Gloucester is the county town of Gloucestershire, set in the flat Severn Vale. It is a working city rather than a showpiece, but it has two extraordinary assets: a Norman cathedral and a set of Victorian docks that have been restored intelligently rather than sanitised.
The cathedral is genuinely stunning. The nave is Norman; the choir and cloisters are Perpendicular Gothic at its finest — the cloisters in particular, with their elaborate fan vaulting, were used as Hogwarts in the early Harry Potter films. The House of the Tailor of Gloucester, just outside the cathedral close, is the actual shop that Beatrix Potter used as the model for her story.
Gloucester Docks, a short walk from the centre, were once the largest inland docks in England. They now house the National Waterways Museum, the Regiments of Gloucestershire Museum, and the Robert Opie Collection (a vast archive of packaging and advertising). The dockside warehouses are handsome, and there are good independent cafes and bars along the waterfront.