Come and walk through thousands of years of Buckinghamshire’s national and cultural heritage at the many museums across the county, including Bucks County Museum, Wycombe Museum and Amersham Museum, Visit Bucks Old Gaol, where you are taken back over 270 years of dark, damp, desperate prison life. Explore the cells that housed murderers, counterfeiters, poachers and thieves and find out who made daring escapes, and who didn’t survive to tell the tale. Continuing on this theme, Hellfire Caves are a network of man-made chalk and flint caverns which extend a quarter of a mile (500 metres) underground. They are situated above the village of West Wycombe, and the caves run deep into the hillside above West Wycombe Village and directly beneath St Lawrence’s Church and Mausoleum (which were constructed by Sir Francis Dashwood around the same time the caves were excavated). Buckinghamshire annually throws some fantastic cultural spectacles. Arts at Stowe has a hugely diverse schedule of productions including opera, children’s theatre and musical legends – some of which are outdoors, so you can enjoy them al fresco with a picnic! Queens Park Arts Centre presents intimate, contemporary gigs, and also runs a range of workshops that are perfect for any budding performers. Whereas Aylesbury Waterside Theatre and Wycombe Swan attract those bigger touring productions.

Bucks Open Studios launches every June and hosts more than 600 artist’s exhibitions in 200 venues across the county. Claydon Courtyard on the Claydon Estate, a national trust property, is establishing itself as a hub for arts and craft businesses, including workshops. Claydon’s incredible Courtyard was once the bustling heart of the Estate. It housed workshops, stables, coach houses, estate stores, the laundry, brew house and staff accommodation. Take lunch in the courtyard cafe before heading off to look round the estate house and gardens.

Obsidian Art, near Aylesbury, is one of the largest art galleries in Buckinghamshire. They run an exciting programme of exhibitions, exhibiting a broad range of selected paintings, printmaking, sculptures, glass, ceramics, jewellery, photography and crafts by some of the best British artists and makers. Why not combine a visit to the art gallery with one of the number of arts and craft workshops that take place there?