Stourport-on-Severn

Stourport-on-Severn's accommodation has grown up around its two defining features: the Georgian canal basins and the River Severn. Several of the town's best-known places to stay sit directly on the water, converted from the warehouses, wharf buildings and coaching inns that once served the busy inland port, so it's entirely possible to book a room with a view straight over the narrowboats moored in the basins. Elsewhere, the Georgian streets around the town centre hold a good spread of smaller guesthouses and B&Bs, many run by locals who know the area's walks, pubs and canal history well.

Beyond the town itself, the surrounding Worcestershire countryside opens up more options: country inns and farmhouse B&Bs scattered through the villages toward Bewdley and the Wyre Forest, and self-catering cottages that suit a longer stay or a group. Families drawn by the riverside funfair, the Severn Valley Railway or West Midland Safari Park tend to find plenty of practical, well-located choices close to the action, while anyone touring the wider canal network can simply moor up in the basins and treat their boat as the accommodation. Wherever you choose to stay, Stourport's compact size means the canal basins, riverside promenade and town centre pubs are all within easy walking distance, so you're never far from the water.

Stourport rewards a slow wander more than a checklist, but there are some genuine highlights worth building a visit around.

• Stourport Basins — the town's centrepiece: a conservation area of five interconnected Georgian canal basins, warehouses and lock flights where the Staffs & Worcs Canal drops down to meet the River Severn. Now home to around a hundred narrowboats, it's a lovely spot to sit with a coffee and watch boats work through the locks.
• The riverside funfair — a strip of amusements, arcades and classic fairground rides running along the Severn promenade, a direct descendant of the fairs that have drawn day-trippers here since the 19th century. Danters Funfair is the long-standing operator on the front.
• Tontine Stables and the Old Ticket Office — small museum spaces around the basins telling the story of the canal town, from the brass and iron foundries that once lined the wharves to the boat-building yards that gave Stourport its Georgian prosperity.
• York Street and the town centre — handsome Georgian streets of merchants' houses, pubs and independent shops, laid out when the canal money was flowing and still largely intact.
• River Severn boat trips and hire boats — pleasure cruises and self-drive boats set off from the basins for gentle trips along the Severn, one of England's longest and most scenic rivers.
• Severn Valley Railway — a short drive upriver at Bewdley and Kidderminster, this heritage steam line runs sixteen miles through the Severn Valley, and makes a natural add-on to a Stourport stay.
• West Midland Safari Park — a few miles away near Bewdley, with a drive-through safari and adventure theme park, one of the region's most popular family days out.
• Wyre Forest — one of England's largest ancient woodlands lies just to the west, with waymarked walking and cycling trails through oak, birch and coppiced hazel.

Stourport's pubs cluster naturally around the water. The Tontine, a substantial Georgian hotel building overlooking the basins, and The Angel on the high street are long-standing local landmarks, while The Rising Sun and other canalside pubs serve up beer gardens with basin or riverside views, ideal after a walk along the towpath. The riverside promenade has the usual seaside-style fish and chip shops, ice cream parlours and amusement arcade snack stalls that fit the fairground atmosphere, and the town centre has a good spread of cafés and independent restaurants for a more sit-down meal. For something further afield, nearby Bewdley has its own well-regarded pubs and restaurants worth combining with a Severn Valley Railway day out.

Camping around Stourport-on-Severn means gentle river-valley scenery rather than dramatic wilderness: rolling Worcestershire farmland, wooded hills toward the Wyre Forest, and the broad, slow curve of the River Severn itself threading through it all. As with everywhere else in England, wild camping is illegal without the landowner's permission, so plan on a proper campsite, farm site or glamping stay rather than pitching up on a riverbank or in the forest. Fortunately the area has a reasonable choice, from simple touring and tent fields to smaller, family-run sites tucked into the countryside around Stourport, Bewdley and the wider Wyre Forest district.

The terrain here is comparatively gentle, so pitches tend to be flat and easy-going, with many sites within walking or cycling distance of the canal basins, the Severn towpath or the Severn Valley Railway line. The riverside location does mean some low-lying land can be prone to flooding after heavy rain, particularly in winter, so it's worth checking site advice and river levels if you're visiting outside the summer months. The best camping season runs from late spring to early autumn, when the Severn Valley is at its greenest, evenings are long enough for a walk along the water, and the funfair and canal basins are at their liveliest.

For a softer introduction to the outdoors, several sites in the area offer glamping options, from bell tents and shepherd's huts to fully fitted pods, giving you a base close to the water without needing your own kit. Whichever way you camp, the appeal here is the same: wake up in quiet Worcestershire countryside, then be in a Georgian canal town with boats, basins and a riverside funfair within a few minutes' walk or a short drive, with Bewdley, the Severn Valley Railway and West Midland Safari Park all close enough for easy day trips.