Fancy a holiday in Britain?
Want to visit this amazing island, but don't know where to begin? 'Around Britain' tells us, warts and all, how to get the most out of a trip to the UK. The book takes us to six amazing destinations and gives us ideas of what we can do once we arrive.
The book doesn't spend time describing the obvious; it avoids that honeypots that feature in most guides. When we tour a country we want to see it in its natural splendor, not spend hours queuing in an endless line of frustrated tourists or sitting in our car with nothing more to see than the lorry on our left, the luxurious range rover on our right while in front and behind stretch endless lines of vehicles.
Around Britain introduces us to the real side of the country. We don't want to use the cliché, 'real Britain', but that is what we'll find in this book. We start off by visiting the beautiful east coast, staying in one of England's traditional holiday destinations, Hunstanton. After that, it is north and across the border to Scotland.
On the way, we explore beautiful Lindisfarne, the Holy Island and the stunning town of Berwick upon Tweed. In Scotland, we experience the Edinburgh Fringe, the world's largest arts festival. Our reading gives us tips on what to see, and where to find it. Next, it is down to archetypal England. The vast and impressive Yorkshire Dales. We pop across to the Lake District and learn how to avoid the crowds on Windermere and find the genuine Lakes, one of the world's most stunning landscapes.We discover a little of Britain's most tragic historical disaster - when the plague wiped out one in three of the population. We visit Eyam, the plague village. This is not some artificial reconstruction, full of actors in costume and fake buboes, but a genuine village where people live and work. But also one that remembers and honors its past.
From there, it is on to one of England's most secret gems, the unexplored Forest of Dean. We travel into Wales, and then head southwest to the Isles of Scilly. This archipelago sits nearly thirty miles off the mainland and enjoys its own sub-tropical climate. Visitors associate Britain with temperate but dodgy weather, and that can be the case. Not on Scilly, where clear waters and long days of sun remind us more of the Mediterranean than northern European.
Next, it is another English island, the Isle of Wight. Here we travel back in time, enjoying Edwardian splendor alongside the fun and frivolity of the seventies. A traditional seaside resort is a must-see for any visitor to Britain, or indeed any native exploring the less well explored aspects of their nation. The Isle of Wight is a living museum, an experience like no other.We finish our tour in the capital. But this is not the London of endless queues for Madame Tussaud's or glimpses of the crown jewels through crowds of fellow tourists. Instead, we learn of some of the real gems of London, the places that tourists do not usually see. We discover the thrill of a proper theatrical experience; not a musical that can be seen anywhere in the world, but a play to genuinely thrill us.
'Around Britain' offers an entertaining and indispensable guide for anybody (even natives) planning a tour around Britain. It reveals the lesser-known treasures of this incredible country while avoiding the predictable itineraries of most visitors.