Things to Do in Leicester, United Kingdom: Walking Guide

Looking for things to do in Leicester? This East Midlands city brings together Roman archaeology, medieval churches, royal history, Victorian engineering, museums and distinctive modern landmarks. Leicester is worth visiting because many of its most important places—from the Jewry Wall to Leicester Cathedral—can be explored across a compact, historically rich city.

Neywo has a free audio guide for Leicester with 125 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to See in Leicester

Jewry Wall Museum and Roman Leicester

The Jewry Wall Museum is one of the best places to begin exploring Leicester’s past. Its main feature is the Jewry Wall, nearly 2,000 years old and thought to be the last surviving section of the public baths of Roman Leicester. The baths date to approximately 160 AD, and their foundations remain visible in front of the wall.

Inside, the museum’s collections trace Leicester’s history from the Iron Age through the Roman and medieval periods. Look for the Cyparissus Pavement, the Blackfriars Pavement, the Norfolk Street Wall Paintings and the Thurmaston Milestone, as well as Roman mosaics and other archaeological objects.

Church of St Mary de Castro

Within the bailey of Leicester Castle stands the Church of St Mary de Castro, whose name means “Saint Mary of the Castle”. Founded in 1107, this Grade I listed medieval church has been altered over several centuries.

Its details reward close attention. Norman doorways feature zigzag decoration, while the Sedilia and Piscina display fine Norman ornament. Later changes include a north aisle, additional doorways, a longer chancel and a large east window completed around 1300.

Newarke Houses Museum and Magazine Gateway

The Newarke Houses Museum occupies two historic buildings: Wyggeston’s Chantry House, built around 1511, and Skeffington House, which dates from the seventeenth century. They stand within the medieval Newarke, close to Leicester Castle and the fifteenth-century Magazine Gateway.

The buildings have served as residences, a school and military quarters. Today, their displays explore Leicester’s changing life and include the story of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.

Nearby, Magazine Gateway was built shortly after 1400 as a ceremonial entrance to the religious precinct of The Newarke. The Grade I listed gatehouse has a substantial medieval form and vaulted archway. Over time, it was used as a porter’s lodge, guest accommodation, a prison, a militia building and a regimental museum.

Leicester Cathedral

Leicester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Saint Martin, stands in the city centre and is the seat of the Bishop of Leicester. Its history includes repeated rebuilding and restoration between 1086 and 1867. The building contains a presbytery and three small chapels dedicated to Saint Catherine, Saint George and Saint Dunstan; its spire was added in 1862 by the Victorian architect Raphael Brandon.

The cathedral is closely connected with Richard III. His remains were discovered nearby, in the foundations of the lost Greyfriars chapel, 530 years after his death. They were reburied at the cathedral in 2015 in a ceremony attended by members of the royal family, dignitaries and religious leaders.

Greyfriars and the King Richard III story

Greyfriars was the site of a Franciscan friary established by 1250. The friary was dissolved in 1538, after which its buildings were demolished and the site was gradually redeveloped. The names Grey Friars and Friar Lane preserve its medieval memory.

Richard III was buried in the friary church after his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Archaeological work in 2012 and 2013 identified the church and located the burial. The grave site is now incorporated into the King Richard III Visitor Centre, while the site itself was designated a scheduled monument in 2017.

Leicester Museum & Art Gallery

On New Walk, Leicester Museum & Art Gallery combines art, science and history. It opened in 1849 and was originally designed by Joseph Hansom, the designer of the hansom cab. The museum was expanded several times, most recently in 2011.

The collections include dinosaur skeletons of a Cetiosaurus and a plesiosaur, Ancient Egyptian objects including mummies and ceramics, and minerals extracted in Leicestershire. The art galleries contain painting and sculpture, as well as Leicester’s collection of German Expressionist art.

Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower

The Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower stands where five major streets meet and has been a central Leicester landmark since its completion in 1868. It rises about twelve metres above the city centre and combines Mountsorrel granite, Ketton stone, polished Peterhead granite, serpentine columns and Portland stone.

The tower replaced an earlier building known as the “Haymarket Obstruction”. Its construction followed changes to the market and growing difficulties for pedestrians as traffic increased.

Abbey Pumping Station Museum

For a different side of Leicester’s history, visit the Abbey Pumping Station Museum. Built in 1891 by Leicester Corporation, it was once a sewage pumping station and is now a museum of science, technology and industrial history.

Four Woolf compound beam engines form the centrepiece. They pumped waste to Beaumont Leys and continued operating until 1964, when electric pumps took over. The original engines have been preserved and gradually restored to working order, making the museum a vivid place to understand the machinery behind public health and sanitation.

National Space Centre

The National Space Centre in Belgrave explores space science and astronomy. Its most recognisable feature is the tall tower, where upright rockets appear inside a shimmering semi-transparent structure wrapped in ETFE pillows.

The Centre contains six main galleries and exhibition areas, as well as the United Kingdom’s largest planetarium, DIGISTAR 3. It stands beside the River Soar and next to Space Park Leicester, making it a striking contrast to the city’s Roman and medieval landmarks.

Belgrave Hall

Belgrave Hall is a Queen Anne-style house built between 1709 and 1713 for Edmund Cradock, a Leicester hosiery merchant. It stands beside Belgrave Church within two acres of walled gardens.

The three-storey façade is made from blue and red bricks laid in Flemish bond, creating a chequered pattern. Wrought iron gates carry the initials EC, while a brick parapet conceals the three hipped gables. The building is also known for reports of paranormal activity, including alleged ghostly figures recorded by cameras in 1999.

Leicester City Stadium

Football fans can visit Leicester City Stadium, also known as the King Power Stadium. Opened in 2002 as the Walkers Stadium, it has space for 32,259 spectators and became internationally famous in 2016, when Leicester City lifted the Premier League title there.

Leicester’s industrial and religious heritage

Other notable places include the Gas Museum, housed in a former gasworks gatehouse dating from 1878. Its collection is described as the world’s largest collection of gas-related artefacts, including a 1920s kitchen tableau, gas-powered washing machines, gas irons and a gas-powered radio.

The city also preserves the sites of former religious houses. Leicester Austin Friary, also known as Leicester Austin Friars or St Katherine’s Priory, was once an Augustinian monastery. Its surviving memory adds another layer to Leicester’s medieval history.

Explore Leicester with a Free Audio Guide

Neywo offers five walking tours, one bus route and one bike route in Leicester, with 125 narrated places across the city. The walks range from 1.93 to 4.84 km and from 73 to 109 minutes. The bus route covers 7.3 km in 31 minutes, while the bike route covers 3.6 km in 18 minutes.

The five walks include Leicester’s Roman and Richard III heritage, Victorian landmarks, New Walk, Victoria Park, and the city’s northern trail around the Abbey, Belgrave and the National Space Centre. Together, the tours include 48 narrated stops.

Download Neywo and explore Leicester at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule. If you are planning a wider trip through England, you can also continue exploring cities such as Lincoln or Leeds with the same free audio-guide approach.