in Leicestershire.
• Triumph Motorcycles Factory Visitor Experience — in Hinckley, the global home of Triumph, offering factory tours and a look at the marque's classic and modern machines.
• Burbage Common and Woods — one of the largest green spaces in the area, on the edge of Hinckley, with miles of footpaths through ancient woodland and open grassland.
• Market Bosworth Country Park — 87 acres of parkland with an arboretum and children's play area, part of the wider Bosworth market town worth a wander in its own right.

The village has a handful of local pubs serving the community, typical of a Leicestershire village of its size, and Stoney Cove's own Nemos bar and restaurant caters for divers and visitors on site. For a wider choice, Hinckley's town centre has a good spread of independent cafes, pubs and restaurants, while Market Bosworth's historic market square is a pleasant spot for a coffee or lunch stop when combining a visit with the battlefield or the Battlefield Line railway.

Leicestershire's countryside around Stoney Stanton is gentle, low-lying farmland rather than dramatic scenery, which makes for easy, unhurried camping rather than a wilderness escape. As in the rest of England, wild camping is not legal here without the landowner's permission, so plan on a proper campsite or, where available, a farm pitch booked in advance. The area around Hinckley and Bosworth has a scattering of small campsites and caravan parks, generally set on working farmland or at the edge of villages, offering a straightforward rural base for exploring the region's heritage sites and country parks.

The most distinctive option locally is at Stoney Cove itself, the National Diving Centre on the edge of the village, which offers on-site camping and caravan pitches geared towards visiting divers but open to other campers too — an unusual chance to pitch up right beside a flooded quarry with its own wrecks and dive platforms. Beyond that, the wider countryside towards Market Bosworth and along the Ashby Canal has smaller sites suited to tents, campervans and touring caravans, often within reach of walking routes through Burbage Common and Woods or the parkland around Bosworth.

Spring and summer are the best seasons to camp here: the ground is drier, days are longer for exploring Bosworth Battlefield or Twycross Zoo, and Stoney Cove's water is at its most inviting for anyone diving or open-water swimming. Leicestershire's flat, sheltered terrain means camping is comfortable rather than exposed, though it also means fewer dramatic views than you would find further north or west. For a softer option, a small but growing number of glamping pods, shepherd's huts and static caravans are available across the county, giving a more comfortable rural stay without sacrificing the same easy access to Stoney Stanton and its surrounding attractions.