London
London is a cosmopolitan mixture of the Third and First worlds,
of chauffeurs and beggars, of the establishment, the avowedly
working class and the avant-garde. Unlike comparable European
cities, much of London looks unplanned and grubby, but that is
part of its appeal. Visiting London is like being let loose on
a giant-sized Monopoly board clogged with traffic. Even though
you probably won't know where the hell you are, at least the names
will look reassuringly familiar. The city is so enormous, visitors
will need to make maximum use of the underground train system:
unfortunately, this dislocates the city's geography and makes
it hard to get your bearings. Doing some travelling by bus helps
fit the city together.
Canterbury Cathedral
The most impressive and evocative, if not the most beautiful,
cathedral in England is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the Primate of All England. Like most cathedrals, it evolved in
stages and reflects a number of architectural styles, but the
final result is one of the world's great buildings. The ghosts
of saints, soldiers and pilgrims fill the hallowed air, and not
even baying packs of French children can completely destroy the
atmosphere. After the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas à
Becket in 1170, the cathedral became the centre of one of the
most important medieval pilgrimages in Europe, a pilgrimage that
was immortalised by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales.
Canterbury itself was severely damaged by bombing in WWII and
parts of the town have been insensitively rebuilt, but it still
attracts flocks of tourists, just as it has for the past 800 years
- though numbers may decrease now pilgrims are charged a US$5
fee to enter the cathedral.
Stonehenge
Five-thousand-year-old Stonehenge is the most famous prehistoric
site in Europe, but it remains both a tantalising mystery and
a hackneyed tourist experience. It consists of a ring of enormous
stones topped by lintels, an inner horseshoe, an outer circle
and a ditch. Although aligned to the movements of the celestial
bodies, little is known about the site's purpose. What leaves
most visitors gobsmacked is not the site's religious significance
but the tenacity of the people who brought some of the stones
all the way from South Wales. It's estimated that it would take
600 people to drag one of these 50-ton monsters more than half
an inch. The downside of Stonehenge is that it's fenced off like
a dog compound; there are two main roads slicing past the site;
entry is via an incongruous underpass; and clashes between new
age hippies and police at summer solstice have become a regular
feature of the British calendar. Each year New Age Druids celebrate
the summer solstice, but closer access at other times is strictly
limited.
The Cotswolds
This limestone escarpment, 18 miles north-east of Bristol, overlooking
the Severn Vale, is an upland region of stunningly pretty, gilded
stone villages and remarkable views. Unfortunately, the soft,
mellow stone and the picturesque Agatha Christie charm have resulted
in some villages being overrun by coach tourists and commercialism.
Renowned villages include Bibury (claimed to be the most beautiful
village in England); the chocolate-box town of Bourton-on-the-Water;
and the breathtakingly pretty Chipping Camden. The best way to
explore the Cotswolds is to walk; the 100-mile Cotswold Way is
a gem of a hike, full of history and interesting terrain that
make the abundance of quaintness easier to swallow.
Oxford
Arguably the world's most famous university town, Oxford is graced
by superb college architecture and oozes questing youthfulness,
scholarship and bizarre high jinks. The views across the meadows
to the city's golden spires are guaranteed to appear in three
out of 10 English period dramas, but they manage to remain one
of the most beautiful and inspiring of sights. Back in the real
world, Oxford is not just the turf of toffs and boffs, it was
a major car-manufacturing centre until the terminal decline of
the British car industry and is now a thriving centre of service
industries. The pick of the colleges are Christ Church, Merton
and Magdalen, but nearly all the colleges are drenched in atmosphere,
history, privilege and tradition. Don't kid yourself, you wouldn't
have studied any harder in such august surroundings.
York
This proud city attracts millions of visitors, but it's too old,
too impressive and too convinced of its own importance to be overwhelmed
by mere tourists. For nearly 2000 years it has been the capital
of the north, and played a central role in British history under
the Romans, Saxons and Vikings. Its spectacular Gothic cathedral,
medieval city walls, tangle of historic streets and glut of teashops
and pubs make it a great city for ambling around. York Minster
is the largest cathedral in Europe, and right up there with the
world's great buildings. The city's Museum Gardens are amongs
the most beautiful in Britain and include a number of picturesque
ruins and buildings.
Lake District
The most green and pleasant corner of a green and pleasant land,
the landscapes of the Lake District are almost too perfect for
their own good: 10 million visitors can't be wrong, but they can
sure cause a few traffic jams. The area is a combination of luxuriant
green dales, modest but precipitous mountains and multitudinous
lakes. Each of the lakes has its own distinct character: wisdom
holds that Ullswater, Grasmere and Windermere are the prettiest,
but Wast Water, Crummock Water and Buttermere are equally spectacular
and far less crowded. Be prepared to hike into the hills, or visit
on weekdays out of season if you have any desire to emulate the
bard and wander lonely as cloud.
Durham
Durham is the most dramatic cathedral city in Britain. It straddles
a bluff surrounded on three sides by the River Wear and is dominated
by the massive Norman cathedral which sits on a wooded promontory,
looking more like a time-worn cliff than a house of worship. The
cathedral may not be the most refined in the land, but no other
British cathedral has the same impact. The cathedral shares the
dramatic top of the bluff with a Norman castle and the University
College, while the rest of the picturesque 'city' (population
38,000) huddles into the remaining space on the teardrop-shaped
promontory.
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