York

York is about as big a city as you'll find on this site.  It makes our list because of its walled-in medieval feel, cobblestone pedestrianized old-town, and multitude of fascinating sites, all within walking distance of each other.

York Minster (Cathedral) is, in our opinion, one of England's finest, second only to Cantebury.  It's the largest cathedral in Northern Europe and you get that sense wandering around inside.  Try to catch a concert to experience an extra dimension of its mystical power.

Betty's Tea Room is famous across England.  Expensive but worth it.  (For cheaper fare there is a handfull of pubs that do 2 for £10 specials and serve pretty decent food)

Walking the three miles atop the medieval City Wall is a great way to get a feel for York's layout, work in some exercise, capture a unique view of the cathedral, and experience the city's medieval roots.

The pedestrianized Old-town is chockablock full of small shops, street performers, fine restaurants and tea rooms, and old buildings.  Have a stroll and imagine you are living 700 years ago.

York's Train Museum, housed in the spectacular train station, is the best and biggest of its kind in England.  If you are into trains do NOT miss it.

The many Ghost Walks on offer in York play up the city's history of hauntings.  Well worth the tenner it will cost you.

Recommended Hotel: The Bar Convent lies just outside one of the city gates and is the real deal.  Still a convent but the nuns are all so old now that they need an extra source of income, so they turned to hospitality.  The chapel and glass-roofed courtyard where they serve tea and breakfast are alone worth the stay.  Choose a room named after your favorite saint (we chose Laurence, the patron saint of students and barbecues), but book in advance as this is a popular place to stay.

Recommended Reading:

Whitby Abbey

Imagine the ruins of an old cathedral perched above the North Sea, dripping with gothic mystique.  This is the ruined abbey that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula and set part of his classic there.  The church next door is surrounded by a gothic style Victorian cemetery, complete with bat-winged skeletons and large blackened tombstones.  The church is also interesting architecturally, being constructed in a mishmash of different asymetrical sections, each from different eras in time.

The view to the North features the medieval town of Whitby.  Now a thriving and unique modern city, you'll find every amenity there and plenty to do and see.  Check out their website for a complete list.

We strongly recommend visiting in April or October during the Whitby Goth Weekend.  Witness hoards of fully-clad goths strutting around the city and abbey and posing for the mass of photographers.  What an experience!

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The Peak District

On the border between Northern and Central England sits the Peak District national park, great for hiking and experiencing quaint village charm.  Partly high moorland with scattered small peaks to summit, partly peppered with very small stone-built villages, and--like anywhere else in England--partly farmland.  We would personally recommend the village of Castleton and a pub there called The George.  Sit next to one of the fireplaces and try the bar-b-q bacon chicken.  Nearby are several interesting caves including "The Devil's Arse" (named for the constant, growling wind that emits from the opening), dramatic ridge-line and moorland trails, a ruined medieval castle, steam train rides, and heart-melting countryside drives.

Sherwood Forest

If there was a real Robin Hood, he probably lived here.  Part of Sherwood Forest houses a Robin Hood Visitor's Center (mainly geared toward kids), and from there you can walk a path through the forest to the big oak tree where Robin Hood and his merry men are said to have lived.  Kids in costumes abound, and you can buy one (a costume, that is) at the gift shop.  The forest isn't one by any American standard-- it's more of a spacious woods, but lovely nonetheless.

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Salisbury Cathedral

The tallest spire in England, Salisbury Cathedral is an inspiring sight inside and out, set in a quaint town.  The cathedral has an excellent boy choir, and is also home to the oldest clock in Europe and a really interesting new baptismal font.   For the full experience, definitely read Wiliam Golding's The Spire before you go!

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Hastings Battlefield

It's the site of the epic 1066 Norman Invasion.  After checking out the museum, wander the battlefield and imagine the bloodshed!

Sutton Hoo

Site of the great Anglo-Saxon treasure mound -- the treasure's in London, but you can go look at the spot where they found it. :)

(Maybe worth mentioning, the Benjamin Britten memorial on the coast is nearby.)

Recommended Reading:
HORRIBLE HISTORIES THE SMASHING SAXONS

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!

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. 

Tintern Abbey

JMW Turner's paintings and William Wordsworth's poem helped make this place famous, and it is one of the most dramatic, majestic, and eerie of all the ruined abbeys in Britain.  Nestled in the rolling hills of South Wales, it is picturesque, magnificent, haunting, and humbling!  Just standing among the ruins gives you a sense of being outside of time, and with a bit of imagination the experience gets even better.

Tintern Abbey was a bustling and wealthy monastery until Henry VIII destroyed it during the dissolution (1536).  Henry had started the Church of England and thought the monasteries were becoming too wealthy and corrupt.  What better place to cash in on funds he desperately needed? He dissolved the monasteries, often killing the monks who resisted, and took all the land and wealth for himself.  Tintern Abbey is a shell of its former self - literally.  It is a glorious building without a ceiling, with grass for a floor, and stairs that lead nowhere.  

