Cheddar Gorge

Fans of cheddar cheese should make the pilgrimage here, to the gorge where the cheese was born.  It's a scenic steep valley lined with caves you can tour and cliffs you can hike.  Delicious cheese abounds. 

Bridge Tea Room, Bradford-upon-Avon

This is the best tea room in Britain, with awards to prove it.  Set inside a 16th century building, the staff wear period clothing and serve up the most delicious everything in fancy dishes.  The price is affordable, even for the likes of us.  Order the full tea -- it comes on a tiered tray and has some of everything (can be shared by 2-3 people). 

Bradford-upon-Avon, the town tucked away in the countryside near Bath, is equally charming with a lovely riverside park and old buildings everywhere.  An afternoon spent here will be unforgettable and rejuvenating! 

Tintagel

The legendary home of King Arthur, Tintagel Castle lies in ruins, perched high above the sea on dramatic cliffs.  It's an insanely romantic spot, with trails to wander along the coast among ruins that may date back to Roman times.  Hit up the tea room on site for a really great authentic Cornish Cream Tea (sweet scones, clotted cream, and tea).  

Nearby Tintagel town is quaint with shops that play up the Arthur connection.  Try the Cornish ice cream offered in shops along the main street. 

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Cadbury Chocolate World

Mainly geared towards kids, adults will love it too.  Especially the free cup of molten chocolate at the end!  Tour the Cadbury factory (which you can smell from a mile away!) in Birmingham and celebrate the glories of English chocolate.

Snowdonia National Park

What a spot!  Nestled among the "mountains" of Snowdonia National Park, North Wales is a collection of the most charming little towns, all unpronouncable: Betws-e-Coed, Llanwrst, Llangglen, you get the idea.  The area has a rich heritage of both Welsh and English history, and astounding castles everywhere!  In Conwy, for example, you can visit one of the best preserved Medieval towns in Europe - complete with the entire Medieval fortress wall around the tiny town (you can walk around on top of the wall).  North Wales is also famous for its ice cream, male choirs (prepare to be blown away), and sheep.  Many of the towns were built on the slate industry -- and you can tell that slate was their major natural resource.  The fences, homes, and grand buildings are all made of thin pieces of stacked slate.  It is a place of natural beauty and haunting scenery, and the seriously cool Welsh language, which is alive and well!

Fitzpatrick's Temperance Bar

Fitzpatrick's Temperance Bar in Rawtenstall has been making soft drinks over 100 years.  In Victorian England, no tax on alcohol created a alcoholism problem that became a major isue in society.   Thus the temperance movement was born: no more alcohol!  A Methodist cheese-maker in Preston, Lancashire started a society whose members pledged to lay off the booze.

Many people were perfectly willing to give up the booze, but...what about our pubs, our socializing, our community gathering places?  Fitzpatrick's filled the bill.  At Fitzpatrick's people could gather to drink sarsaparilla, ginger beer, and creme soda along with the magic herbal remedies of the Fitzpatrick family (you can still get them today).

The shop, though small, is crammed with old fashioned sweets and a plethora of non alcoholic beverage options.  They even have soda on tap!  Fitspatrick's remains as the last original Temperance Bar in Britain.

Oxford or Cambridge

A visit to this intellectual center of the world is memorable!  Oxford and/or Cambridge have this back-in-time feel with a ridiculously huge number of historic buildings.  Aside from touring the university (which is actually a collection of rather exclusive colleges) and gaping at the architecture all around you, there are a number of free and fascinating museums.  The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is the home to Guy Fawkes' lantern (with which he almost succeeded in blowing up Parliament in 1603)!  Harry Potter's Great Hall was filmed in Oxford -- take the tour if you like.

Here's a random sampling of some of Oxford's alumni, whose footsteps you can walk in:

John Locke    

Percy Shelley

John Wycliffe  

Lewis Carroll  

JRR Tolkein

CS Lewis  

John Donne  

Thomas Hobbes

Hugh Grant  

Sir Walter Raleigh  

Sister Wendy Beckett

Rowan Atkinson  

Jethro Tull  

Oscar Wilde

Dr Seuss  

Stephen Hawking  

Bill Clinton

Oxford is our preferred University city. With busy bicycle traffic, an awesome botanical center, and great pubs, including the Eagle and Child, where CS Lewis, JRR Tolkein, et al. would sit around discussing their books.  Good fish and chips, too. 

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Stratford-upon-Avon

For some reason, everyone knows the town where Shakespeare was born.  Sure, you don't know the birthplace of Thomas Edison, Gandhi, Columbus, or JK Rowling, but you DO know where Shakespeare was born!  This fact is a tribute to Stratford-upon-Avon's tourist bureau.  The marketing of the town is genius, but, (and here I must strongly disagree with other guidebooks like Rick Steves), this is no tourist trap but a place oozing with charm and history that is also "real".

We lived close by, and we never got sick of this place.  It's got everything.  You could spend half a day, you could spend a week.  It's an absolutley charming town with a world-class theater company, quaint shops, great restaurants, fun activities, street performers, markets, row boats on the river, horse racing, and all that's in addition to the retinue of Shakespeare-related properties you can visit, all of which are really different and really interesting.

The town has a quirky flavor, and tons of charm, besides being a grand celebration of all things Shakespeare.  You could spend the day visiting only sites about Shakespeare, from his birthplace to his grave, but simply wandering the town is also a delight.  The town is chock-full of fascinating little spots to visit, from Europe's oldest magic shop to a butterfly house to a barge cruise on the River Avon.  There are also ghost tours every night and several houses that claim to be England's most haunted building!
 

A visit to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the recently remodeled Swan Theatre is not to be missed.  Seriously.  Even if you don't like theater, you simply must go.  You'll thank me later.   This is Shakespeare performed by the best in the world.  You must get your tickets in advance!  Rsc. org.uk. 

Recommended Restaurants:
Carluccio's on Waterside - best Italian hot chocolate north of Italy
Hussain's Indian Restaurant on Chapel Street - perhaps best in UK?  get peshwari naan
Garrick Inn Pub - 14th century pub, awesome atmosphere, classic English experience
Barnaby's Fish and Chips on Waterside - famous fish and chips
Cafe Rouge - delicious French food, breakfast is especially good (get the croque madam)
Check out the candy/fudge shops in Henley Street near Shakespeare's birthplace

Recommended Reading:
Read the Shakespeare play you are going to see at the theater.  It makes the experience so much cooler!

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