Doncaster is a South Yorkshire market town of around 110,000 people with a history that runs surprisingly deep. The Romans built a fort here — Danum — and the town has been a crossroads ever since, sitting where the Great North Road meets the Don Valley. Today it is best known for horse racing: Doncaster Racecourse is one of the oldest in England, and the St Leger Stakes, run here every September since 1776, is the world's oldest classic horse race. On race days the town comes alive with a buzz that reaches well beyond the track.
Doncaster Minster, sometimes called the "Minster on the Don," is a handsome Victorian-rebuilt church that anchors the town centre. Nearby, the Mansion House — one of only three civic mansion houses in England — is a fine Georgian building that occasionally opens for tours. The town's market, held in the Corn Exchange and spilling onto the surrounding streets, is one of the best in Yorkshire and has been trading since the Middle Ages.
Doncaster also has a proud railway heritage. The Doncaster Works built some of Britain's most famous locomotives, including the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard. The Danum Gallery, Library and Museum tells the full story from the Roman fort to the railway age. For a day out, the Yorkshire Wildlife Park is just outside town and has grown into one of England's better animal parks, with polar bears and lions on genuinely spacious grounds.
Getting here is easy — Doncaster sits on the East Coast Main Line and has fast trains to London, Leeds, and Edinburgh. The surrounding countryside is flat and not particularly dramatic, but the town itself rewards a stop, especially if you can time it with a race meeting or a Saturday market.