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The Black Country Living Museum in Dudley is an open-air museum of rebuilt, replica and recreated shops, houses and industrial workshops, spread across 26 acres of former industrial land. Historic characters in period settings chat to visitors and demonstrate traditional skills, such as hand-forging nails and casting brass. The visit is self-guided, so you can explore at your own pace.

Tip: Allow 4 to 5 hours, and head first to the trams or trolleybuses to reach the village at the heart of the site.

West Midlands Safari Park, near Bewdley in Worcestershire, combines a drive-through safari with walk-through animal areas and an adventure theme park. The four-mile Safari Drive takes you past lions, giraffes, rhinos, tigers and more, including white lions and cheetahs, with the cheetah reserve billed as the UK's largest drive-by one.

Blists Hill is an open-air museum on a former industrial site in Madeley, Telford, recreating the sights, sounds and smells of a working-class Victorian town. It is set in the year 1900 and opened in 1973. You can wander through shops and cottages, including a bank, bakery, chemist, printer, post office and fish and chip shop, with costumed demonstrators showing the skills of each trade.

Tip: Check the National Trust Ironbridge Gorge website before you go, as visits to Blists Hill may need to be booked in advance.

Pitchford Hall is a Grade I listed Tudor country house about six miles from Shrewsbury, built around 1560. Its timber-framed, black-and-white look is striking, and the estate has an orangery and walled garden. Queen Victoria stayed here as a young princess, and during the Second World War the house was chosen as a possible retreat for the royal family.

Tip: Tours of the hall, grounds and treehouse need to be booked in advance through Invitation to View.

Dudley Zoo & Castle is a 40-acre zoo within the grounds of Dudley Castle, in the Black Country. It opened in 1937 and is run today by a registered charity. The castle ruins share the wooded hillside with the animal enclosures.

Tip: The site is steep, and the car park is barrier-operated with a token needed to exit, so keep that in mind when you arrive.

Wenlock Priory is a ruined monastery on the edge of Much Wenlock, in Shropshire, cared for by English Heritage. An Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded here around AD 680, and it was later refounded as a Cluniac priory. The layout of the church and monastic buildings is still clearly visible, and parts of the great 13th-century church stand high.

Tip: Advance tickets can be booked online through English Heritage.

Shrewsbury Castle is a Grade I listed red sandstone castle standing on a hill in the neck of the River Severn's meander. Ordered by William I around 1067, it was extended as a base for operations into Wales. Parts of the original medieval structure remain, including the inner bailey.

Tip: Access to the castle grounds is free, so you can look around them even if you don't go into the museum.

Coalport China Museum tells the story of Coalport china, a maker of fine British chinaware that was based on this site until the factory closed and production moved to Stoke-on-Trent. It stands in the village of Coalport, on the northern bank of the River Severn, within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, considered the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

Tip: Head for the hands-on workshop area if you want to try painting; extra ceramic activities run in the school holidays.