Barnard Castle, Lands End

Built around the ruins of the once mighty Barnard Castle, in terms of attractions, this picturesque market town punches far above its weight.

The Bowes Museum features paintings by El Greco and Goya and, most curiously, an ingenious 18^th-century automaton called the Silver Swan, a life-sized clockwork model of a swan in a stream that swims, preens herself and even catches a fish.