Peterborough’s Museum and art gallery sits in the historic Priestgate area of the city, and is home to both artefact and art collections. As well as permanent gallery exhibitions (which include wildlife and natural history exhibitions, and a deeply creepy Victorian operating theatre), visitors can see temporary exhibits designed to educate and entertain. There’s a spooky side to the building, too – eight separate ghosts are said to walk its rooms and grounds, and the Museum has its own “ghost cam” running permanently to try and capture evidence of ghoulish activity on screen! You can go on a ghost tour by candlelight, or if bloody history is more your thing why not get your just desserts with a Crime and Punishment tour?

Great for: Day Trips

History buffs, you’re in for a treat. Flag Fen is one of the best preserved Bronze Age sites in Europe, including the remains of a wooden causeway, the precise purpose of which is still unclear. The Fen site has yielded a significant quantity of treasure, and its Museum now has many of the objects on display, including the oldest wheel in Great Britain. As well as the Museum and Visitor Centre, which explain what life was like thousands of years ago, visitors can spend time in a real Bronze Age dwelling, experience the sights, sounds and smells of the agricultural lifestyle in the farm, and see the Must Farm boats – Bronze Age log boats stored in a cold facility to preserve their timber.

Great for: History

Historic Nene Valley Railway runs steam and diesel locomotives weekly, with a changing timetable according to the time of year. The Railway offers a variety of visitor experiences, including meals on special rail cars and “driver experiences”. Get behind the coal scuttle for a hands on look at how the railways used to run, or sit back and relax in comfort and style. The Nene Valley route contains many attractions with a rail history bent: one of the biggest still-working signal boxes in the country and the now-closed Stamford Branch Line are both on the itinerary. The railway terminates at Peterborough, where active and decommissioned rolling stock are kept.

Great for: Day Trips