Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

Climb up the Clent Hills on a clear day and you can see over to the Cotswolds, Peak District and Black Mountains in Wales. From atop the Malverns, you’ve a 4,500-acre Worcestershire vista to gawp at. This eight-mile ridge is made from some of the oldest rock in Britain.

Arts and culture

Visit the birthplace of the county’s homegrown hero in Lower Broadheath – the Elgar Birthplace Museum (www.elgarfoundation.org) lets you see the composer’s gramophone, manuscripts and study just as he left them. Expressive arts do well at the Malvern Theatres (www.malvern-theatres.co.uk), famous for previewing plays before they up sticks for the West End. Cross the moat at Harvington Hall (www.harvingtonhall.com), an Elizabethan manor near Kidderminster, to discover original wall-paintings and a series of priest holes.

Something for nothing

Try out your ghost-busting skills at Clifton-upon-Teme – you’re looking for a phantom horse and cart residents believe they saw passing through the village. And Ye Olde Black Cross in Bromsgrove is allegedly haunted by a soldier in search of Charles II during the Battle of Worcester.

Shopping

For antiques, head to the age-old market town of Bridgnorth, or the boutiques of Bewdley on the banks of the Severn and edge of the Wyre Forest. Pick up some Royal Worcester porcelain from the museum in Worcester. Teme Valley has a farmers’ market on the second Sunday of each month.

Daytripper

If big-city lights are calling, venture over to Birmingham for the day to shop at the Selfridges-toting Bullring or the boutique-stuffed Mailbox. Recharge your cultural batteries at the Ikon Gallery (www.ikon-gallery.co.uk), where a changing series of contemporary art exhibitions covers painting, installations, video and more.

Perfect picnic

Make your choice from the local breads, cakes, meats, cheeses and 200 varieties of fruit and veg on sale at Bells Farm Shop (+44 (0)1299 251364) in Hartlebury (near Stourport), pack it up in your Sunday-best wicker basket and head to Shrawley, a pretty village by the Severn. Walk through sun-dappled woods (bluebell-carpeted in May) then choose a quiet spot at the water’s edge.

Walks

Choose from 100 miles of paths in the Malvern Hills – set off from British Camp (an Iron Age hill fort) and march along to Malvern for a deserved cream tea on arrival.

Children

Stourport-on-Severn is a bijou-Blackpool with enough amusements to entertain young minds for a few hours. The fish and chips and ice cream feel a bit seaside, too. Spot elephants, rhinos and wild dogs at the West Midland Safari and Leisure Park (+44 (0)1299 402114), and get dizzy on the theme park’s 30 rides.

Activities

Take a boat trip down the longest river in Britain – set sail from Worcester, Stourport-on-Severn and Upton-on-Severn with Severn Leisure Cruises (www.severnleisurecruises.co.uk) or board a barge with Dream Catcher (+44 (0)1384 562358) for a catered cruise along the Worcester–Birmingham canal. In Worcester, take a walking tour with Discover History (+44 (0)7949 222137). Indulge in the holistic and therapeutic treatments on offer at the Elms hotel’s Aquae Sulis spa. Walk, cycle and horse ride in the Malvern Hills. There’s even mountain boarding – like snow boarding, but without the snow – at Woodend Farm’s Out to Grass Mountain Board Centre (+44 (0)1886 880099). Just north of Worcester, there’s a spectacular ruin of what was once one of the grandest homes in Britain – the Italianate Witley Court (+44 (0)1299 896636), scene of many a 19th-century society gathering.

And

The Bredon Hill Standing Stones are steeped in superstition. It’s thought one of them – the Bambury Stone – hobbles along to the riverbanks for a drink when the abbey’s bells chime midnight. And the stones are known for their supposed healing properties – locals used to send their ailing kindred to pass between them in hope of a cure.