Every summer, Which? magazine sends a postcard to the UK’s long-suffering seaside towns and tells them to pull their socks up or to remove them, sandals and all, and run across the golden sand with glee. With 126 towns and villages in its 2024 table, it’s a reminder of how central coastal resorts are to...
Tag: Travel – Destination Guide hubs
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Why the rest of the world doesn’t want to visit Britain
Travelling in both directions between the EU and the UK is about to get more bureaucratic and more costly. Both the UK and EU are implementing new border regimes to tighten up on security but which will impact travellers. For inbound non-visa nationals they will need to apply for an ETA before travel at a...
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I’ve visited thousands of British pubs – and this one is my favourite
There is one non-negotiable element: an excellent landlady/lord – such as Carol Ross, who runs the Roscoe Head in Liverpool. It’s a cosy, welcoming place, full of comfortable corners to have a chat. It stands out in a city centre full of great places for a beer. Then there’s Ali Ross at the Coach and...
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The 10 best caving experiences in Britain
Dark caverns, vaults, tunnels and mines are not everyone’s idea of a grand day out. The underworld has had a bad reputation since the ancient Greeks dubbed it Hades – the realm of the dead. But to our Palaeolithic ancestors, caves offered safety and shelter from the elements. For anyone planning a staycation this summer,...
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Revealed: Britain’s best village shops of 2024
Most people in Britain, in cities and large towns especially, frequent their corner shops for little more than a pint of milk or packet of bacon. But some in rural pockets across the country call on their local vendors for much, much more than this. Across the country there are very special shops that provide...
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Seven things you didn’t know about Stonehenge – and how to visit
Ancient astronauts have docked here This claim gained popularity thanks to Erich von Däniken’s 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?, which claimed numerous monuments, including Stonehenge, may have been built by extraterrestrials. His hypothesis is based upon “interpretations” of Mayan iconography and mysterious landmarks around the world such as the Nazca Lines. The association of monoliths and...
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How the ‘least cultured’ place in Britain reinvented itself
It seemed proper to start with the creative backstory, so I begin at the Silk Museum. In the 16th century, Macclesfield was renowned for making buttons. When it became fashionable to cover them in silk, ever-innovative Macc thrust itself into that industry, too. The first silk mill was established in 1743; at its peak, the...
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London’s 10 best walks – including four Royal Parks
There are many unsung heroes of London – one of the best of them is the Thames Path, a National Trail since 1996, which follows 184 miles of the 215-mile-long river. Without it, London would be a different place. It’s a resource for runners and cyclists, idlers and flâneurs, artists and mudlarks,and above all for...
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What dismal Oxford Street can learn from the rest of Europe
People say it was the pandemic that did it, but it’s just as easy to blame Topshop. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, the brand’s flagship store stood just outside the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station and was the epitome of Cool Britannia. At one point, Kate Moss posed stock-still in the window –...
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The Sussex town fighting to reopen its French-owned beach
“For some of us it has made it feel safer,” says local resident Abi Blanshard. “Some of the dark bits, the underpasses, you can be a bit reluctant to walk through. It just feels a little bit nicer, a bit cleaner, safer. My partner works down at the food bank and the people he’s spoken...
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The five best Thames walks
Best for… A bit of a climb Start/end point: Dorchester Distance: 4km / 2½ miles to 14.5km / 9 miles Map Wittenham Clumps, Oxfordshire’s “twin peaks”, rise 120m (394ft) and 110m (361ft), providing a fine vantage over a lovely stretch of river. Start in winsome Dorchester – aka the Roman town of Doric – where...
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10 British woodland wonders to discover this summer
All is not quite as it seems in this ancient semi-natural woodland lining the southern bank of the Ure. Gnarled sessile oaks speak of great age, now interspersed with wych elm, sycamore, rowan, ash and silver birch. But those moss-greened ruins peering out from the greenery aren’t actually the remains of Roman temples or medieval...
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