The Top Places to Visit in Leicestershire are listed below.
King Richard III’s body was discovered in the county of Leicestershire in 2012.
After losing his life at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, the infamous king of the fifteenth century had been interred in an unmarked grave. If you’re a history buff, Leicester is full of locations that pique your interest in Richard III, from the battleground where he was killed to Leicester Cathedral, where he is buried.
The landscape is dotted with majestic homes and charming tiny villages with thatched cottages, and Leicester has excellent museums.
You can visit energetic college towns like Loughborough or go to one of the many food festivals in Melton Mowbray, the city that gave the world the stilton cheese and the pork pie.
1. Leicester
Richard III has become the center of interest in Leicester since since his remains were unearthed beneath a parking lot in 2012.
A brand-new visitor center in the city provides information on how his grave was discovered and how his 500-year-old skeleton was recognized.
But Leicester offers much more, including well-known landmarks, museums, and venues like the National Space Centre, Curve Theatre, the Guildhall, built in half-timber in the fifteenth century, the New Walk Museum, and the Cathedral, where Richard III was reinterred in 2015. When Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016 despite having odds of 5,000-1 at the beginning of the season, the city delivered us one of sports’ most incredible underdog stories. King Power Stadium, where the Foxes play, has a respectable seating capacity of more than 30,000.
2. Melton Mowbray
There are two well-known English specialties available in Melton Mowbray.
The pork pie, which consists of diced, seasoned, uncured pork enclosed in dough, comes first.
This portable snack is meant to be consumed cold and was first popularized by foxhunters in this country in the 19th century.
The market town is also one of the few locations with the authorization to produce blue stilton, a potent, crumbly cheese that pairs well with port during the holiday season.
The Melton Mowbray Food Festival in October and the Cheese Fair at the end of April, to name just two, are two annual celebrations of the town’s contributions to cuisine held in these historic settings.
3. Loughborough
Loughborough University, which accounts up a quarter of the population during term time, swells the largest town outside of Leicester.
So, depending on your preferences, the town can be lively and young outside of the summer and a little more so from June to September.
The Loogabarooga Festival, a literary festival that attracts authors and artists to the town and offers loads of entertaining activities for youngsters, takes place in October.
The 1930s saw a renovation to Loughborough’s downtown, giving it several striking art deco structures like the theater on Cattle Market.
The town’s twice-weekly markets, which trade on Thursdays and Saturdays and have a vintage market on Fridays, serve as a further reminder that you live in a thriving rural community.
4. Market Harborough
The Old Grammar School is a structure in Market Harborough that will immediately capture your attention.
The distinctive timber-framed building, which is more than 400 years old and underwent restoration in 2014, once stood over a butter market and housed a grammar school on the top level. On Saturdays, it currently hosts an artisan market.
The Hallaton Treasure, the largest trove of Iron Age coins found in Britain and discovered in 2000, is the star attraction at Harborough Museum. It contains more than 130 pieces. The majority of St. Dionysius’ Church, a Grade I-listed building next to the Old Grammar School with a solemn 47-meter spire, dates from the middle ages and completes the historic scene in the town’s center.
5. Market Bosworth
At this charming market town, a short distance north of the battlefield where Richard passed away in 1485, ushering in the Tudor era, you can take up the trail of Richard’s final days. In 2015, the king’s burial cortege traveled through Market Bosworth on its way to Leicester Cathedral after the discovery of Richard’s body.
The Bosworth Field Heritage Centre is located in a rural area and features indoor galleries with original and replica weapons and armor that you can try on.
Regularly scheduled guided tours are also available to show you the key spots nearby and contextualize what you see in terms of history.
6. Hinckley
If you wish to catch up on a significant time in English history, the Battlefield at Bosworth is also accessible from Hinckley, which is located somewhat south of Market Bosworth.
However, Hinckley’s history as a manufacturing center is also fascinating: Prior to the invention of the framework knitting machine in the 1600s, hosiery production dominated the local economy.
With historic hand-operated frames on display, the Hinckley and District Museum will provide you with all the information you need to understand the town’s knitting history.
Church attendance in Hinckley had been declining for years, as it had practically everywhere else.
However, the medieval St. Mary’s Church is still active in the neighborhood thanks to a north chapel that has been transformed into a coffee shop and a makeshift bookshop.
7. Lutterworth
A few grocery booths follow this custom on Thursdays at the market town of Lutterworth, which is located in the very south of the county and received its market license in 1214.
There are a few thatched buildings and insignificant landmarks to view in the center for those who are curious.
The late-Georgian Lutterworth Town Hall, built in 1836 and distinguished by its rounded edges, was created by the same Joseph Hansom who also created the hansom horse-drawn cab and Birmingham Town Hall.
The Cavalier Inn and The Shambles Inn, both with thatched roofs and the latter dating back to the 1500s, are two fine old pubs.
