Tydd St Giles Resort

Sandringham House is a royal country house on a large estate in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is owned personally by the monarch rather than the Crown, and the house is Grade II* listed. The landscaped gardens, park and woodlands are on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, and the site has a history stretching back to Elizabethan times.

Tip: If you're bringing a dog, check the estate's dog-friendly areas on its website before you set off.

Peckover House is a Georgian merchant's townhouse in Wisbech, built in 1722 and home to the Quaker Peckover banking family for 150 years. Inside are panelled rooms, Georgian fireplaces and ornate plasterwork, plus a library, a cabinet of curiosities and an exhibition on the family's banking business in the surviving part of the old Banking Hall.

Tip: The house and garden keep different opening days, so check the National Trust page before you set off. Parking is in town, with Chapel Road the nearest car park.

Ely Cathedral stands above the flat Fenland landscape, which is why locals call it "the ship of the Fens". The earliest parts of the present building date to 1083, and it is one of the largest Norman churches built in its day. Its nave is among the longest in Britain, and the central Octagon, with its lantern above, creates a remarkable space inside.

Tip: Book tickets and tours in advance, as tour places are limited, and check opening times first because it is a busy working cathedral.

Castle Rising is a ruined medieval castle in the Norfolk village of the same name, built soon after 1138 by William d'Aubigny II. It was designed as part fortress, part palatial hunting lodge, with a deer park behind it. Queen Isabella lived here after her fall from power in 1330, and entertained her son, Edward III, on several occasions.

Burghley House is one of the largest and grandest houses of the 16th century, built for William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I. It is still a family home, and the State Rooms are full of paintings and treasures, including ceiling paintings on the Heaven Room and Hell Staircase and carvings by Grinling Gibbons.

Tip: Book online in advance to save money on the day. Dogs on leads can use the parkland, but not the house, gardens or adventure play.

Oxburgh Hall is a moated medieval manor house near Swaffham, with Victorian Gothic interiors. It was built in the 1480s for the Bedingfeld family, who still live in private apartments there. You cross the moat to a tall brick gatehouse, then explore the hall, which has a priest hole and needlework hangings worked by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick.

Tip: Parking is free on site, and the hall is about 250 metres from the main car park along a flat gravel path.

Holkham Hall is an 18th-century Neo-Palladian country house, designed by William Kent for Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. It is Grade I listed and still the ancestral home of the Coke family. Inside, you can see the Marble Hall, made of pink Derbyshire alabaster, and the Saloon with its red velvet walls. Guided cellar and attic tours take you behind the scenes.

Tip: You can book the Hall, Walled Garden and Holkham Stories in advance, and the ropes course too. Check opening times first, as they vary.

Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, a few miles north-west of Bourne on the A151. Despite the name it isn't a castle in the strict sense, but its towers and outlying pavilions give it a massive, fortress-like look. Much of the Tudor house still stands, and Sir John Vanbrugh designed the Baroque north front, which is regarded as his last masterpiece.

Tip: Head for the Vanbrugh hall and State Dining Room first, then take in the parkland.