Bingham doesn't make many best-of lists, which is exactly its appeal. This Nottinghamshire market town — about 15 minutes by train from Nottingham, and an hour and 20 minutes' drive from both Sheffield and Northampton — has quietly built a reputation for good food, Georgian and Victorian streetscapes, and walks that slip from history into open countryside.
The town has been on the map since at least the 11th century, and its market charter dates to 1314, when it was known for its hogs. The market lapsed for centuries before being revived in 1975; today it fills the square every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (weather permitting), alongside a farmer's market on the third Saturday of each month. The square itself is anchored by a 19th-century octagonal Gothic revival Buttercross, and the town holds more than 25 listed buildings — headlined by St Mary and All Saints, a parish church begun in the 1200s and completed in 1320, complete with 16th- and 17th-century bells.
But food is the real draw now. Bingham's dining scene runs on independent, locally owned spots that source from area suppliers. Circle Eatery and Number Sixteen, a breakfast and lunch institution on the square, are local staples. Yeung Sing, the town's oldest restaurant at over 35 years in business, serves Cantonese food in a 1920s Shanghai-style interior and holds a 4.8-star Google rating. Butler's Coffee House, also at 4.8 stars, occupies a former butcher shop — the original marble counter survives, now topped with matcha lattes, blondies and sausage rolls (vegan and vegetarian options included). For an overnight stay, the Wheatsheaf is a contemporary gastropub and B&B set in an 18th-century building with flagstone floors and roaring fires.
Two walks round out a visit. The 2.25-mile Station Walk starts at the 1857 railway station, passes the church, and crosses a deserted medieval village — its foundations visible only from above — before finishing at the 1879 station master's house, chimney stacks intact. The Bingham Linear Park nature reserve follows the old railway corridor abandoned in 1962, now reclaimed by wild plants and wildlife. Local volunteers from Friends of Bingham Linear Park welcome visitors on third Sundays to help survey the park's birds and butterflies.
Why bother with a small town you've never heard of? Because Bingham delivers the classic English market-town experience — charter history, a living square, honest pubs — without coach-party crowds, and it pairs perfectly with a day in underrated Nottingham. Trains run on the Nottingham–Skegness line, making an easy car-free day trip, and East Midlands Airport is only about 40 minutes away by road for those flying in. Come on a Thursday, eat well, and walk it off along the old tracks.
