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Must see places in the UK?
After some discussion, me and my friend have decided to do a bit of a UK tour. But trying to figure out where we should go and what we need to see.
We are based in Essex, so despite being a stones throw from London, the London tourist thing is on our list as we've never really taken advantage of it. Stonehenge is on the list, just because it's stonehenge, i realise it's not a day thing more of an hour thing though.
So does anyone have any 'must see' places in the UK or any tips when visiting certain places? Hoping to keep it as cheap as possible!
Thanks in advance!
We are based in Essex, so despite being a stones throw from London, the London tourist thing is on our list as we've never really taken advantage of it. Stonehenge is on the list, just because it's stonehenge, i realise it's not a day thing more of an hour thing though.
So does anyone have any 'must see' places in the UK or any tips when visiting certain places? Hoping to keep it as cheap as possible!
Thanks in advance!
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- Dorset
- Southern Wales and the brecon beacons
- Brighton
- Cotswolds (Oxfordshire)
- Oxford or Cambridge
- York
- Lake District
- Edinburgh
- Around the lochs and highlands in Scotland
These are all beautiful (or fun) places in the UK. There are other beautiful places but these are what have stood out for me.
Just so that in the future when you're feeling down, you will always know for a fact that some people are worse off than you are.
Cambridge city is another good one for the architecture & universities.
- Portsmouth: Historic Dockyard and trip over to Isle of Wight.
- Chester for the Romans
- Liverpool - links to the new world and culture.
- York for the railways and vikings.
- Snowdonia/Lake District for the scenery.
- Edinburgh
- Telford area - for the industrial revolution.
- Oxford/Cambridge for the universities.
- Stratford upon Avon for Shakespeare.
- Kent - Canterbury and the White Cliffs of Dover.
- Cardiff
- Cornwall - beaches, gardens and scenery.
- Houses and Palaces - Hampton Court, Osborne House, Blenheim, Chatsworth.
Its a pity we don't get the weather to enjoy many of these places.
The Cotswolds is spread over predominently these counties Worcestershire, Warwick shire, Gloucestershire & Oxfordshire, although imo Worcs & Gloucestershire have the best parts.
Don't bother with Lands End, nowt to see there.
Tintagel for the castle, you don't need more than a couple of hours there, so if you do Cornwall go central and maybe do day trips from your base.
Cambridge- its beautiful there, I am on the same train line so spend a lot of time there in summer. Lots and lots to see and do, if I were you I'd do an overnight stay and get a night out there too.
City of London, walk from Liv St or Fenchurch St and head towards the river. It's a lovely walk to the Thames, lots of history and beautiful buildings, and in summer there's lots of activity on the river. You MUST go on a river tour, there's a speedboat one which is brilliant fun! You get on/off underneath the London Eye (go on that too) then you are right near Parliament for looking around there. Lots of pubs, pub crawl back to train stn
I miss working in the square mile, there are so many pathways off the beaten track. So much history and everything walking distance.
I guess the museums too, you'd need more than a day to properly explore Central London.
Lake District is good too, bring or hire a bike when there and explore. It'll kill your thighs but the scenery makes it worthwhile.
Will add when I can think of more places.
Ooo Isle of Wight, boat there from Portsmouth. Lots of fun!
Bath, as mentioned below, the Roman Baths are well worth a visit - and then there's the architecture - beautiful.
Avebury - another stone circle, not too far from Stonehenge and some say rather more impressive.
The West Country in general - so much to see and do here. Such a beautiful part of the country I need to explore more myself.
North Yorkshire - some stunning countryside, rivers, castles and villages
The Lake District - stunning scenery, but be prepared for it to rain!
The Cotswolds - beautiful scenery and gorgeous chocolate box villages.
Norfolk - I haven't seen much of this county, but I saw enough to want to go back.
Shropshire and North Wales - more stunning scenery, stately homes and villages
On a warm summer day, there are few places in the world that can be as beautiful as the British countryside.
If you want to keep it cheap, I'd recommend considering using the Youth Hostels. A friend and I did a similar tour a few years back and used Youth Hostels wherever we went. They were never more than £20 a night (might be more now) and were usually well situated.
I hope you have a fantastic time - wherever you end up.
I believe you can actually walk in & around Avebury stone circle too can't you? Unlike Stonehenge which is well cordoned off.
The Humber is the arsehole of Europe. Hull is seven miles up it.
Yes that's correct - so you can give one of the stones a hug if you feel like it! The road to Avebury goes right through the centre of the stones and some of the houses in the village were actually built using the stones before their significance was realised.
Or if you don't fancy going all that way then why not stop off in Swindon? The Hull of Wiltshire. :cool:
we went to Avebury last year. Never been before. not as dramatic as Stonehenge - but well worth seeing.
OP. I think you need to do your UK tour a county at a time maybe.
So here's my best of Cornwall - although there is a lot of it to choose, and I am sure others will suggest many alternatives.
St Ives - best town to visit I would say. St Michael's Mount
Sennen Cove (as already mentioned)
Kynance Cove
Minack (and Porthcurno beach)
The Lizard
Land's End (must see, despite it being commercialised)
Eden Project
Tintagel
Trebarwith Strand
Padstow and Rock/Polzeath - St Enodoc Church, where John Betjeman is buried
Portleven. I really do like the sea wall when the wind is blowing
Boscastle
Rocky Valley walk nr Tintagel is very pleasant
Island hopping round the western Isles. So many wonderful places to see.
Edinburgh.
The East Neuk of Fife and St Andrews.
Orkney and Shetland.
Its worth checking out the various events held in all of the above.
Definitely looking at combining Stonehenge and Avebury in the same day, some googling says its certainly suggests its do-able.
Scotland is certainly creeping higher and higher up the list, i went to Edinburgh a couple of years ago but it was a flying visit and didn't get to see much of anything i wanted to, plus my friend has never been and he's keen on finding out some more about underground Edinburgh.
Bath
Windsor
Edinburgh
St Andrews
North Wales
the Lake District
The Cotswolds
York
Cornwall
Scottish Highlands
Don't dismiss Morecambe bay we live in the bay area and it has some of the most beautiful views in the world. the sun sets are absolutely wonderful. The area had plenty of places to visit and the hotel and other accommodation costs are reasonable (about half the price of teh lake district). The lakes are ablut 1/2 an hour away by car and a beautiful journey on the train (the line crosses part of the bay near the start of the estuary)
Hull isn't that bad in my opinion. There has been a lot of regeneration in recent years. If museums and art galleries are your thing then they are free to visit in Hull. I went to an exhibition of Da Vinci sketches just before Christmas which was fantastic to see. The old part of the town is quite interesting. There's some good old pubs, one with what is meant to be the smallest window in the country, another which has a human skull on display. I like the William Wilberforce, which is a Wetherspoons but used to be an old bank and you can still see a lot of original features. Not all of the city is like certain dodgy areas in North Hull.
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