Places to Visit in Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a popular area for tourists to visit, both from within the UK and abroad. This county is home to the world famous and incredibly popular Peak District National Park which makes it a great destination for sports and nature lovers and for walkers and hikers. The county also enjoys a rich historical and industrial heritage. Put together, these aspects of Derbyshire make it a county with plenty to occupy all the family. The most popular towns to visit in the county include Derby, Buxton, Matlock, Belper and Bakewell.
History lovers visiting Derbyshire will be spoiled for choice when it comes to finding things to see and do. The county is home to various castles including the sites at Peveril and Bolsover. Many visitors also recommend visit to The FitzHerbert home, Tissington Hall, the medieval and Tudor house at Haddon Hall and Eyam Hall in the home of the county’s infamous ‘plague village’. And, of course, Derbyshire is home to Chatsworth House which is one of the best known and loved stately homes in the country as a whole.
The county is also home to many different types of museums, galleries and attractions. You can, for example, visit the Crich Tramway Village, the Heights of Abraham and the Matlock Bath Aquarium in Matlock and the Steeple Grange Light Railway in Wirksworth. Belper’s Derwent Valley Visitor’s Centre is a great way to learn about the history and heritage of the area and there are a variety of museums in Derby itself including the Derby Industrial Museum and the Royal Crown Derby Museum.
Kids (and adults!) will also enjoy visits to Matlock’s Toys of Yesteryear Museum and the National Trust Museum of Childhood in Ashbourne. There are also many different museums on the area that are devoted to the Derbyshire industrial past including the Masson Mills Working Textile Museum at Matlock Bath and the National Stone Centre at Middleton by Wirksworth.
Many visitors to Derbyshire predominantly visit the area to see the Peak District National Park and the Peak District area as a whole. The National Park here came together in the early 1950s and this was the first British National Park of its kind. It is considered to be the second most visited National Park globally with around 22 million visits every year. The Park is divided into various different areas, notably the Dark Peak and the White Peak regions. Derbyshire is also popular with sports enthusiasts many of whom will visit the county’s reservoirs where various sports including walking and cycling are popular.