Peterborough is easy to underestimate. From the train it can look like logistics sheds, ring roads, and post-war growth, but the city has one of England's finest cathedrals at its core and a much older story stretching into the fenland east of town.
Start with Peterborough Cathedral, whose great west front is spectacular even by English cathedral standards. Around it are the old precinct, Peterborough Guildhall, St John the Baptist Church, and Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.
The real surprise is how quickly the city opens into water, rail heritage, and archaeology. Railworld Wildlife Haven and the Nene Valley Railway sit close to the centre, while Flag Fen preserves a Bronze Age timber causeway in the low, wet landscape that shaped the region. Peterborough is not pretty all the way through, but it is much more rewarding than its reputation.