In the far southeast of England, you could say there are two Kents. There’s the soft rural Kent of posh towns, National Trust houses and quaint villages, and then coastal Kent, fortified to defend the entranceway to England but also adapted for seaside fun in the 19th century. In rural Kent, the county lives up …
East of London and with a continuous suburb that clings to the north side of the Thames Estuary, Essex is a county that has got a bad rap in the past. But journey north and east and the countryside becomes ever more picturesque and the towns gain more personality. Dedham for instance has the romantic …
In northwest England, Lancashire is where you break free from the conurbations into beautiful countryside. The landscapes can vary between green arable farms and pasture near the coast, and the wild and romantic moors and fells of the West Pennines and Forest of Bowland. There’s great variety in the kind of towns you can call …
South Yorkshire was conquered by the coal and steel industries in the 18th and 19th centuries, and after these activities faded the region had to find a new path. For Sheffield that path is education, culture and a fertile live music scene. Around the county you have the moors, dales and fells of the peak …
The sights in Liverpool and the metropolitan county of Merseyside won’t jump out at you, but if you know what you’re looking at you’ll fall in love. That goes for the warehouses on the Albert Dock where exotic goods from all over the British Empire were stored, or elegant Southport, which is claimed to have …
From the great ports on the Solent in the south to the distinguished history of Winchester and the splendour of its National Parks and country idylls, Hampshire is nothing if not diverse. So really, it’s a question of choosing what’s right for you, be it a medieval market town with a Norman church, an adorable …
If you need the fun and culture of a city, Leeds should be your starting point in West Yorkshire, but the dales and moors in the countryside must not be missed. Adding layers of interest and excitement to rural West Yorkshire is the roll call of cultural giants associated with these villages and towns, from …
At the heart of this large conurbation in northwest England is a city adored for its industrial innovation, culture and cool. Stay in Manchester for the live music, restaurants and museum and then visit the towns and cities that sprang up overnight in the 1700s. The canals that once transported coal, cotton and textiles are …
Fair to say that the West Midlands isn’t tourism central. But though there are more winsome cities, Birmingham has rollicking nightlife, loads of culture and more shopping than you can handle. Remember too that the large Indian contingent has given Birmingham the best curry houses in the country, and invented the “balti”. Ever since the …
Within the tarmac boundary of the M25, Greater London is a vast sprawl, in the best possible sense. If you don’t want to limit yourself to the tourist trail, then when you go beyond the offices and churches of the City of London and the crowd-pleasing sights in the City of Westminster, you’ll enter the …