by Rose Shepherd

For all their picturesque charms – or, indeed, because of them – the Cotswolds are a tourist honeypot. So, for readers planning a weekend break and hoping to avoid the crowds, we have a suggestion: head to the Midlands and check out the Welland Valley, aka ‘the Notswolds’.

Rising in Northamptonshire, on its journey to The Wash, the Welland meanders through a pastoral landscape of hawthorn hedgerows that froth with blossom in springtime, where you might spot skylarks, otters, brown hares. The Welland Viaduct – all 300 million bricks – is the longest viaduct across a valley in the UK. When steam specials rattle over it, it is something to behold.

Drive or cycle around and you’ll find unspoilt traditional villages such as Medbourne, perhaps the prettiest, with its ironstone cottages. Here we recommend the Nevill Arms as a base from which to explore. A friendly local and smart gastropub with rooms, it has a dining terrace beside a brook – and not a tourist bus or TikTok influencer in sight.

Market towns in the region, too, are worthy rivals to the likes of Cirencester. The Welland flows through water meadows at the centre of one of the most beautiful, the stone town of Stamford in Lincolnshire. No more distant from London than the Cotswold heartlands, it was recently rated by The Sunday Times as one of the best places to live in Britain. It is home to The George, admittedly not cheap, but, with its oak-panelled dining room and roast beef from the carver’s trolley, the very epitome of a traditional coaching inn.

South of Stamford is Oundle, on the River Nene, from where it is a short drive to the village of Barnwell and the Marriott family’s Lower Farm B&B. Very affordable, immaculate ground-floor rooms in a converted milking parlour and stables are grouped around a courtyard. After a good breakfast you can walk the Nene Way footpath, which runs through the farm.

Just over the border in Uppingham (rated ‘best place to live in the Midlands’ by The Times in 2022), and a lovely drive from Medbourne, Richard and Janine Burton’s Lake Isle restaurant with smart contemporary bedrooms has been a long-time favourite with Guide readers.

From there it is no distance to Rutland Water, overlooked by Hambleton Hall, another much-loved Guide hotel, the embodiment of country-house luxury. There are branches Hambleton’s eight artisan bakeries in both Oundle and Stamford if you want to take a picnic.

• See our current pick of the best hotels in Leicestershire.