Ironbridge Gorge

This region in Shropshire is all about England's Victorian industrial past.  The scenic gorge (dominated by the first iron bridge in England, dating to the 1700s) is lined with old Victorian mining and manufacturing facilities-turned-museums.  It's a popular vacation destination for English families, and you could easily spend three days here bouncing around the various sites with your Ironbridge Gorge passport (a ticket that gets you into everything).  Blists Hill, a full-blown living history Victorian town is especially fun for families.

The Cotswolds

Tourists flock to this beautiful country region in the summer, and for good reason.  The whole area seems to have been frozen in time, somewhere in the 1500s.  Tiny towns lined with stone houses and churches are scattered amid gorgeous, classic English rolling hills.  There are rivers to wade and hills to climb, horseback riding trips, and public footpaths criss-crossing from town to town.

There are enough quirky museums, even zoos, antique shops, tea rooms, churches and historic sites to spend days in the Cotswolds alone.  If you want a slower-paced few days' respite from the busyness of a city, stay in a bed and breakfast and drink in the views.

Our favorite spots in the Cotswolds include:

The Mechanical Music Museum.  Tour an amazing collection of antique music boxes that delight and amaze! More here.

Ancient Roman Villlages.  There are a number to choose from, all tucked away in beautiful countryside and very evocative.

Burton-on-the-Water.  As picturesque a village as it gets!  Fun shops and tea rooms, too.

The Rollright Stones.   An ancient stone circle set in the middle of farmland, with great folktales to go with it.  Know the stories before you go to get the full experience!  

Hailes Abbey.  By far our favorite of all the ruined abbeys in England.  Set quietly in the middle of farmland, the ruins of the once rich, huge, and famous abbey (the most popular pilgrimage site besides Canterbury), are now forgotten and overgrown with vines.  The audio guide is awesome, giving you a more vivid idea of monastic life than anything else we know.  The nearby Medieval church is a remarkable site itself, and it also boasts a labyrinth in the grounds, through which you can wander and ponder like Medieval pilgrims. 

Belas Knap Longbarrow.  Take a short hike to a stone age burial mound, set in an evocative, beautiful spot.  You can crawl into the barrow a little ways, and even climb up on top, have a seat on the grass and take a moment for some existential meditation while you stare at the views.

Knaresborough

The main attraction in this charming town in Northern England is Mother Shipton's Petrifying Well, a sort of waterfall/well/cave that turns things to stone -- literally!  It's been a point of pilgrimage since the middle ages, and was actually England's first paying tourist attraction!  It's still certainly worth visiting.

The story goes that Mother Shipton, a witch, was born in the nearby cave, during a dramatic storm to a young woman cast out by her village.   She was famous for her psychic predictions, and the waterfall and well near her cave is believed to grants wishes.  Objects are hung in the dripping water, where you can see them in various states of petrification.  So awesome!


Knaresborough the town hangs on dramatic hills overlooking a river, and there's also a lovely riverside walk that circles the town and the cave.  There are quaint shops in town as well as the dramatic ruins of a castle to visit.

The Lake District

This region in northern England is full of green hills and crystal lakes.  There's plenty of outdoor recreation -- hiking, swimming, boating, as well as a bunch of really quaint villages peppered with quirky museums, like the Pencil Museum (home to the world's largest pencil; we loved it), the James Bond Museum, famous ice cream shops, and a remarkable ancient stone circle -- Castlerigg Stone Circle -- in beautiful hilltop surroundings.  The Lake District been the home to many famous writers (Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter both left houses behind that you can visit).

For a break from hotels and a memorable countryside experience, consider staying in a Camping Barn (google for listings). 

Recommended Movies:

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.

The Shell Grotto

You will not believe this place!  This is the quirkiest, most magical, mysterious sight that is definitely off the beaten path.  An underground grotto made out of millions of shells, it was discovered in the 1800s but no one has any idea who built it and when.  It is an awe-inpiring site to behold, and extra thrilling because it's so mysterious.

Located in Margate, Kent.

Warwick Castle and Warwick town

Warwick Castle (avoid embarrassment by pronouncing it correctly: "War-ick"), the largest castle in England still in one piece, is a grand piece of architecture and history!  The Earls of Warwick, who lived at this castle, have historically been some of the most powerful nobles in English history, at times even more powerful than the king himself!  

Warwick castle was a private residence for centuries, famous in the Victorian era for extravagant parties and being the center of aristocratic gossip and scandal.  Now it is open to the the public, furnished as it was in its Victorian heyday, and you (yes, you!) can wander the grounds, the house, the guard towers, the torture chamber, with your imagination (and costumed re-enactors) conjuring up a dramatic past.  Warwick castle is one of the most popular tourist sites outside of London, and it actually deserves it.  So cool! 

Warwick, the town around the castle, is also very historic and has managed to preserve its Medieval flavor nicely.  Wandering around Warwick is like stepping back in time.  Plenty of museums, parks, horse races, antique shops, and--of course--ghost tours await you.  Our first visit to Warwick is what actually inspired us to move to Warwickshire later.  You'll love it!

Extras:

The Mill Garden. There's a gorgeous garden along the river below the castle, with a great view.  Escape the crowd and take an extra hour there to unwind, reflect and soak up the English countryside.

For an extra awesome view of the castle rent a rowboat from St. Nicholas Park upstream of the castle and row practically right up to the castle walls.

There's a good ghost tour that runs a few nights a week.  Coordinate your timing if you're into it!  

Recommended Reading: 

 Terry Deary's Horrible Histories: Stratford-upon-Avon (fun kid's history book that actually talks a lot about Warwick)

About the legend of Guy of Warwick, here. 

Bath

Nothing beats Bath.  It is one of only two World Heritage cities in Britian (the other is Edinburgh), and it deserves the recognition! Bath was the Hollywood of the early 1800s, where the rich would go to see and be seen.  Fashionable ladies strolled the avenues, and available young aristocrats looking for life partners spent nearly every night at the "pump rooms," dancing and mingling.  It would have been a sight to see.

Nowadays, it is a different kind of site to see!  Bath has been a popular resort destination since Roman times at least!  Hot springs in the ground inspired the Romans to build a massive bath house for public bathing - this has been excavated and you can visit it - it's surprisingly similar to public pool complexes today.  In the Middle Ages, people build another bath house (not knowing that only seven inches away the Roman baths lay hidden underground!), and then, after Queen Mary bathed in the waters and miraculously overcame her infertility in the 1700s, Bath became to place to be.  Aristocrats from all over the country spent their summers there, bathing in the mineral water, drinking it, shopping, and socializing.  During this heyday, pretty much the whole town was built up - and now it is one impressive monolith of grand limestone Georgian architecture.  The city's historic center is just small enough to get around everywhere on foot (and lots of fascinating walking tours help guide you around).  

But the cool thing about Bath is that it's full of really great museums that are sometimes half empty of tourists, or in the case of the delightful Museum of Bath at Work, totally empty!

The Bizarre Bath Comedy Walk at night is highly recommended -- a hilarious evening tour around the town!  You'll need to stay the night in Bath to do this, which will make you happy.    

Of course we mustn't forget Bath's most famous champion, Jane Austen herself.  She lived in Bath for a while, as did most of the characters in her books.  Bath is a Jane Austen mecca for fans, and a few museums and tours bring the novels alive.  If you want your trip to Bath to be REALLY cool, I highly recommend the following:

Recommended Reading:

About the eccentric man who "made" Bath, Beau Nash: here. 

 

Recommended Movies:

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. 

Recommended Reading:
 

Recommended Movies:
 

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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