Tickhill Alpacas

For more animal encounters, Yorkshire Wildlife Park (20 minutes’ drive) is home to big cats, red pandas and sea lions. There’s also a dinosaur park with lifesize moving brachiosaurs and stegosaurs. Those who are after gentler animal sightings can head to Potteric Carr Nature Reserve (15 minutes), which has meadows, woodland trails and ponds teeming with butterflies, wetland birds and roe deer. If you’re keen to improve your swing and lower your handicap, you’ve come to the right place. This is golf country, with several courses in the vicinity, including Styrrup Hall (10 minutes), Crookhill Park (15 minutes) and Rotherham (20 minutes). Around Doncaster (20 minutes), you can check out attractions like the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, with its wartime planes and fast jets, Georgian-era Cusworth Hall, with a museum on 18th-century life and extensive parkland, and the evocative ruins of 12th-century Conisbrough Castle, on the outskirts of the town.