Uttoxeter

Uttoxeter's hotel and guesthouse options are practical rather than plentiful, reflecting its identity as a working Staffordshire market town rather than a tourist hotspot. Expect a mix of independent guesthouses, pub accommodation and familiar budget hotel brands close to the A50 and A518, all offering straightforward, well-priced bases for exploring the area. Many visitors use Uttoxeter as an affordable alternative to staying directly at Alton Towers Resort, since the theme park is only around 20 minutes away by car, or as a stopover when travelling across the Midlands on the A50 corridor. Racing fans attending meetings at Uttoxeter Racecourse, including the popular Midlands Grand National, will find it worth booking ahead, as rooms in and around the town fill up quickly on race days. For something with more character, look to the villages around Uttoxeter, including Rocester, Marchington and Doveridge, where farmhouse B&Bs and country inns offer a quieter, more rural stay within a short drive of the town centre, the racecourse and the wider Dove Valley countryside. Families visiting Alton Towers often find that Uttoxeter and its surrounding villages offer better value than accommodation immediately next to the park, without adding much to the journey time. Whatever the reason for visiting, from racing weekends to theme park trips or simply passing through on the A50, Uttoxeter's accommodation is geared towards convenience, comfort and a good night's sleep rather than luxury extras, making it a sensible, unfussy choice for a Staffordshire stopover.

Uttoxeter is not a town packed with visitor attractions, but it has a handful of genuinely worthwhile draws, plus easy access to some of Staffordshire's biggest days out.

• Uttoxeter Racecourse — A National Hunt course on Wood Lane that has been racing since 1907, home to the popular Midlands Grand National each spring and a regular calendar of race days with a lively, unpretentious atmosphere.
• Uttoxeter Market — The outdoor market in the Market Place has been trading since the thirteenth century and still runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays, selling everything from fresh produce to household goods.
• Alton Towers Resort — The UK's largest theme park is around 20 minutes' drive away in the Churnet Valley, making Uttoxeter a handy, lower-cost overnight base for families visiting the rides and waterpark.
• JCB heritage — JCB was founded in Uttoxeter in 1945 by Joseph Cyril Bamford and remains one of the area's biggest employers, with its striking main headquarters building visible on the edge of nearby Rocester.
• River Dove and Doveridge walks — The River Dove runs along the edge of town, offering gentle riverside walking routes and a natural boundary with Derbyshire, with the Dove Valley opening out into classic rolling farmland countryside.
• Heath House and the Staffordshire Moorlands — The rising ground north and east of the town leads into the Staffordshire Moorlands, with the Churnet Valley's wooded gorges and villages such as Alton and Cheadle within easy reach.
• Ashbourne — Just over the county border in Derbyshire, this handsome Georgian town, often called the 'Gateway to the Peak District', makes an easy add-on trip for cafes, antique shops and the start of the Tissington Trail.

The town centre has a solid spread of everyday pubs and cafes around the Market Place, alongside chain coffee shops and bakeries serving the daily market trade. The White Hart and other town-centre pubs offer traditional food and ale, while the surrounding villages have well-regarded country pubs worth seeking out for a proper Staffordshire Sunday lunch. As with much of rural Staffordshire, the best food and drink is often found just outside the town in the surrounding villages rather than in the centre itself.

Wild camping is not legally permitted in England without the landowner's permission, and Staffordshire is no exception, so anyone wanting to camp near Uttoxeter should look to one of the area's established campsites and caravan parks rather than pitching up informally on farmland or riverbank. The countryside around Uttoxeter, particularly the Dove Valley towards Rocester, Doveridge and Ellastone, is gently rolling farmland threaded by the River Dove, giving way further north and east to the more dramatic wooded gorges of the Churnet Valley and the southern edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands and Peak District. This mix of easy valley walking and rougher upland scenery just a short drive away makes the area a popular base for campers who want countryside on their doorstep along with easy access to Alton Towers Resort, which sits only around 20 minutes from the town.

Spring through to early autumn is the most comfortable and reliable window for camping here, with April to September offering the driest, warmest conditions and the longest daylight hours for exploring the Dove Valley and Churnet Valley on foot or by bike. Sites tend to get busy around school holidays and during Alton Towers' peak season, as well as around race meetings at Uttoxeter Racecourse, so booking ahead is worthwhile at those times. Winter camping is possible on some all-year sites but conditions in the valley can turn cold and damp, and many smaller sites close for the season.

For those who prefer a more comfortable pitch, glamping has grown steadily across this part of Staffordshire and neighbouring Derbyshire, with pods, safari tents and shepherd's huts appearing on farm sites around Rocester, Ellastone and the wider Churnet Valley. These give easy access to Alton Towers, the market town life of Uttoxeter itself, and walking country in the Staffordshire Moorlands, while taking the hassle out of pitching a tent. Whether camping in a field by the Dove or glamping on a Churnet Valley farm, this corner of Staffordshire offers a genuinely rural, unpolished alternative to the county's better-known tourist trails.