London Transport Museum

England

　　Housed in Covent Garden's former flower-market building, this captivating museum looks at how London developed as a result of better transport. It's stuffed full of horse-drawn omnibuses, vintage Underground carriages with heritage maps, and old double-decker buses (some of which you can clamber through, making this something of a kids'...

Magpie Cafe

England

　　The Magpie flaunts its reputation for serving the 'World's Best Fish and Chips'. Damn fine they are too, but the world and his dog knows about it and summertime queues can stretch along the street. Takeaway fish and chips cost £6.95; the sit-down restaurant is more expensive, but offers a...

Windsor Castle

England

　　The world’s largest and oldest continuously occupied fortress, Windsor Castle is a majestic vision of battlements and towers. Used for state occasions, it’s one of the Queen’s principal residences; when she’s at home, the Royal Standard flies from the Round Tower. 　　HistoryThe story of Windsor Castle began in 1071, when...

Canterbury Tales

Kent

　　This ambitious, overpriced three-dimensional interpretation of Chaucer’s classic tales using jerky animatronics and audioguides is certainly entertaining, but could never do full justice to the original work. It does, however, provide a lighthearted introduction for the young or uninitiated. ...

Eastbridge Hospital

Kent

　　A ‘place of hospitality’ for pilgrims, soldiers and the elderly since 1180, Eastbridge Hospital of St Thomas the Martyr is the last of many such buildings still open to the public. It’s worth a visit for the Romanesque undercroft and historic chapel. The 16th-century almshouses, still in use, sit astride...

West Gate Towers

Kent

　　The city’s only remaining medieval gateway (1380) houses a museum that focuses on the building’s use as a prison. The views from the top are pretty good, but if you don’t go inside, you can always entertain yourself watching buses, wing mirrors folded back, as they squeeze through the medieval...

St Augustine’s Abbey

Kent

　　An integral but often overlooked part of the Canterbury World Heritage Site, St Augustine’s Abbey was founded in AD 597, marking the rebirth of Christianity in southern England. Later requisitioned as a royal palace, it fell into disrepair and now only stumpy foundations remain. A small museum and a worthwhile...

St Martin’s Church

Kent

　　This stumpy little building just off the road from Canterbury to Sandwich is thought to be England’s oldest parish church in continuous use. It’s also where Queen Bertha (wife of the Saxon King Ethelbert) welcomed St Augustine when he arrived in England in the 6th century. The original Saxon church...

Roman Museum

Kent

　　This fascinating subterranean archaeological site gives an insight into Canterbury’s everyday life almost two millennia ago. Visitors can stroll a reconstructed Roman marketplace and rooms, including a kitchen, as well as view Roman mosaic floors. Almost everything you see here was only discovered after WWII bombs did a bit of...

Beaney House of Art & Knowledge

Kent

　　This mock-Tudor edifice is the grandest on the main shopping thoroughfare, if not the most authentic. Formerly called the Royal Museum & Art Gallery, it has housed Canterbury’s main library, a museum and an art gallery since 1899 – its current name is in honour of the 19th-century benefactor who...

Canterbury Cathedral

Kent

　　A rich repository of more than 1400 years of Christian history, Canterbury Cathedral is the Church of England’s mother ship, and a truly extraordinary place with an absorbing history. This Gothic cathedral, the highlight of the city’s World Heritage Sites, is southeast England’s top tourist attraction as well as a...

Hall's Croft

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　The handsome Jacobean town house belonging to Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband, respected doctor John Hall, stands south of Stratford's centre. The exhibition offers fascinating insights into medicine in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the lovely walled garden sprouts with aromatic herbs employed in medicinal preparations. ...

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　Before tying the knot with Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway lived in Shottery, 1 mile west of the centre of Stratford, in this delightful thatched farmhouse. As well as period furniture, it has gorgeous gardens and an orchard and arboretum, with examples of all the trees mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. A footpath...

American Fountain

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　Gifted by American publisher George W Childs in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and designed by Birmingham architect Jethro Cossins, this ornate Victorian Gothic clock tower was unveiled by Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. Lions, eagles, owls and Tudor roses adorn the tower; a fairy sits atop each clock...

Gower Memorial

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　Aristocratic sculptor Lord Ronald Gower is the master behind this multisculpture homage to Shakespeare, which features the characters of Hamlet (representing philosophy), Prince Hal (history), Lady Macbeth (tragedy) and Falstaff (comedy) as well the Bard himself. The figures and decorative bronze work were cast in France in 1881; the final...

