There's a heated outdoor saltwater pool in the Midlands whose water is so salty it rivals the Dead Sea. That alone should put Droitwich Spa, a small town in Worcestershire, on your weekend list. The town sits on natural salt deposits that mix with the water table to produce a brine roughly ten times saltier than seawater — the reason a settlement existed here since Roman times and why King John granted it a Royal Charter in 1215.
Salt made the town; spa culture made it famous. In the late 1800s, entrepreneur John Corbett opened the first brine baths, turning Droitwich from an industrial salt town into a proper spa destination. The original baths have since closed, but the salt story is still everywhere. St. Richard's House, a former spa building, now holds the Heritage Centre and town council offices, while the historic Droitwich Spa Lido — that famous outdoor brine pool — has been renovated with modern facilities and full accessibility, keeping its period character intact.
Walking is the main event here. A self-guided Heritage Town Walk strings together Lido Park, the Droitwich Canal, the historic Upwich Brine Pit and the allegedly haunted Priory House. If you'd rather skip the history, the four-mile Water Tower Loop offers gentle countryside right on the town's doorstep. Longer options abound: the 6.75-mile Hanbury Circular Route follows canals and hedgerows around the National Trust's Hanbury Hall with big views from higher ground and takes three to four hours. Keen walkers can tackle the 21-mile Mid Worcestershire Ring, a canal-and-river loop through to Worcester, or the 40-mile Wychavon Way, which runs all the way to Broadway in the Cotswolds and links up with the Cotswold Way.
The shopping is small-town but genuinely pleasant. High Street and St. Andrews Street are lined with whitewashed brick and half-timbered buildings housing independents like Antique and Vintage by Luca de Luca, a two-floor antiques shop where you can also sell, and The Crafty Cafe, which runs workshops in painting, pottery and even Lego alongside the coffee and cake. The St. Andrews Square shopping centre covers the practical side with more than 30 retailers, including Boots, Morrisons and family-run bakery MegsPegs. Ten minutes' drive east, the Jinney Ring Craft Centre adds galleries and artisan studios, plus a glassblowing taster session at Top Glass where you can make your own paperweight.
Why bother with a town of fewer than 28,000 people between Birmingham and Worcester? Because it delivers the classic English spa-town experience — history, thermal culture, canal-side walking — without the crowds of Bath, which is two hours away by car if you want the big-name version afterwards. Droitwich is about ten minutes by train from Worcester and under an hour's drive from Birmingham, making it an easy day trip or a quiet base for a few days in the Worcestershire countryside.
Original source: Islands.