The lavish local manor from 1690 is called Stanford House, and you can see the patent for the first jet engine at the Lutterworth Museum.
8. Mountsorrel
Mountsorrel, one of the top five most sought-after addresses in Leicestershire, is surrounded by lush, undulating countryside, boasts a ton of historic homes, and is only a short commute to Leicester to the south.
The Butter Market in Mountsorrel serves as a gathering spot and features a 1790s-era classical design.
Curiously, this took the place of a market cross from the 16th century that the Lord of the Manor had moved to his estate in Swithley, where it still remains today.
Give your kids a trip to the Stonehurst Family Farm, a working farm where they can interact with a variety of domestic animals and a motor museum with an unexpected collection of classic tractors and sports vehicles.
9. Oadby
Oadby, a residential community within a short distance from Leicester’s downtown, has a lot going for it.
An environment center with solar panels, wind turbines, and rainwater collectors is located in the Brocks Hill Country Park, surrounded by 30 hectares of woodland and meadows. It teaches children about renewable energy sources.
The Botanic Garden at Leicester University, which is cared for by the school’s genetics department and is encircled by lovely Edwardian homes, is a magnificent park of a different kind.
Leicester Racecourse, which is also in Oadby, hosts meetings for both flat and National Hunt (jumping) races, so you should always be able to find something going on there.
10. Kirby Muxloe
This settlement, located a few miles west of Leicester, is also essential to the Richard III trail.
A moat surrounds the stunning and incredibly evocative ruin of Kirby Muxloe Castle from the fifteenth century.
William Hastings, the property’s owner, is well known to everyone who has read Shakespeare’s Richard III.
Hastings, a supporter of Richard’s House of York, was accused of treason and put to death in only a few short minutes in London in 1483. Construction of his house and stronghold came to an instant halt, adding to the allure of the castle’s ruins.
The well-regarded Kirby Muxloe Golf Course, open to non-members and operating since 1893, is a great place to spend the entire day.
11. Newtown Linford
Newtown Linford, a community in Leicestershire’s Charnwood Forest, is another that scores high among the county’s most livable communities.
The terrain is notably hillier, and the area’s geology is rather fascinating: the rocks in Bradgate Park are 600 million years old and are the result of volcanic activity.
Since there have been people here, they have mined the land for stones to use as tool hone and grain mills.
Bradgate House also has a fascinating history because Lady Jane Grey, Queen, lived there for nine days before she was put to death in 1553.
12. Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby is a proud market town located inside the National Forest in the west of Leicestershire.
The purpose of this park is to reestablish the vast woods that covered the majority of the Midlands before the Industrial Revolution and to draw animals back to abandoned industrial sites.
Hicks Lodge, a cycling center on an ancient colliery that is being gradually overtaken by woods, is a good place to get a feel for what it’s all about.
Another home owned by Lord Hastings was Ashby Castle, which he converted from a manor house to a castle in the fifteenth century.
Although it was partially destroyed during the English Civil War, you can still climb the tower for breathtaking views and enter the cellar through the hidden passageway that connects the tower and kitchen.
13. Desford
Tropical Birdland, an aviary where various species of parrots can fly around in some freedom before returning to their enclosures at night, is a well-liked family outing in the Leicester area.
Many of these birds were once pets that were given new homes in more humane settings.
The attraction has a children’s play area and a tea room.
You could park in Desford before or after your visit and have lunch at the Blue Bell Inn or stroll through the village.
The Old Hall on Desford’s high street dates to the early 1600s and has gables in the Flemish style. The church is Norman with extensions from the 13th century.
14. Wymondham
This adorable village is located in the region that produces Stilton cheese, just east of Melton Mowbray.
In the summer, tourists flock to a nearby caravan park to enjoy this expanse of traditional English countryside.
This is located at the base of the 200-year-old Wymondham Windmill, which has been transformed into a tea room and store.
The Berkeley Arms, a welcoming local establishment, and the 13th-century Early English St. Peter’s Church are both located in the settlement.
Belvoir Castle, which serves as the Dukes of Rutland’s residence and is just 15 minutes to the north, is a great day trip destination.
This location was once a Norman fortification, but after damage and rebuilding over the course of several centuries, a gothic-revival palace was built there in the 19th century.
The buildings are lavishly designed, and the grounds feature stunning views of Belvoir Vale.
15. Coalville
One of those sites in this town where you need to know what you’re looking at to enjoy it.
As its name implies, Coalville is an industrial town that was founded in the 1830s and quickly grew to include thousands of residents after coal seams were found.
The center contains the type of worker-built 19th-century cottages that are less common in Leicestershire than the counties to the west and north.
There are many attractions nearby, including the breathtaking Donington-le-Heath Manor House, which was built in the 13th century and was formerly owned by the brother of Everard Digby, who was convicted of participating in the Gunpowder Plot and executed in 1606.
