IT’S like the Cotswolds without the crowds. This is how Blue Badge Guide Jill Collinge sums up the appeal of Stamford, the historic jewel in Lincolnshire’s crown, which has just been named as the best place to live in Britain by The Sunday Times.

The accolade is well deserved. We spent just a brief weekend in the honey-stoned town and wondered why we’d never thought of visiting before.

Our base was the stylish boutique hotel, The William Cecil, on the edge of the Burghley Estate (home to the annual horse trials). Housed in three separate buildings that date back centuries, the hotel fuses the old and the new with flair: four-poster beds and flat screen TVs; full English breakfast and the best of modern fine dining.

From here, it is a short and pleasant stroll into town – passing many of Stamford’s finest attractions, interior shops, art galleries and antique halls.

Crossing over the river Welland, make your first port of call Robert Loomes, one of England’s last watchmakers. Inside you’ll find his latest design, The Robin – the first watch made in England for 40 years; yours for £5,000.

Opposite is award-winning French chef Thierry Daugeron’s riverside food emporium, featuring a restaurant, café and cookery school.

Further cementing the town’s reputation as a foodie destination is the fine food market held in the courtyard at Burghley over the late August Bank Holiday weekend, filled with stallholders selling local cheese, meat, bread, and puddings.

Much of the pleasure in wandering the Georgian and medieval streets is discovering the artisan goods on sale. The Cheese Cellar on George Street is crammed with fine cheeses and a deli selling chutneys, jams and crackers. Fancy some bread to go with that? Then call in at The Hambleton Bakery on Ironmonger Street. Finish things off with a home-baked treat from the Stamford Cupcake Company’s stall at the town’s weekly market.

For a coffee break, it would be hard to beat Truffles, on St Mary’s Hill, the snug coffee shop run by Tony Boden.

The town has an enticing selection of tasteful interiors shops and fashion boutiques, including Jaeger and local store Lulu. Robinson’s is the place to update your outdoors wardrobe, specialising in attire for hunting, shooting and fishing.

The best way to soak up the history of the town is to take a walk. Jill offers various tours – from the historic to shopping trails, or a mix of both.

Stamford is reaping the rewards from being named Britain’s first conservation area. Although modern shops adorn the central streets, its ancient charms have been carefully preserved.

This has made the town a magnet for TV and film crews over the years, with Stamford returned to its Georgian heyday for a TV production of Middle-march and a film adaptation of the Austen classic, Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley.

One of our favourite discoveries was St Paul’s, a perfectly preserved medieval street with higgledy-piggledy roof lines. Call in to the Toby Norris pub for a drink and weave your way round its 700-hundred-year-old interior for a slice of Britain that has almost vanished.

No visit to Stamford would be complete without crossing the threshold of Burghley, England’s finest Elizabethan house. Built between 1555 and 1571 by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth I, it provides a glimpse of how the Tudors used to live.

The grounds are home to an impressive sculpture park and the Garden of Surprises, featuring water fountains and interactive displays. Children should bring their wellies. Visitors can recharge their batteries in the Orangery Restaurant and Garden Café.

At just two hours down the A1 from York, Stamford is not too far a trek.

Fact file

• For information on Stamford and the rest of Lincolnshire, including what’s on, accommodation and attractions – visitlincolnshire.com

• Jill Collinge, Blue Badge Guide – Phone: 01780 410780 stamfordtours.co.uk

• The William Cecil at Stamford, St Martins, Stamford Phone: 0844 249 1113 thewilliamcecil.co.uk

• Burghley House and the Orangery at Burghley – for full details of opening times, events and to book online tickets, burghley.co.uk or phone 01780 752451.

Summer events

• Living Heritage Game and Country Fair, Sunday, May 26 – Monday, May 27
This features country attractions and entertainment. The Falconry Village includes a flying arena and indoor training arena. Equestrian demonstrations can be seen in the specialist arena. Scurry racing and mounted games can be seen in the main arena.

• Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, Saturday, June 8
The annual Live Promotions concert at Burghley House. This year, Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra featuring Gilson Lavis with special guest Roland Gift (the voice of Fine Young Cannibals), with guest vocalists Ruby Turner and Louise Marshall. Tickets are available online priced £37.50.

• Burghley Fine Food Market, Sunday August 25 to Monday, August 26
A celebration of local produce. Stall -holders will fill the courtyard at Burghley and sell local cheese, meat, bread, puddings and more. This event is free of charge.

• Market Days at Stamford Stamford bustles with life on market days when the town is packed with shoppers stocking up on local veg, meats and fresh fish – every Friday and Saturday.

• Stamford Shakespeare Company, June to August
stamfordshakespeare.co.uk
Described by The Stage as “one of England’s premier alfresco theatre venues”. The Stamford Shakespeare Company presents an annual season of plays at Rutland Open Air Theatre in the grounds of Tolethorpe Hall, Little Casterton, just off the A1, two miles north of Stamford. This year, sees performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy of Errors & Dad’s Army (The Lost Episodes).