Woodstock

So much has been written about this small historic country town clustered around the park gates of Blenheim Palace, the superb 18th century home of the Duke of Marlborough. The town has been welcoming visitors since the time of Henry II and its well-known inns, antique and other interesting shops.

See if you can spot the plaque marking the garden where the first Blenheim Orange apple tree grew. The stocks, complete with Stonesfield slate roof are near the lovely and interesting Museum of the Oxfordshire County Museum & Stanlake Store. Set in a fine town house with pleasant gardens, the Museum tells the story of the County - it's people, buildings and landscape.

Find out about Woodstock Steel and Glove-making before browsing in the bookshop. It also has a burial chamber from a Stone Age Barrow and Elizabethan wall painting.

Sir Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace and is buried at Bladon, 2m south.