Mary Arden's Farm

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　Shakespeare genealogists can trace the family tree to the childhood home of the Bard's mother at Wilmcote, 3 miles west of Stratford. Aimed squarely at families, the working farm traces country life over the centuries, with nature trails, falconry displays and a collection of rare-breed farm animals. You can get...

Holy Trinity Church

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　The final resting place of the Bard, where he was also baptised and where he worshipped, is said to be the most visited parish church in England. Inside are handsome 16th- and 17th-century tombs (particularly in the Clopton Chapel), some fabulous carvings on the choir stalls and, of course, the...

Shakespeare's Birthplace

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　Start your Shakespeare quest at the house where the renowned playwright was born in 1564 and spent his childhood days. John Shakespeare owned the house for a period of 50 years. William, as the eldest surviving son, inherited it upon his father's death in 1601 and spent his first five...

Shakespeare's New Place

Stratford-upon-Avon

　　When Shakespeare retired, he swapped the bright lights of London for a comfortable town house at New Place, where he died of unknown causes in April 1616. The house was demolished in 1759, but an attractive Elizabethan knot garden occupies part of the grounds. A major restoration project has uncovered...

Dragon Hall

Norwich

　　Dating from 1430, Dragon Hall is a medieval trading hall – the only building of its kind to have belonged to one man, Robert Toppes, rather than a guild, suggesting he was a successful entrepreneur. It's famous for an interior which features a carved incarnation of the eponymous fire-breathing creature...

Tombland & Elm Hill

Norwich

　　Leafy Tombland, near Norwich Cathedral, is where the city's market was originally located ('tomb' is an old Norse word for empty, hence there being space for a market). From there, follow Princes St to reach Elm Hill, Norwich's prettiest street, with its medieval cobblestones, crooked timber beams and doors, intriguing...

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

Norwich

　　The region's most important centre for the arts is housed in the first major public building by renowned architect Norman Foster. Its eclectic collections include works by Picasso, Moore, Degas and Bacon, which are displayed beside curios from Africa, the Pacific and the Americas. 　　The gallery is in the University...

Blickling Hall

Norwich

　　Largely remodelled in the 17th century for Sir Henry Hobart, James I's chief justice, Blickling Hall began life in the 11th century as a manor house and bishop's palace. The grand Jacobean state rooms are stuffed with fine Georgian furniture, pictures and tapestries; the plaster ceiling in the Long Gallery...

Museum of Norwich

Norwich

　　Stay on your best behaviour: 14th-century Bridewell is a former house of correction, a 'prison for women, beggars and tramps'. Displays here explore Norwich’s prominence as England's second city in the Middle Ages and its 19th-century industrial heritage. You can also play games in a 1950s parlour, listen to shoe-workers’...

Norwich Castle

Norwich

　　Crowning a hilltop overlooking central Norwich, this massive 12th-century castle is one of England’s best-preserved examples of Anglo-Norman military architecture. Its superb interactive museum crams in lively exhibits on Boudica, the Iceni, the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. Perhaps the best bit though is the atmospheric keep itself with its graphic...

Norwich Cathedral

Norwich

　　Norwich's most impressive landmark is a magnificent Anglican cathedral. Its barbed spire soars higher than any in England except Salisbury's, while the size of its cloisters is second to none. Highlights include the mesmerising ceiling, the ornate roof bosses, and the striking modern features of the Hostry. The 50-minute guided...

Derwent Pencil Museum

Keswick

　　Reopened after being badly damaged in the 2015 floods, Keswick's oddest museum is devoted to the charms of the humble pencil – with exhibits including a pencil made for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, wartime spy pencils that were hollowed out for secret maps, and the world's largest pencil (a mighty...

Lakes Distillery

Keswick

　　The first craft distillery in the Lake District has made a big splash since opening in 2014. It's located on a 'model farm' built during the 1850s and was founded by a team of master distillers. So far its range includes a gin, a vodka and a flagship whisky, plus...

Whinlatter Forest Park

Keswick

　　Encompassing 4.6 sq miles of pine, larch and spruce, Whinlatter is England's only true mountain forest, rising sharply to 790m about 5 miles from Keswick. The forest is a designated red squirrel reserve; you can check out live video feeds from squirrel cams at the visitor centre. It's also home...

