Your London Tours wants to encourage you to spend your vacation in the UK. But what can the UK offer that other countries can’t? In the latest instament of a blog series, we continue to list our all-time favourite places that can be visited in the UK.
Welcome Back to Britain
This month, the south-west of England that includes the counties of Devon and Cornwall.
5 reasons to visit North-east Devon.
- Exeter Cathedral: quite simply one of the greatest churches in the country.
- Powderham Castle: fortified manor-house with superb extensive parkland.
- Bicton Park: 63-acre botanical gardens – now grade 1 listed.
- Rougemont Castle: the only Anglo-Saxon stone castle in England.
- Knightshayes Court: opium-induced haze of Gothic revival ideas. Run by NT.
5 reasons to visit Dartmoor.
- National Park: drive is a vivid experience, not least because of animal disruption.
- Becky Falls: ‘The gem in the granite’. Local beauty spot with wildlife centre.
- Dartmoor Miniature Pony Centre: just perfect for young children.
- Widecombe: home of horse fair, and song ending ‘Uncle Tom Cobbley and all.’
- Dartmoor Prison: built to hold Napoleonic prisoners of war. Fascinating museum.
5 reasons to visit the area around Dartmoor.
- Castle Drogo: 20th century castle, the last built in England. Grade 1 listed.
- Buckfastleigh Churchyard: haunted by the evil ghost of Squire Richard Cabell.
- Buckfast Monastery: only working monastery in England in medieval location.
- Tavistock: birthplace of Spanish armada hero Sir Francis Drake.
- Buckland Abbey: 700-year-old house noted as Sir Francis Drake’s residence.
5 reasons to visit South Hams.
- Dartmouth Castle: late medieval powerhouse still active during World War II.
- Paignton & Dartmouth Railway: steam trains follow coast and countryside.
- Salcombe: Picturesque Devon fishing town with many independent shops.
- Pilchard Inn (Burgh Island): take the giant ‘sea-tractor’ from Bigbury-on-Sea.
- Burgh Island: celebrated art deco hotel made famous by Agatha Christie.
5 reasons to visit Cornwall:
- Tintagel Castle: perched above the Atlantic, as ruins go, this takes some beating.
- Padstow: fishing village that became famous thanks to seafood guru Rick Stein.
- St Michael’s Mount: magnificent monastic island off the southern Cornish coast.
- Polperro: delightful fishing village once the centre of Cornish smuggling trade.
- Eden Project: eco-climate based garden described as ‘8th wonder of the world’.
Enticing
Your London Tours chief administrator Jo Bull said: “We cannot force anyone to spend their vacation in the UK, but we can entice them with these recommendations. We hope they will take them into account when making Your London Tours their first port of call for a trip to remember.”