Things to do in Lincoln
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Lincoln
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The sweet spot, with long light, gardens and the Wolds at their best and modest crowds.
Good value shoulders, cooler and quieter, with autumn colour in October.
Best month for Steampunk and Pride, busiest month for quiet sightseeing.
Short days and an exposed windy hilltop, with the lowest prices in January.
Festive programme month, with the Cathedral Christmas Market, Ice Trail and castle illuminations.
What's on
- Asylum Steampunk Festival 27-31 August
Weekend at the Asylum, the largest steampunk festival in the world, across the castle and Bailgate.
- Lincoln 1940s Weekend July weekend
Period dress, vintage vehicles, music and re-enactment in the uphill quarter.
- Lincoln Pride August
The city main Pride celebration in the centre.
- Lincoln Live September weekend
Free city centre music weekend in the Cornhill area with BBC Introducing.
- Lincoln Ice Trail December weekend
Ice sculptures across the city centre as part of the December festive programme.
- Lincoln Cathedral Christmas Market Early December
A smaller cathedral precinct market that replaced the cancelled old Christmas Market.
Best things to do in Lincoln
Lincoln Cathedral
One of the great Gothic buildings in England, with the Lincoln Imp to hunt and a scale photographs understate.
Lincoln Castle
A Norman castle with a full wall walk, a Victorian prison and an original 1215 Magna Carta in its vault.
Steep Hill
A cobbled, genuinely steep street of independent shops linking the downhill city to the cathedral quarter.
Museum of Lincolnshire Life
A free museum of recreated shops, homes and workshops that tells the story of ordinary Lincolnshire life.
International Bomber Command Centre
A moving memorial and exhibition for Bomber Command, with a spire, walls of names and peace gardens.
Lincoln Museum
A free museum and gallery covering the area from prehistory and Roman Lindum to the present day.
High Bridge
The oldest bridge in the UK still carrying buildings, with Tudor shops over the River Witham.
Brayford Pool
The flat waterfront lake and marina where Lincoln eats, drinks and socialises on a summer evening.
Where to stay in Lincoln
Cathedral Quarter and Bailgate
first visits, couples, history trips
Level hilltop plateau with the castle, cathedral, independents and the best uphill hotels on the doorstep.
Brayford Waterfront and City Centre
drivers, families, business trips, ease
Flat, modern and step free, with big hotels, parking, the station and level walking everywhere.
Westgate
repeat visitors and longer stays
The quieter residential edge of the hilltop, with small hotels, easier parking and a level walk to Castle Square.
Think twice about
- A46 bypass and Newark Road business parks
Safe but stranded without a car, with infrequent buses and unwalkable roads to everything in the centre.
- Silver Street bar strip for light sleepers
Not a safety issue, but loud late on term time Friday and Saturday nights. Ask for a quiet side room or base uphill.
- Sincil Bank stadium streets at arrival time on matchdays
Road closures, crowds and parking pressure around fixtures. Time driving arrivals around the match, otherwise ordinary streets.
Best restaurants in Lincoln
Jews House Restaurant
The city fine dining pinnacle, tasting menus in a twelfth century house at the foot of Steep Hill.
Antlers
The White Hart elegant restaurant, serving a locally led menu in the handsomest dining room uphill.
Ole Ole Tapas Bar & Restaurant
A family run Spanish tapas restaurant with generous sharing plates and the city best review scores.
Wig and Mitre
A beamed gastropub on Steep Hill serving proper food all day and a rotating range of cask ales.
Hobbsons Restaurant and Pie Shop
The Steep Hill pie institution, serving traditional and signature pies in a vaulted cellar room.
Dough Loco Lincoln
A focused pizza room with serious dough that tops the city restaurant scores on review platforms.
Cosy Club
All day dining and cocktails in the old Corn Exchange, with menus for almost every dietary need.
Rising Cafe Lincoln
A not for profit cafe serving breakfasts, lunches and cakes at low prices in a warm vintage room.
Outdoor things to do in Lincoln
Brayford Belle
A gentle sightseeing cruise on the Witham and Foss Dyke, passing under the Glory Hole at High Bridge.
Hartsholme Country Park
A Victorian park around a lake with a flat forty minute circuit, woodland, meadows and a play area.
Whisby Nature Park
A lakeside reserve famous for nightingales, with waymarked walks, bird hides and a cafe over the water.
Doddington Hall and Gardens
An Elizabethan estate with award winning gardens, parkland walks and seasonal outdoor events.
Viking Way
A waymarked long distance path whose Wolds sections give rolling chalk hills and big sky day walks.
Woodhall Spa Golf Club
The Hotchkin course, classic heathland golf repeatedly voted among the best inland courses in the UK.
Pottergate Golf Club
A welcoming local club near the city, praised for its course welcome and its clubhouse food.
Lincoln Arboretum
A listed Victorian park of lawns, specimen trees, ponds and a maze, ideal for a gentle golden hour walk.
Best hotels in Lincoln
White Hart Hotel
The landmark Bailgate hotel between castle and cathedral, refurbished, with a destination restaurant.
DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln
A modern full service waterfront hotel with marina views, a gym and a flat walk to the station.
The Tower Hotel
A small boutique hotel near the castle with a local favourite restaurant and a much praised breakfast.
The Duke William Hotel
A Bailgate pub with boutique rooms above, an open fire, real ales and strong home cooked food.
The Castle Hotel
A small, calm uphill hotel on a former Roman site, five minutes level walk from the cathedral.
Premier Inn Lincoln City Centre
The reliable budget base downhill, with family rooms and a short level walk to the station and museum.
The Rest Hotel
A small hotel and cafe on Steep Hill itself, with studios and a terrace, for fit travellers packing light.
Is Lincoln expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | £60 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | £115 a person |
| Splurge | £240 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- New Theatre Royal Lincoln: weeks ahead
- Brayford Belle: a few days ahead
- Doddington Hall and Gardens: a few days ahead
- Woodhall Spa Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Pottergate Golf Club: a few days ahead
- White Hart Hotel: weeks ahead
- Jews House Restaurant: weeks ahead
- Antlers: a few days ahead
- Book the Jews House as soon as dates are fixed, and give dietary needs when booking.
- Book Ole Ole ahead at weekends and uphill hotels first in event weeks.
- Book summer Brayford Belle sailings, Doddington event days and Woodhall Spa tee times ahead.
Is Lincoln safe?
- Steep Hill cobbles are slippery when wet, so wear grippy shoes and use the handrails.
- Keep toddlers from hand feeding the confident Brayford swans.
- At Whisby keep dogs controlled in nesting season and out of algae warned water at Hartsholme.
Lincoln travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Brayford chain restaurants are interchangeable and priced for their terraces.
- Cafe Zoot by the cathedral has sharply divided recent reviews, so choose better supported tables.
- The old Lincoln Christmas Market no longer exists, despite out of date guides still listing it.
Getting around Lincoln: public transport and more
- Downhill is flat and compact, uphill is level once you are there, and Steep Hill joins them.
- The Walk and Ride shuttle runs Monday to Saturday from Silver Street to the Cathedral Quarter.
- Ride the shuttle up, explore the top, then walk down Steep Hill at leisure.
- For the Wolds and Woodhall Spa you realistically need a car.
Who Lincoln suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Lincoln your trip
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