Castlerigg Stone Circle

Keswick

　　Set on a hilltop a mile east of town, this jaw-dropping stone circle consists of 48 stones that are between 3000 and 4000 years old, surrounded by a dramatic ring of mountain peaks. ...

Keswick Museum

Keswick

　　Keswick's quirky town museum explores the area's history, from ancient archaeology through to the arrival of industry in the Lakes. It's a diverse collection, taking in everything from neolithic axe heads mined in the Langdale valley to a huge collection of taxidermied butterflies. Its best-known exhibits are a 700-year-old mummified...

St John the Baptist Church

Chester

　　Built on the site of an older Saxon church in 1075, it's been a peaceful ruin since 1581. It includes the remains of a Norman choir and medieval chapels. ...

Grosvenor Museum

Chester

　　Excellent museum with the country's most comprehensive collection of Roman tombstones. At the back of the museum is a preserved Georgian house, complete with kitchen, drawing room, bedroom and bathroom. ...

Roman Amphitheatre

Chester

　　Just outside the city walls is what was once an arena that seated 7000 spectators (making it the country's largest); some historians have suggested that it may have also been the site of King Arthur's Camelot and that his knights' 'round table' was really just this circular construction. Excavations continue;...

Blue Planet Aquarium

Chester

　　Things aren't done by halves around Chester, where you'll find Blue Planet, which was the country's largest aquarium when it opened in 1998. It's home to 10 different kinds of shark, which can be viewed from a 70m-long moving walkway that lets you eye them up close. The aquarium is...

Chester Zoo

Chester

　　The largest of its kind in the country, Chester Zoo is about as pleasant a place as caged animals in artificial habitats could ever expect to live. It's so big there's a monorail for getting around. Buy online for cheaper tickets. Located on the A41, 3 miles north of Chester's city...

Chester Cathedral

Chester

　　Chester Cathedral was originally a Benedictine abbey built on the remains of an earlier Saxon church dedicated to St Werburgh (the city's patron saint); it was shut down in 1540 as part of Henry VIII's Dissolution frenzy, but reconsecrated as a cathedral the following year. Despite a substantial Victorian facelift,...

City Walls

Chester

　　A good way to get a sense of Chester's unique character is to walk the 2-mile circuit along the walls that surround the historic centre. Originally built by the Romans around AD 70, the walls were altered substantially over the following centuries, but have retained their current position since around...

Rows

Chester

　　Besides the City Walls, Chester's other great draw is the Rows, a series of two-level galleried arcades along the four streets that fan out in each direction from the Central Cross. The architecture is a handsome mix of Victorian and Tudor (original and mock) buildings that house a fantastic collection...

Nottingham Contemporary

Nottingham

　　Behind its lace-patterned concrete facade, Nottingham Contemporary holds edgy, design-driven exhibitions of paintings, prints, photography and sculpture. ...

St Mary's Church

Nottingham

　　The most atmospheric time to visit this beautiful stone church with a history stretching back to Saxon times is during evensong (6.15pm Wednesday during term time, 6.30pm Sunday year-round). It's mentioned in the 1450 Ballad of Robin Hood and the Monk. ...

City of Caves

Nottingham

　　Over the centuries, the sandstone underneath Nottingham has been carved into a honeycomb of caverns and passageways. Tours lead you from the top level of the Broadmarsh shopping centre through a WWII air-raid shelter, a medieval underground tannery, several pub cellars and a mock-up of a Victorian slum dwelling. Book...

National Justice Museum

Nottingham

　　In the grand Georgian Shire Hall, the National Justice Museum offers a ghoulish stroll through centuries of British justice, including medieval trials by fire and water. There are costumed characters representing historical figures, and activities, exhibitions and re-enacted courtroom performances regularly take place. Tickets are valid all day. ...

Statue of Robin Hood

Nottingham

　　Taking aim at the castle gates with his bow and arrow from Nottingham Castle's former moat, this 1952-unveiled bronze statue of Nottingham's famous outlaw is the work of James Woodford. Standing 7ft high, it weighs in at half a tonne. Smaller sculptures nearby depict Little John, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck...

Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard

Nottingham

　　The underground passageway Mortimer's Hole, at Nottingham Castle, emerges at Brewhouse Yard, where five atmospheric 17th-century cottages house the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard. Like the castle, the passgeway and museum are closed for renovations and will reopen in mid-2020. 　　In 1330, supporters of Edward III used Mortimer's...