There are so many cool things to see and do in the United Kingdom that any list of "must-sees" is bound to be incomplete. What do you remember most fondly about your vacation or holiday in the UK? If you haven't arrived yet, what are you most looking forward to visiting when you get here? Recommend your favorite UK "must-sees". Recommend Your Favorite
The Gift Shops at Windsor Castle
- I know it sounds corny but I love poking around in museum gift shops because you never know what you might find. The gift shops at Windsor Castle (there's a few) are terrific for presents to take home and not too expensive. My kids love the red pencils with the crowns on top - real attention grabbers for seven year olds on the first day of school.
- —Guest Shopaholic, Waltham, MA
An architect's dream
- I love the way the really important and ancient architecture works side by side with cutting edge stuff by Richard Rogers et al. You're driving along and you'll see real thatched roofs and real half-timbering (that's not our mock tudor stuff) and they are just part of the everyday landscape. But so are some modernist icons like the Delamere Pavillion or the modernist houses in Amersham. And I can't wait to see the new Olympic water center by Zaha Haddid when it's done. The place is really an architects dream sample book because so much has been saved yet so much is new.
- —Guest Builder Jack
The Ghosts
- I love the way the English take their ghosts so seriously. If you have a chance to go on a ghost walk, or stay in a hotel that has a haunted room, that's awesome, really baaad.
- —Hannah from Savannah
Yorkshire Forever
- I am a Yorkshire girl and despite traveling all over the world I am never happier than when I am walking in the Yorkshire Dales. The beauty and serenity, the landscape and the food, I truly can't think of anywhere better - well maybe nowhere better when the sun shines.
- —ElaineLemm
Back to Basics in Dovedale
- Dovedale on the edge of the Peak district is wonderful in the off season. As you walk the dale there is nothing modern to infringe on the sense that you are back in time, in a wonderful, peaceful rural setting.
- —minigardener
The Cotswolds
- Quintessential English villages, perfect for touring. The Cotswolds are best visited in Autumn and Spring as they tend to get a bit overrun with tourists in summer. The Slaughters (Upper and Lower) are two favourites for me.
- —Guest Jeremy Head
Giants Causeway
- I think the Giants Causeway in Antrim, Northern Ireland is the most wonderful site! And it's near Bushmills! Even better.
- —Guest Janjan
romantic Llandudno in north Wales
- Many years ago I proposed to my wife at the end of the pier. The view of the old Victorian sea front buildings and the Great Orme will always be very speciual to us. One day I'll take her back. They tell me it hasn't changed much.
- —Guest Mike T Kelleher
Newcastle Quayside has it all
- This is a great place to spend an afternoon, a day, or a weekend. Plenty of bars, bistros and hotels. The views are splendid in all directions; the Tyne Bridge; the Millenium Bridge (The Eye). Any stroll will take you past street art, and there;s a whole gallery of modern art in the Baltic, across the Eye. There are usually events going on; the best are the New year fireworks (for the atmosphere as much as the flashbang).
- —Guest js London
Wanstead Park
- This little known park is on the western edge of Epping Forest. Once the private estate of a gentleman who seems to have bankrupted the family to finance its construction it was so well known that George Washington is supposed to have acquired one of its fireplaces for his private home. This area has been occupied since Pre-Roman times, was briefly a centre of England's government and even had the largest telescope of its time. Only 20 minutes on the Central Line from Liverpool Street it's a beautifully kept landscaped hideaway complete with ornamental lakes, a river (the Roding) and a Grade II Listed building that hosts rather pleasant music shows. Kids have fun and you can also go there to play bowls, golf or simply walk around and appreciate the nature.
- —Guest Jeanne
Bath is Beautiful
- I think Bath is Britain's most beautiful little city. It's famous for its 18th-century architecture and Roman Baths,but the parks, shopping,restaurants and cafes are pretty exceptional too. I love the fact that you can stand in any street in the city centre, look up and see the tops of green hills. They say that the ROmans chose to build there because the hills reminded them of the seven hills surrounding Rome. On a sunny summer's day, there's nowhere more enchanting.
- —JaneLaw
Waterloo Bridge, London
- Ever since I first heard the Kinks sing "Waterloo Sunset" when I was a kid I wanted to stand on that bridge and watch the sun go down. The views are amazing, right along the Thames, its my favorite view of London.
- —Guest Lin Statham
Robin Hood's Bay
- I so love this place, on the east coast of Yorkshire. Who cares if it has nothing to do with the real Robin Hood. Does anywhere? There's a very steep hill down to the harbour - and it feels even steeper walking back, but it is worth it. Really old houses line the street all the way down, many of them once used by smugglers who passed their loot from house to house from the bottom to the top. There are lots of places to eat and drink, second hand bookshops, craft shops and some really pretty cottages to rent high on the cliffs. On a sunny day it can look like it was made this pretty just for tourists, but you wait til the sea-mist (they call it sea fret in Yorkshire) comes it. Everything gets wrapped in a thick grey blanket and you feel that the smugglers could be right behind you.
- —Guest Maggie Heaton
England is full of surprises
- My husband's sister went to a conference at a college in Norwich and she recommended it. We were really surprised because we'd never even heard of it before. It has a very old cathedral and all the houses around it are made of the same pale colored stone - they must be a thousand years old I guess. In the middle of the town, there's a market with covered pushcarts and stalls. I bet it hasn't changed in hundreds of years. I'd recommend that anybody visit Norwich. It only took us about two hours on the train to get there.
- —Guest Mary Ann Swift
