If you're searching for quintessentially English countryside – green valleys, chocolate-box villages of wonky black-and-white timbered houses, woodlands steeped in legend and stately homes – you'll find it here in the country's heart.
You'll also find the relics of centuries of industrial history, exemplified by Ironbridge and the Derwent Valley, and by today's dynamic cities, including Birmingham: a canal-woven industrial crucible reinvented as a cultural and creative hub, with striking 21st-century architecture and vibrant nightlife. Beyond them are tumbling hills: walkers and cyclists flock to these pristine areas, the Peak District National Park and the Shropshire Hills in the Marches.
According to Lonely Planet, these are the top experiences and sights in the Midlands: Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
