Rule Britannia!

Last updated: 08/01/2007 - 16:28

Despite complaining about British weather, traffic or politics, the UK has that special something which makes it wonderfully unique. If you're looking for a day trip or a couple of weeks seeing a side of Britain that you've never visited, we have loads of offer.

Bath

The city of Bath is as renowned these days for the amount of tourists it attracts as it is for Roman baths and wonderful architecture. The sights here are the by-product of English fashionable society taking a shine to the place in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It is the money that they brought with them that enabled most of these things to be built. Attractions include Bath Abbey, the Pump Rooms, Pultney Bridge as well as the many squares and parks.

For more information, visit: www.cityofbath.co.uk

Edinburgh

Edinburgh - Scotland’s capital is a majestic city of architecture, history, culture and excitement. Some of the views to be had of places such as Calton Hill, Arthur’s Seat and the Firth of Firth are amongst the most spectacular in the world.

Edinburgh Castle is a focal point of tourist interest and serves as a reminder of the violent feuds of the past. The Royal Mile has some interesting streets that run off it with preserve views direct from the 17th century.

The city plays host to many prestigious international festivals, such as the Tattoo, the world-famous Edinburgh Festival and Fringe. The city becomes infested with visitors at these times and so, if you really want to be a part of it, book your room well in advance.

For food and drink the Royal Mile has a variety of styles and prices fit for all, and the accommodation in both the new and old parts of the city is reasonable and abundant.

For more places of interest to visit while in the Scottish capital visit the City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries website - which details all of the galleries, museums and monuments managed and owned by the City of Edinburgh Council. For more information you might also visit: www.edinburghbrand.com

Hampshire

Hampshire - Jane Austen country, is home to a vast array of museums and attractions for the visitor – many of them operated and managed by Hampshire Museums Service. These include: Gosport Discovery Centre, the Havant Museum – with it’s nationally important firearms collection – the working Bursledon Windmill and Aldershot’s Military Museum.

For more on local authority operated attractions information click here.

Follow this link for info on all museums in Hampshire.

London

London - capital of the UK - remains the largest national capital in Europe. There is much that’s cosmopolitan in terms of culture, cuisine, population and lifestyles in the British capital that we take for granted, but that marks it out as so very different from the rest of Europe.

Westminster Abbey is one of the most visited churches in the world, and the tombs and monuments of the royals are evocative sights. Westminster Cathedral is a prime example of architectural beauty.

Buckingham Palace has been open to tourists since 1993, but if you want to see the real life workings of the royal family, this is not really the insight that it pretends to be. You are possibly better off visiting the Tower of London, where the torture implements of yesteryear are preserved as monuments to a crueller time.

The oldest museum in the world, the British Museum in Holborn, is a store of the treasures and junk picked up by Victorian travellers from across the globe. They include homegrown exhibits such as the 2,000-year-old body of Lindow Man, preserved by peat, as well as Egyptian mummies and other treasures. The museum celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding this year - so now is as good a time as any to add it to your list of places to see.

Art is well catered for too. The National Gallery and the Tate (both British and Modern) offer much for the connoisseur and amateur alike, the former home to the more classical works.

Natural beauty in London is sparse, but Hyde and Regents Parks and (to a lesser extent) Hampstead Heath are the English equivalent of Europe’s city centre's greenery. The London Zoo at Regents Park is still one of the best in Europe.

For the tourist and the native alike, Camden and Portobello Markets offer much in terms of the conventional with a cultural twist. Antiques, jewellery, clothes and keepsakes are all readily available. Those who desire something slightly less off-the-shelf should visit Brixton Market for rare vinyl and strange foodstuffs.

The seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral has evolved over many years, but when it was finished it was heralded as one of the world's great buildings. The pilgrimage that followed the death of Thomas à Becket has been chronicled by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales, so this part of our heritage will live on through imagination and the written word forever.

Oxford

Oxford is one of the most famous university towns in the world. Despite this there is also much natural beauty here, in particular the view across the meadows during one of the climate's clearer moments.

This used to be the home of industry, where cars were mass-produced, but the decline has been marked and other trades now dominate. The university grounds do inspire and are shrouded in tradition and history.

Snowdonia National Park

Snowdonia National Park covers a vast area in the north of Wales. It is second only in terms of size to the Lake District. One of the key sights here is Mount Snowdon, standing just short of 3,600 feet.

There are more than a couple of ways to reach the summit, from the energetic climb to the relaxed train journey. It is the varying difficulty in approaching the climb of this mountain that has meant many explorers have used it as a practise ground for bigger, more challenging peaks.

The park has more to offer than just one mountain however, and the Roman forts, Norman castles, dense forest, deep valleys and waterfalls make this a particularly beautiful part of the world.

Stonehenge

Magical Stonehenge is dated at about 5,000 years old. It consists of a ring of 50-tonne stones topped with lintels and despite historians knowing that the stone itself hails from Wales and that they are somehow aligned to the stars; the true purpose of this site is still a matter of much debate.

The area that is home to Stonehenge is fenced off to try to prevent damage being done here, but that does not seem to stop New Age hippies invading every summer.

The Lake District

The Lake District is the largest National Park in the United Kingdom and gets around ten million visitors each year. The views of the rolling hills, water and wildlife are the reasons why.

Despite this flow of tourists, it is possible to enjoy quiet moments and the abundance of land and water based activity such as pony trekking, boating, hiking and museums make this a place that you can really get your teeth into.

For more things to do and places to visit across the country why not visit our Days Out section?

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