20 top things to do and see in Shrewsbury: The best UK break you haven’t taken yet!
- teamthomastravels
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
If you’re looking for an English destination that feels like stepping into a storybook, you need to put Shrewsbury at the top of your list. While nearby Chester is famous for history, Stratford-upon-Avon has Tudor charm and Ludlow is renowned for its food scene, did you know that Shrewsbury has all of those things combined in one beautiful historic town?
Shrewsbury is an award-winning heavyweight. In the last few years alone, it has been named Britain’s Best High Street by The Telegraph, voted Britain’s Favourite Market and ranked by The Guardian and Rightmove as one of the happiest places to live in the UK. It even holds a global record, with BBC Radio 4 listing its historic jail as the 6th best dark tourism site in the world.
Wrapped in a loop of the River Severn, this gorgeous medieval market town is packed with more black-and-white timbered buildings than anywhere else in the UK and is packed with centuries of history for every kind of explorer. Here, you can follow in the footsteps of a young Charles Darwin, go behind the bars of a haunting Victorian prison, and even stay in the same inn as Henry Tudor before he marched to the Battle of Bosworth to defeat Richard III.
Whether you’re a history buff, a foodie looking for award-winning markets, or a family needing big green spaces and quirky corners to explore, Shrewsbury is a fantastic stop on the way to Wales, and a lovely English mini break in its own right. From real-life movie sets and haunted pubs to the grandfather of skyscrapers, here are 20 amazing reasons why this Shropshire star is one of the happiest and most fascinating towns to visit in 2026:
Top 20 Shrewsbury:
Walk in Darwin’s Footsteps: Visit the home town of Charles Darwin! While Mount House, his childhood home, is privately owned, you can still see the outside, visit his former school (now the town library), explore the quarry where the young naturalist searched for newts, stand by his statue and visit in February for the Darwin Festival (Feb 11th–12th) when Shrewsbury celebrates his birthday.
Historic Streets and Architecture: Shrewsbury is a living museum! Explore the famous Shutts (medieval alleyways) and admire one of the highest concentrations of half-timbered buildings in the UK, including Rowley’s House, Ireland’s Mansion, and Wyle Cop. Tudor houses, red brick Georgian terraces, Victorian churches and music halls, you can find them all in Shrewsbury.
Historic Mardol, one of Shrewsbury's oldest streets Royal Connections and Barracks Passage: Stay at the Henry Tudor Inn, where Henry VII slept on his way to the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. His soldiers were put up nearby, which is why the narrow walkway next to the inn is called Barracks Passage .
Britain’s Best High Street: Named by The Telegraph in 2025 for the second year running, Shrewsbury's town centre is a thriving haven for shoppers. Don't miss Wyle Cop, which boasts the longest row of uninterrupted independent shops in the UK, and The Parade shops, a fantastic collection of boutiques in the old Grade II listed Royal Salop Infirmary.
Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery: Located in the Square, this museum is free to enter and is housed in a spectacular building that blends the Victorian Music Hall with the 13th-century Vaughan's Mansion. It is the perfect place to discover the town's history from the Ice Age to the present day.
Shrewsbury Castle: Guarding the entrance to the town for nearly 1,000 years, this red sandstone fortress is a must-visit. Explore the beautiful grounds and visit the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum housed inside. N.B. The castle, museum and its grounds close over winter from December 14th - February 14th.
The Old Market Hall Cinema: Catch a film in one of the most unique settings in the UK. This tiny, beautiful independent cinema is housed inside the 16th-century Elizabethan market hall right in the heart of The Square.
The Rare Round Church: Visit St Chad’s, one of the few round churches in the country. It’s architecturally stunning and is where Darwin himself was christened. It's also where you'll also find the next hidden gem on our list...
A Real-Life Movie Set: Stand over the gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge! It was created for the 1984 filming of A Christmas Carol at St Chad’s and was so well-loved by locals that the town kept it.
Quirky and Historic Pubs: Sip a pint in the Three Fishes (the UK's first non-smoking pub way before the national ban, and one of many Tudor buildings on beautiful Fish Street), St Nicholas (a cool converted church that serves cocktails), or the Nag’s Head, a Georgian pub which famously houses a haunted painting so wicked that it's kept locked away upstairs...
The Award-Winning Market Hall: Voted Britain’s Favourite Market four times, Shrewsbury's 1960s Market Hall is the place to go for a amazing variety of artisan food, farm produce, antiques and beautiful crafts, all set beneath an iconic 240ft clock tower.
St Mary’s Church: For anyone who appreciates art and scale, St Mary’s is spectacular. It features one of the tallest spires in England and houses a world-renowned collection of stained glass, with some pieces dating back to the 14th century. Much of the glass was brought here from continental Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, creating an interior filled with light and colour that feels more like a cathedral than a parish church.
The Quarry Park: 29 acres of stunning green space where Charles Darwin used to look for newts. It’s home to The Dingle, a sunken botanical paradise created by the legendary Percy Thrower (the UK's first celebrity gardener).
The Cathedral and Town Walls: Walk along Town Walls, a street following the line of the ancient fortifications built by Henry III to defend against the Welsh. Along the way, you can spot the town's last remaining medieval watchtower and visit Shrewsbury’s stunning Pugin-designed Roman Catholic Cathedral.
The Sabrina Boat: Hop on the Sabrina for a guided trip to see the town from the water. For a special experience, look out for their themed evening cruises, ranging from gin tastings to spooky ghost tours. Season runs from 1st March - 31st October l
The Norman Abbey and Brother Cadfael: Just across the English Bridge sits the remains of magnificent Shrewsbury Abbey. Founded as a Benedictine monastery in 1083, it was once one of the most powerful and influential abbeys in the region. While much of the original monastic complex was destroyed during Henry VIII's Reformation, the stunning nave survived to become the parish church you see today. It remains world-famous as the atmospheric setting for Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael medieval mystery novels.
Tour The Dana Prison: This impressively bleak institution was built in 1793 and remained a working prison until 2013. Now an award-winning museum, it famously ranked 6th on a BBC Radio 4 list of the best dark tourism sites in the world and offers escape room challenges, ghost tours and guided visits led by former prison officers.
The Grandfather of Skyscrapers: Head slightly out of the centre to the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings. Built in 1797, this is the first iron-framed building in the world, making it the structural ancestor to every skyscraper from the Empire State Building to the Burj Khalifa. After decades of being closed to the public, Flaxmill Maltings has been brilliantly restored and now features an interactive museum and café,run by English Heritage, that tell the story of how a small Shropshire mill changed global architecture forever.
Attingham Park: A short drive out of town takes you to this spectacular 18th-century estate. Managed by the National Trust, it features a grand mansion, a huge deer park, and beautiful riverside walks.
Wroxeter Roman City: Just five miles from the town centre, you can step back even further in time. Wroxeter was once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, and today you can wander through the ruins of the bathhouse and see a beautifully reconstructed Roman townhouse.
Whether you’re visiting for a long weekend or just stopping by for the day, Shrewsbury has a way of drawing you in. It’s a town where you can start your morning in a world-class garden, spend your afternoon in a Victorian jail and finish the night in a pub that’s been serving pints since the 1400s.
Another reason to plan your trip? As of 2025, both The Guardian and Rightmove have officially ranked Shrewsbury as one of the happiest places to live in the UK. Once you’ve spent a few hours navigating the "Shutts" and exploring the riverbanks, you’ll see exactly why the locals are so smiley.
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