Recommended Reading: 

William Wordsworth's "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," here.

About JMW Turner, 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:

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

 

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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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Kenilworth

Kenilworth is "in the heart of the historic heart of England," and it's our beloved hometown.  It's a charming little medieval town built around a huge castle.  Kenilworth Castle was the home to some really important dudes in English history, and some momentous events happened here.

Past residents include: Prince John "the phony King of England," King Henry V, and Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth's "favorite" (wink wink).  

One of the coolest things that happened here was when castle resident Simon De Montfort staged a revolt against King Henry III, his brother in law.  Simon de Montfort died in a battle just outside Kenilworth, and his followers ran back to the castle to hide.  Henry III followed them, and staged the longest seige in English history!  He camped out for six months, slowly starving out the men in the castle  (at the castle, you can see the massive stone balls Henry launched over the walls with a trebuchet).  When Simon's son finally got desperate, he escaped under cover of night by swimming the moat in his nightshirt, leaving everybody else behind to starve and eventually surrender.  

Now the castle is in ruins and the moat has become rolling green countryside.  Visiting the castle is haunting, awe inspiring, and so cool!  Nearby, the town's quaint streets are peppered with thatched roof cottages and quaint shops.  Stop by "Time for Tea" for the tiny local tea room experience.  The town's huge Abbey Fields are also adjacent to the castle.  These are the grounds of a 12th century monastery, which was once one of the richest in England before Henry VIII destroyed it.  What's left is a stunning church about a thousand years old, a beautiful pond, and scattered ruins of the monastery lying among ancient tombstones.  The surrounding countryside is prime land for long country walks, picnics, wooded strolls, birdwatching, and reveling in the beauty of the lush countryside .  Kenilworth is Heaven on earth.

Recommended Places to Stay:
Families or big groups who want to stay a while should seek out one of the holiday cottages on High Street.  The Wren's Nest, Jackdaw Cottage, and The Christmas Cottage are all in prime locations.  Well-placed hotels include The Old Bakery and Milsoms Hotel.

Recommended reading:

 Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott tells the story of Robert Dudley, his romance with Queen Elizabeth, and his wife's mysterious death.  Scott wrote it while staying in the Kings Arms and Castle Hotel in Kenilworth.

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Minster Lovell Hall

Once upon a time in the 1400s, evil Richard III snatched the English crown for himself. He did this by having the true King and the King’s little brother murdered, and they were both just little boys. Their bodies, dead or alive, were cemented into the stairwell at the Tower of London. Anyway Richard III and his malevolent cronies were still revelling in the power and glory they had so dubiously achieved when Richard’s cousin showed up and killed Richard on the battlefield. {This is the end of the Wars of the Roses, which you may have heard of.} But this story isn’t really about the Wars of the Roses. It’s about one of Richard’s malevolent cronies, Lord Lovell. Because when I learned about his fitting and miserable end, I just had to go see the place where it happened.

When he saw Richard die in battle, Lord Lovell knew he was totally screwed and headed for the hills. He was one of the richest guys in England, at least until the moment Richard was run-through with a sword, but he knew that all of his wealth and property would be seized by the new king, and he himself would be executed in a manner like unto Braveheart. So he ran to one of his more out-of-the-way houses, Minster Lovell Hall, hoping to buy some time while they searched all his bigger mansions. It’s in a really lovely spot, by a pretty stream in a tiny village. I would hate to go to such a peaceful spot knowing full well that I was likely soon going to have my intestines pulled slowly out of a hole in my belly while I screamed. But I digress. He had to hide. Like really really hide. He had a small secret room made in his house that was only accessible through a secret door with a secret key. He dismissed all his servants, retaining only his most loyal old butler. He gave this most loyal butler the key and tucked himself away in the secret room. For years and years he lived locked away in a claustrophobic little place, and his butler would sneak him some food everyday.

Better than execution, I suppose, but then the old butler died. And there was no one around to tell about the secret room or the secret key or the secret Lord in there who needed to be fed. And Lord Lovell, locked inside, slowly starved to death!

That was the story anyway. People talked about it for a couple hundred years after the fact, but no one really thought it was true. Then in 1708, while doing some remodeling, the owners of the house knocked down a wall and discovered a secret room -- and a human skeleton inside! (And also the skeleton of a dog; he must’ve had some company.)

Since then the house has become a skeleton itself. But it’s still by a beautiful stream, in a hauntingly serene and pretty spot. It’s another one of those smaller attractions (with no tourists in sight) that is just as impressive/creepy as, say, the Tower of London with its skeletons of children in the stairs. Speaking of which, who sealed those boys in the stairs? Lord Lovell perhaps.

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