Holiday rentals in Ludlow

Some mighty fine restaurants lie in and around the medieval market town of Ludlow. But while splurging top dollar on the high-end cuisine is tempting, even the more affordable pubs, delis, and cafes offer a superior quality of provenance-focused fare. Localism isn’t a gimmick here, it’s a way of life — a byproduct of the area’s rich agriculture, which teems with artisanal producers and growers.

In Ludlow’s centre, streets of black-and-white buildings and sections of city walls evoke 900 years of history, while imposing Ludlow Castle, a product of the Norman, medieval, and Tudor periods, overlooks the River Teme and the Welsh Marches, the borderland of valleys and hills of which it was once capital. Whitcliffe Common is a wide area for easy strolling, while hardcore hikers can tackle the 30-mile Mortimer Trail, which runs into the Marches from Ludlow to Kington on the Welsh border, encountering steep hills, villages, and hill forts. Having a good time here is as simple as putting one foot in front of the other, revelling in the humps and dips of the landscape, and working up another appetite.

Ludlow’s marquee events include the Ludlow Food Festival in September, the Ludlow Medieval Christmas Fayre in November, and a Spring Festival that combines food, music, and motoring in May — all of which take place in the grounds of Ludlow Castle. Unsurprisingly, the food and drink festivals come thick and fast in this region, often aligning with seasonality. Ludlow’s twice-monthly farmers’ market hosts dozens of sustainable food producers and vendors. Look out, too, for live music gigs at the local microbrewery. Staying in one of the area’s holiday cottages is wonderful any time of year. Autumn has the advantage of being able to spot migrating salmon leaping upstream at Mill Street and Dinham Mill’s weirs.

Shropshire Hills

Get stomping in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where the aim of your hike might be an exploration of the wild moorland plateau of Long Mynd; the Stiperstones Ridge, with Bronze Age burial cairns and exposed rocky heathland; or Wenlock Edge, an 18-mile limestone escarpment that runs to Iron Bridge, a spectacular construction and pioneering feat of engineering when it was built over the River Severn in 1779.

Ludlow Assembly Rooms

The 1840s Assembly Rooms was revamped in the 1990s to become a vibrant community and arts centre. It’s now home to an auditorium for live performance shows and cinema screenings, plus a cafe. It’s definitely worth checking to see what’s playing here during your stay.

The Land of Lost Content

Bizarre ephemera of British everyday life and popular culture is collected in this quirky museum in nearby Craven Arms, another market town on the same railway line. Here you’ll find a mishmash of 1950s magazines, packaging and cleaning products, books, vintage signs, and toys crammed into a treasure trove of nostalgic delight.