Photo of Wollaton Hall, a Grade II* registered house & garden in Nottinghamshire, central England.

Wollaton Hall© Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Places to explore near Derby

The factory system was born on the Derwent here, where Arkwright's water-powered mills strung along the valley now form a World Heritage Site. Derby stands at the southern gate of the Peak District, the last town before the hills. The limestone dale of Dovedale, with its stepping stones and pinnacles, lies to the north-west, and the ducal palace of Chatsworth House sits in its parkland beyond. Closer at hand, Robert Adam's Kedleston Hall crowns its landscaped grounds, and Mam Tor marks the divide between White and Dark Peak.

98 places within 25 km — the standouts first, nearest first within each group. 4 are national icons.

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Worth the tripnational icons and local highlights within reach

Photo of Derby Cathedral, a church in Derbyshire, central England.

Derby Cathedral

Church near Derby

Cathedral on Iron Gate with England's second-tallest medieval tower, Robert Bakewell's wrought ironwork and the tomb of Bess of Hardwick.

0.3 km N

Photo of Kedleston Hall, a Grade I registered house & garden in Derbyshire, central England.

Kedleston Hall

House & garden near Derby

Robert Adam's Palladian masterpiece and marble hall.

5.9 km NW

Photo of Repton, a village in Derbyshire, central England.

Repton

Former capital of Anglo-Saxon Mercia, its church hiding a rare 8th-century crypt where Mercian kings were buried.

10.5 km SW · Derbyshire

Photo of the River Trent, a 95-mile river navigation running from Shardlow to Trent Falls, central England.

River Trent

River navigation

The powerhouse river of the Midlands, navigable from Shardlow through Nottingham and Newark to the tidal reaches at Gainsborough.

10.7 km SE · Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire & Derbyshire

Photo of Melbourne, a village in Derbyshire, central England.

Melbourne

Attractive Georgian market town in south Derbyshire, home to Melbourne Hall and a great Norman parish church.

11.5 km S · Derbyshire

Photo of Belper North Mill, a landmark near Wirksworth, Derbyshire, central England.

Belper North Mill

Landmark near Wirksworth

Strutt's pioneering fireproof mill of 1804, housing the Derwent Valley visitor centre beside a great Georgian horseshoe weir.

11.9 km N

Photo of Calke Abbey, a Grade II* registered house & garden near Melbourne, Derbyshire, central England.

Calke Abbey

House & garden near Melbourne

The National Trust's un-restored country house, kept in the peeling, cluttered state it was found in, with an old deer park around it

13.3 km S

Photo of Breedon on the Hill, a village in Leicestershire, central England.

Breedon on the Hill

Village under a limestone crag crowned by a Saxon church, with a domed lock-up on the green below.

14.3 km S · Leicestershire

Photo of the Grand Union Canal, a 137-mile canal running from Brentford to Birmingham, England.

Grand Union Canal

London to Birmingham by water — the trunk route of the canal age, with arms reaching Leicester, Aylesbury, Northampton and Paddington.

14.9 km E · spans 9 counties

Photo of Wollaton Hall, a Grade II* registered house & garden in Nottinghamshire, central England.

Wollaton Hall

House & garden near Nottingham

Flamboyant Elizabethan hall in a deer park.

18.2 km E

Photo of Crich Tramway Village, a visitor attraction near Cromford, Derbyshire, central England.

Crich Tramway Village

Attraction near Cromford

National Tramway Museum near Crich, where vintage trams run through a recreated period street on a hillside above the Derwent.

18.7 km N

Photo of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, a village in Leicestershire, central England.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Historic market town in the National Forest, its Tudor castle ruins immortalised in Scott's Ivanhoe.

19.6 km S · Leicestershire

Photo of Sudbury Hall, a Grade II registered house & garden near Tutbury, Derbyshire, central England.

Sudbury Hall

House & garden near Tutbury

A Restoration mansion whose panelled Long Gallery played Pemberley in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.

19.8 km W

Photo of Ashbourne, a village in Derbyshire, central England.

Ashbourne

Handsome Georgian market town, gateway to Dovedale and home of the anarchic Royal Shrovetide Football played through its streets.

20 km NW · Derbyshire

Photo along the Pennine Bridleway, a 205-mile National Trail running from Middleton Top or Hartington to A683 at Cote Moor, England.

Pennine Bridleway

The Pennines for horse and bike — old packhorse trails and drovers' roads.

20.3 km NW · spans 6 counties

Photo of the Peak District, a National Park in England.

Peak District

National Park near Castleton

Britain's first national park: gritstone edges in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White.

