Alton Towers

The estate belonged to the Earls of Shrewsbury, who built an enormous Gothic revival house from the 1810s and laid out gardens with a Chinese pagoda fountain and terraced valley planting; the house was stripped in 1951 and stands as a shell, still listed, and the gardens remain within the park. The park opened rides from 1980 and is now the largest in Britain. Planning conditions cap the height of anything visible above the treeline near the listed house, which is why several major rollercoasters are built into excavated pits: Nemesis, opened in 1994, runs partly below ground level for that reason, and Oblivion drops into a hole. Wicker Man, opened in 2018, is a wooden coaster running through a burning effigy.

What you actually see

• The sunken coasters - rides dug into pits to stay below the treeline.
• The ruined house - a Gothic revival shell, stripped in 1951 and listed.
• The Victorian gardens - pagoda fountain and terraced valley planting.
• Wicker Man - a wooden coaster running through a burning structure.

When to go

April to October for full ride operation; the park closes for winter apart from event periods, and Scarefest in October is busy. Midweek in term time has by far the shortest queues.

Honest expectations

Queues of an hour or more are normal on peak days without a paid fast-pass. Rides close in high wind and rain without refund. Gate prices are far higher than advance online tickets, and parking is charged on top.

Nearby

The Churnet Valley and Peak District lie north; Stoke-on-Trent is west.