The formidable cathedral is just an arrow's flight away from the castle. It too has majestic vistas

Remarkably for a city of its size it has only one direct train a day to and from London. Its tourism bosses rightly worry that it is the sort of place people visit just for the day rather than make a weekend of it.
My family summer cruise ship jobs did stay overnight in the modern DoubleTree by Hilton on the Brayford Pool basin that gave the city its name — Lindon is Iron Age Celtic for “lake”. The three-year-old hotel was part of a regeneration of the old industrial heart of Lincoln by the Brayford Marina where Victorian warehouses once stood but is now lined by the likes of Nando’s and Wagamama on one side and Lincoln University on the other.
The dinner menu at the Electric Bar and Restaurant on the fifth floor, which offers fine views of the cathedral from the terrace, gives a few nods to local sourcing. summer cruise ship jobs The steaks were all described as “Lincolnshire beef” but faux exotic starters such as bouillabaisse fish stew and Asian salmon gravlax seemed a wasted opportunity. The breakfast was a better effort, with juicy local bangers getting the day off to exactly the sort of start you hope for in a weekend away from London.
A walkway outside the hotel leads along the waterside towards the modern shopping heart of the city. It takes you on an unmissable walk, via a narrow passage, under the last bridge in England to have houses still on it.
Lincoln is best known for its stately hilltop trio of architectural treasures — the cathedral, castle and Bishop’s Palace are a 15-minute walk from the hotel. The walk from the high street summer cruise ship jobs takes you up Steep Hill, a deliciously twee and picturesque cobbled lane.
The 950-year-old castle is currently wreathed in scaffolding ahead of the completion next spring of a £22 million restoration project that the city authorities hope will give Lincoln a higher profile on the tourism circuit.
When the wraps come off in April visitors will be able to walk the entire length summer cruise ship jobs of the outer wall for the first time in many decades. In addition, the brooding Victorian prison will be turned into a museum and Lincoln’s copy of the Magna Carta will have a new state-of-the-art display vault.
The formidable cathedral is just an arrow’s flight away from the castle. It too has majestic vistas summer cruise ship jobs over what the tourist board likes to call “Bomber County” summer cruise ship jobs because of Lincolnshire’s close connections with the often doomed Lancaster and Halifax crews who took off from its airfields.
I strongly advise any visitors to invest the time in a tour — included in the £6 admission fee. I loved being let in on little secrets such as the smoothed groove in one of the floor stones worn away by the knees of pious pilgrims paying homage to a relic of St Hugh of Lincoln. It was his head, since you ask. The castle restoration will surely make a difference but “uphill” Lincoln also needs to loosen its corset a little.
The tea shops start closing at 4pm and within another hour Steep Hill is a tourist-free zone, with a definite “closed for business” signs hanging out. Imagine if two such landmarks as the castle and the cathedral were transplanted to France or Italy? The ancient heart of Lincoln is crying out for a few more bars and bistros to give visitors reason to hang around summer cruise ship jobs after dark.
Lincoln summer cruise ship jobs makes the most of its remarkable heritage. But just a sprinkling of contemporary stardust would also help pull in a few more of those intrepid London explorers turning their cars north on Finchley Road.