20.8 km NW

Photo of Conkers, a visitor attraction near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, central England.

Conkers

Attraction near Ashby-de-la-Zouch

National Forest discovery centre at Moira, with indoor and outdoor play, trails and a treetop walkway.

21 km S

Photo of Moira Furnace, a landmark near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, central England.

Moira Furnace

Landmark near Ashby-de-la-Zouch

A rare surviving early-19th-century blast furnace beside the Ashby Canal, now a museum in the National Forest.

21.4 km S

Photo of Cromford Mill, a landmark in Derbyshire, central England.

Cromford Mill

Landmark near Cromford

Richard Arkwright's 1771 mill, the world's first successful water-powered cotton spinning works and heart of the Derwent Valley WHS.

21.5 km N

Photo of Nottingham Castle, a ruined castle in Nottinghamshire, central England.

Nottingham Castle

Castle near Nottingham

Ducal mansion on a caved sandstone rock.

21.8 km E

Photo of Cromford, a village in Derbyshire, central England.

Cromford

The cradle of the factory system, where Richard Arkwright built the world's first water-powered cotton mill in 1771.

21.8 km N · Derbyshire

Photo of Masson Mills, a landmark near Cromford, Derbyshire, central England.

Masson Mills

Landmark near Cromford

Arkwright's showpiece red-brick mill of 1783 on the Derwent at Matlock Bath, now a working textile museum.

21.9 km N

Photo of City of Caves, a cave in Nottinghamshire, central England.

City of Caves

Cave near Nottingham

Maze of man-made sandstone caves beneath Nottingham, medieval tannery and wartime air-raid shelters cut into the rock.

22.3 km E

Photo of Matlock Bath, a village in Derbyshire, central England.

Matlock Bath

Inland Victorian spa resort in the Derwent gorge, all amusement arcades, cable cars and autumn illuminations below wooded cliffs.

22.9 km N · Derbyshire

Photo of Tissington, a village in the Peak District, Derbyshire, central England.

Tissington

Picture-book estate village around a Jacobean hall, celebrated for its six ancient wells dressed with flower petals each Ascension.

23.9 km NW · Derbyshire

Photo of Lumsdale Falls, a waterfall near Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, central England.

Lumsdale Falls

Waterfall near Matlock Bath

Bentley Brook stepping down through the ruined water mills of the Lumsdale valley above Matlock — industrial archaeology dissolving into a fern gorge.

24.7 km N

Photo of Great Central Railway, a visitor attraction near Quorn, Leicestershire, central England.

Great Central Railway

Attraction near Quorn

Britain's only double-track heritage main line, running steam and diesel trains between Loughborough and Leicester North.

24.7 km SE

Also nearbygood places nearby, nearest first

Photo along the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, a 55-mile long-distance path running from Ladybower Reservoir to Shardlow, central England.

Derwent Valley Heritage Way

Long-distance path

Ladybower to the Trent down the Derbyshire Derwent, through the mill valley where the factory system began.

0.2 km NE · Derbyshire

Photo of Derby Arboretum, a Grade II* registered house & garden in Derbyshire, central England.

Derby Arboretum

House & garden near Derby

The country's first park built purely for public use, laid out by J.C. Loudon in 1840.

1.2 km S

Photo of Elvaston Castle Country Park, a country park in Derbyshire, central England.

Elvaston Castle Country Park

Country park near Derby

A country park in Derbyshire.

5.8 km SE

Photo of Elvaston Castle, a Grade II* registered house & garden in Derbyshire, central England.

Elvaston Castle

House & garden near Derby

A Gothic-revival house whose topiary grounds became one of England's first country parks.

6.6 km SE

Photo of the Trent & Mersey Canal, a 93-mile canal running from Preston Brook to Shardlow, England.

Trent & Mersey Canal

Brindley's Grand Trunk of 1777 — Potteries bottle kilns, the Anderton Boat Lift and the long darkness of Harecastle Tunnel.

6.8 km S · Staffordshire, Cheshire & Derbyshire

Photo of Duffield Castle, a castle in Derbyshire, central England.

Duffield Castle

Castle near Derby

A National Trust place in Derbyshire.

7.9 km N

Photo of Cat and Fiddle Mill, a windmill near Dale Abbey, Derbyshire, central England.

Cat and Fiddle Mill

Windmill near Dale Abbey

A rare preserved Midlands-type post mill at Dale Abbey, one of only a handful left standing in the country.

9.1 km NE

Photo of Shipley Country Park, a country park near Eastwood, Derbyshire, central England.

