Sheffield Town Hall and Peace Gardens

Photo: Wikipedia

Conjuring images of smokestacks and hard-up steelworkers a la The Full Monty, these days Sheffield is better known for its vibrant music scene which has spawned the likes of Pulp, Moloko, Human League, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker and the Arctic Monkeys.

For live listings, pick up a copy of the Sheffield Telegraph and have fun spotting the city's next big things.

Sheffield is also home to the largest artificial ski resort in Europe. The city's cultural revival in recent years has seen the arrival of the excellent Millennium Galleries and the Metalworks Gallery, the latter home to the largest Sheffield cutlery collection in the world.

From Sheffield you could travel south to the magnificent moors and hills of the Peak District National Park or north to Rotherham's Magna Science and Adventure Centre.