In the footsteps of royalty - A Warwickshire royal trail

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry

There's fascinating material on the saga of Mary, Queen of Scots in the archives at the Herbert, which holds a letter from Elizabeth I to the mayor explaining her order to bring "the Scottyshe Queene to that our towne of Coventrie and there to see hir safely kept and garded." Don't miss the Discover Godiva Gallery, which unpicks the notorious story of why Leofric, Earl of Mercia's wife Lady Godiva rode naked through Coventry in 1040. Queen Elizabeth I, visiting Coventry in 1566, was entertained with a pageant about Godiva and was presented with a silver-gilt cup filled with £100 in gold.

Travel

• 5 minutes

Stop 2: St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry

Bayley Lane, Coventry, CV1 5RN

The Tudor treasure of St Mary's Guildhall is the rare Coventry Tapestry, specifically woven for this wonderful medieval guildhall and featuring King Henry VI and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou - Coventry was once dubbed her "secret arbour." Ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in the guildhall in 1569, was probably a lesser fan of the then town.

Travel

• 12 miles, 20 minutes

Stop 3: Roman Mancetter and Boudica Heritage Centre

Stop 4: Overnight stay in Warwick

Warwick. Numerous public car parks.

Head over to Warwick for an overnight stay, just like many before you. For example, the Warwick Arms on the High Street - a coaching inn since 1591, rebuilt after the town's great fire of 1694 and recently renovated has hosted Admiral Nelson, Mark Twain and Frank Sinatra across its long history. Dine out at one of the many independent restaurants in town after a day exploring north Warwickshire.

Stop 5: Warwick Castle

Warwick, CV34 6AU 

Discover 1,000 years of royal history in Warwick, where Saxon Queen Ethelfleda founded a ‘burh’ (fortified settlement) in AD 914 and William the Conqueror built an 11th century castle. King Henry VIII, who owned the later medieval castle, held court here, endowed the town and provided for “a skolemaister’ (modern royals have also visited the school). Meanwhile Queen Elizabeth I threw the town's dignitaries into a flap in 1672 when muddy roads made her alter her itinerary. The weather was kinder in 1986 when Princess Diana opened the recreated Victorian Rose Garden in the castle.

Highlights of a visit today include The Kingmaker walk-through attraction bringing to life the drama of Richard Neville during the Wars of the Roses - "Thou setter up and plucker down of Kings." Or immerse yourself in The Royal Weekend Party, recreating the social whirl of Francis and Daisy Greville, 5th Earl and Countess of Warwick. Daisy was the mistress of the Prince of Wales - later King Edward VII - in the 1890s, and the royal guest visited on some 40 occasions.

Travel

• 5 miles, 10 minutes

Stop 6: Stoneleigh Abbey

Stoneleigh, Kenilworth CV8 2LF 

Imagine the surprise when an 18th century visitor to Stoneleigh Abbey spotted an eye in a painting of a vase of flowers and, after paint removal, a portrait of Charles I was revealed. During the Civil War the Abbey's owner Sir Thomas Leigh had supported Charles, giving him shelter in 1642 when Coventry had refused him entry. But why was the King's portrait later painted over? Join a guided tour to find out, and hear anecdotes about other royal guests - when Queen Victoria stayed, her technophile husband Albert was fascinated by the newfangled flushing lavatory, which you can see, as well as the Queen's recreated bedroom. Open Sunday - Thursdays.

Travel

• 4 miles, 10 minutes

Stop 7: Royal Leamington Spa

So why is Leamington Spa Royal? It's thanks to Queen Victoria: as an 11-year-old princess she visited in 1830 and stayed in the Regent Hotel (named by permission of the Prince Regent) and was later successfully lobbied to grant the town its regal prefix in 1838. Admire the suitably majestic statue to the Queen outside the Town Hall, browse the town's noted Georgian, Regency and Victorian architecture. Visit the Pump Rooms and take a stroll in Victoria Park, opened to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 1899.

Royal Leamington Spa makes a natural overnight stop, its elegant Regency streets and independent restaurants rewarding an evening's exploration. Dine out at one of the many independent restaurants and bars the town is known for before a morning stroll through the gardens ahead of the next day's journey south.

Stop 8: Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden

Castle Road, Kenilworth CV8 1NG 

Follow in Elizabeth I's footsteps to Kenilworth Castle, which the Queen gave to her favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Desperate to win her hand in marriage, Dudley laid on 19 days of “Princely Pleasures” for her in 1575 - firework displays, music, dancing, theatre, bearbaiting, hunting, speeches and feasting - but despite it all, the Virgin Queen withstood poor Dudley's romantic advances. Learn more in the exhibition in Leicester's Gatehouse, gaze from the tower Dudley built for Elizabeth's use, and wander the authentically recreated garden where he beguiled her with arbours, a bejewelled aviary and a magnificent fountain.

Kenilworth has many further intriguing royal stories, from King John to King Charles I, who stayed here in 1644 - the castle changed hands twice during the English Civil War.

Travel

• 13 miles, 22 minutes

Stop 9: Charlecote Park

Wellesbourne, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV35 9ER. 

Queen Elizabeth I's legendary summer progresses (royal tours) came through Warwickshire on numerous occasions. In 1572 she spent two nights at the Lucy family home at Charlecote Park and slept in the Great Bedchamber that later became the Drawing Room - you can still see the coat-of-arms over Charlecote's front porch that proudly commemorates the visit. The Lucys had a less auspicious brush with royalty later when Catherine, widow of Thomas Lucy (d. 1684), departed with most of the family jewels and secretly married Charles II's illegitimate son, George Fitzroy, Duke of Northumberland. Discover more tales on a visit and enjoy fabulous strolls in the park.

Travel

• 10 miles, 18 minutes

Stop 10: Battle of Edgehill Exhibition, Radway

St Peter's Church, Tysoe Road, Radway, Warwickshire, CV35 0BS

Artefacts, interactive displays and films in this exhibition investigate what happened at Edgehill in 1642, the first pitched battle of the Civil War. Who were the heroes or villains? Walk the trail across the battlefield where Royalists under Charles I and Prince Rupert were brutally pitted against Parliamentarians under the Earl of Essex - both sides would claim victory. Finish the visit with a climb up the escarpment for panoramic views over the site.

Travel

• 12 miles, 20 minutes

Stop 11: Coughton Court

Coughton, Alcester B49 5JA

Henry VIII's break with the Church of Rome so that he could divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn ushered in dangerous times for Catholic families like the Throckmortons of Coughton Court, and Sir George Throckmorton famously clashed with King Hal. At the family home today you can see prized Catholic relics once hidden away, including an ornately embroidered purple velvet cope (priest’s cloak) reputedly worked by Queen Catherine of Aragon and her ladies-in-waiting, and a fine linen chemise that it's claimed Mary, Queen of Scots wore when she was beheaded by order of Elizabeth I in 1587.

Travel

• 20 miles, 35 minutes

Stop 12: The Rollright Stones

Near Chipping Norton 

Let your imagination run riot among these evocative Neolithic / Bronze Age stones on the Warwickshire / Oxfordshire border. The King's Men stone circle, the Whispering Knights burial chamber, and the hunchbacked King Stone guarding a Bronze Age cemetery have intrigued people for centuries. Could the legend be true - that what you see here is a monarch and his army turned to stone by a witch, after she tricked the king in a wager to become ruler of all England?