Shipley Country Park

Country park near Eastwood

A country park in Derbyshire.

10 km NE

Photo along the National Forest Way, a 75-mile long-distance path running from National Memorial Arboretum to Beacon Hill Country Park, central England.

National Forest Way

Long-distance path

The National Memorial Arboretum to Beacon Hill through the young woods of the National Forest, planted across the old coalfield.

11 km S · Leicestershire, Derbyshire & Staffordshire

Everything else within 25 km (62) — reserves, earthworks & places to check before travelling

Melbourne HallHouse & garden11.9 km S
River GardensHouse & garden12.1 km N
Erewash CanalCanal12.6 km E
Scaddows Farm & VineyardVineyard13.3 km S
St Mary and St Hardulph, BreedonChurch13.9 km S
Robin Hood WayLong-distance path14 km E
Three Horseshoes, Breedon on the HillPub14.3 km S
Heage WindmillWindmill14.6 km N
River SoarRiver navigation14.9 km E
Holy Trinity, Staunton HaroldChurch15.5 km S
Staunton Harold HallHouse & garden15.8 km S
Ye Olde Dog & PartridgePub15.8 km SW
St Mary's Priory Church, TutburyChurch15.8 km SW
Alport HeightCountry estate16.1 km N
White Peak DistilleryDistillery16.3 km N
Midland Railway Centre Country ParkCountry park16.5 km NE
TutburyVillage17.2 km SW
Bluebell Arboretum and NurseryGarden17.4 km S
Darley AbbeyAbbeyaccess unclear2.2 km N
Rykneld Street Roman roadRoman archaeological siteaccess unclear3.5 km SW
Breadsall Railway CuttingSSSIaccess unclear4.4 km NE
Kedleston ParkSSSIaccess unclear4.5 km NW
Allestree ParkCounty topaccess unclear4.6 km N
Boulton MoorSSSIaccess unclear5.2 km SE
Motte south-west of Morley House FarmEarthworks of a former castleaccess unclear6.2 km NE
Morley Brick PitsSSSIaccess unclear6.5 km NE
Horsley CastleCastleaccess unclear7.4 km N
Swarkestone Old HallHouse & gardenaccess unclear7.9 km S
Twelfth century tower keep castleCastleaccess unclear7.9 km N
Twyford hengeHengeaccess unclear8.1 km S
Dale AbbeyAbbeyaccess unclear8.7 km E
Mercaston Marsh and Muggington BottomsSSSIaccess unclear10.2 km NW
St Wystan's Church, ReptonChurch10.4 km SW
Rykneld Street section of Roman roadRoman archaeological siteaccess unclear10.6 km N
Donington ParkSSSIaccess unclear10.9 km SE
Hilton Gravel PitsSSSIaccess unclear10.9 km SW
Melbourne CastleCastleaccess unclear11.5 km S
Ticknall QuarriesSSSI11.8 km S
Calke ParkNational Nature Reserve12.6 km S
Mount PleasantSSSIaccess unclear13.1 km NW
Carver's RocksSSSIaccess unclear13.3 km S
Old River Dove, Marston on DoveSSSIaccess unclear13.5 km SW
DimminsdaleSSSIaccess unclear13.6 km S
Breedon HillSSSI13.7 km S
Lockington MarshesSSSIaccess unclear14 km SE
Hulland MossSSSI14.1 km NW
Bretby CastleCastleaccess unclear14.3 km SW
RobbinettsSSSIaccess unclear14.8 km E
Ambergate and Ridgeway QuarriesSSSIaccess unclear15.2 km N
Breedon Cloud Wood and QuarrySSSIaccess unclear15.5 km S
Attenborough Gravel PitsSSSIaccess unclear15.7 km E
Shining Cliff WoodsSSSIaccess unclear15.7 km N
EastwoodVillage15.7 km NE
Crich ChaseSSSIaccess unclear15.8 km N
Cromford CanalSSSIaccess unclear15.8 km N
Codnor CastleCastleaccess unclear15.9 km NE
Tutbury CastleCastleaccess unclear16 km SW
Pasture and Asplin WoodsSSSIaccess unclear16.1 km SE
Windmill HillCounty topaccess unclear16.8 km NE
Kimberley Railway CuttingSSSIaccess unclear16.9 km NE
Burton upon Trent AbbeyAbbeyaccess unclear17 km SW
Lount MeadowsSSSI17.2 km S

Ordered by how far each place is worth travelling for, then by distance. Distances are straight-line to the nearest edge of each place — paths wind, of course.