Places To Visit: Gough's Cave & Cheddar Village, Somerset

I have a list of places I want to go and visit in the UK written on my Notes app in my phone - Cheddar has been on the list for a very long time. I wasn't sure what to expect from Cheddar in Somerset - but when we finally started driving through the valleys and the hills surrounding the road into Cheddar, I realised a couple of hours was simply not enough.

Cheddar is nestled in a valley in Somerset, England and is famous for... you guessed it: cheddar cheese! But not only that - Cheddar has some of the most amazing views from the hill tops and is home to a system of stunning caves, as well as the famous Jacobs Ladder stairs leading to the top of the hills.

We honestly thought half a day would be enough - I didn't imagine just how much you can actually do and see in Cheddar. We parked up a short walk from the centre of the village which is full of pubs, cafes, and shops - naturally the first shop I hit up was the Cheddar Cheese Company who sell cheddar matured in the caves of cheddar - you can't get any more authentic than that! I bought three cheese variations: Vintage Cheddar; Cave Aged Cheddar; and Blue Cheddar all of which were absolutely incredible to taste and tasted a lot different from the supermarket cheddar cheese you get. I would drive back to Cheddar for the cheese alone!

We then found a cute vintage inspired cafe Lion Rock Tea Rooms to settled and grab some food - it's one of the oldest tea rooms in Cheddar! Bags of personality and a lovely garden which traps the sun, it's the perfect place for a pit stop. Their food portions are very generous too - great homemade grub with local ingredients like cave aged cheddar.

After fuelling up, we visited the first cave: Gough's Cave. This is the biggest cave in Cheddar and there's plenty to see inside. Don't be worried about small spaces - the passages are big and airy, don't be fooled into thinking you'll be crawling through small spaces here! It's simply a stunning walk.

Gough's Cave is 115m deep and is 3.405km long, and contains a variety of large chambers and rock formations. It contains the Cheddar Yeo, the largest underground river system in Britain, as well as being home to the cheese authentically matured in Cheddar. If you're not history and a little bit of gruesome action, you can also find out that Gough's Cave was home to a group of early humans who practiced ritualistic cannibalism. I'm full of these fun facts!

When you're finished at Gough's Cave, you can pop next door to explore a smaller cave and experience the adventures of the early humans - but that's not what interested us. The cave itself is smaller with animal hide covering cave exits and entrances, with sharp thin turns - so that's the cave that I felt slightly tight for air. But as its small, you don't get to panic too much before you're actually out of the dark and in the light of day again.

We then walked up to Jacobs Ladder which has 274 steps and there are 48 more to get to the top of the Lookout Tower. As someone who is terrified of heights, the steps were not too much of a problem as there are plenty of spaces to stop and enjoy the view; the Lookout Tower was more of a challenge as you can see, but I managed to get to the top which I'm very proud about! The views were stunning.

We then walked along the cliffs for a little while before realising it was time to head home - so we're yet to see the most incredible views which means we'll be returning to Cheddar very soon!

It's a great place to explore with the whole family, but I would definitely allocate a whole day to explore all the attractions and shops.

Will you be visiting Cheddar?