The East Midlands is Britain's quiet backlot. Within a couple of hours of Market Harborough you can drive from a dragon's lair to Pemberley, from Wayne Manor to Windsor Castle's stand-in — all of it real, all of it on public roads. Fly into Heathrow, Gatwick or Luton, take the East Midlands Railway fast train from London St Pancras to Market Harborough in around 55 minutes, and collect your MGF at the station exit. Stow the weekend bags in the boot and behind the seats, drop the roof, and point the bonnet north.
MG MGF
Winnats Pass, the Derwent Valley estate roads and the B6047 ridgeway were made for a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive roadster. The MGF is small enough for Castleton's lanes, balanced enough for the limestone hairpins, and looks entirely at home parked in front of Chatsworth or Wollaton Hall with the top down.
Check availabilityThe route, stage by stage
- 01
Day 1 — Market Harborough to the Southern Peak District
~65 miles, 1 hr 45 min. North through Charnwood Forest and the A511, then off the motorways onto B-roads past Ashbourne and into the limestone valleys. Ride the gorge cable cars at Matlock Bath and the Heights of Abraham, then walk the Georgian sweep of Buxton Crescent — both regulars in BBC period drama. Lunch or dinner at The Blind Bull in Little Hucklow, Britain's fifth oldest pub, dating to the 12th century. Overnight in Buxton or Castleton.
- 02
Day 2 — Dragons, princesses and limestone passes
~20 miles, 45 min of pure B-road driving. Buxton to Winnats Pass — a towering natural ravine of hairpins tuned to the MGF's sharp steering and open-air soundtrack — then Castleton. Walk into Cave Dale, the collapsed-cavern gorge used for Daemon Targaryen's dragon lair in House of the Dragon and for cult scenes in The Princess Bride. Go underground at Treak Cliff Cavern for the Blue John veins, and finish at Stoney Middleton, where the runaway steam train plunge was filmed for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Overnight in Castleton, Hope Valley or Bakewell.
- 03
Day 3 — Pemberley and Tudor intrigue
~18 miles, 40 min. Sweeping estate roads tracing the River Derwent. Chatsworth House is the definitive stately home: Pemberley in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice (2005), plus Peaky Blinders and The Duchess. Haddon Hall, one of Britain's best-preserved medieval manors, played Prince Humperdinck's castle in The Princess Bride and appears in The Other Boleyn Girl and several Jane Eyre adaptations. Stroll Bakewell — Austen's fictional Lambton — and buy a genuine Bakewell pudding. Overnight in Bakewell or Derby.
- 04
Day 4 — Dark knights, Robin Hood and caves
~42 miles, 1 hr 15 min. East out of the high peaks into Nottinghamshire's wooded countryside. Wollaton Hall is Christopher Nolan's real-world Wayne Manor from The Dark Knight Rises — park on the deer park grounds and tour the Elizabethan hall and 500 acres of parkland. Then Nottingham Castle and the City of Caves for the Robin Hood legend and the sandstone tunnels beneath the streets, finishing in the Lace Market and Broad Street, whose brick warehouses double for gritty period cityscapes. Overnight in Nottingham or the Vale of Belvoir.
- 05
Day 5 — Royal palaces, Da Vinci codes and the run home
~55 miles, 1 hr 30 min. A scenic loop through the Vale of Belvoir: open curves, thatched hamlets and roads built for top-down cruising. Belvoir Castle, high above the plain, stood in for Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace in Netflix's The Crown, Castel Gandolfo in The Da Vinci Code and appears in The Young Victoria. Pause in Melton Mowbray, England's rural food capital, for hand-raised pork pies and Stilton, then follow the B6047 south over the Leicestershire ridges back to Market Harborough. Hand the keys back at the station and take the 55-minute fast train to London St Pancras.
Stops worth making
- Matlock Bath and the Heights of Abraham
- Buxton Crescent
- Winnats Pass and Cave Dale, Castleton
- Treak Cliff Cavern and Stoney Middleton
- Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall
- Wollaton Hall and the City of Caves, Nottingham
- Belvoir Castle and Melton Mowbray
Driving notes for visitors
- Winnats Pass is steep, narrow and busy with walkers. Take it slowly, and note it closes in ice and heavy weather.
- Castleton, Bakewell and Chatsworth car parks fill by mid-morning in summer — start early or arrive late afternoon.
- Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Belvoir Castle and Wollaton Hall all have seasonal opening days. Book tickets before you set off.
- Drive on the left, the national speed limit on single carriageways is 60mph, and roundabouts give priority to traffic from your right.
Remember: drive on the left, the national speed limit on single carriageways is 60mph, and roundabouts give priority to traffic from your right.