Not to miss

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 town huddles into the remaining space on the teardrop-shaped promontory.

New Forest

Wedged between Southampton and Bournemouth on the holiday South Coast, this huge patch of woodland is the largest area of natural vegetation left in England. It has been that way since William the Conqueror gave the area its name in 1079.

Befittingly, a number of ancient traditions survive in the forest, including commoners' rights to graze their stock. There are some 5000 wild ponies and cattle grazing in the forest, and plenty of deer, badgers and foxes residing among the fine stands of oak, beech and holly. It's a pretty area to drive through, but even better if you get off the roads and onto the walking and cycling tracks.

Isles of Scilly

These balmy rocky islands, slap in the middle of the warm Gulf Stream, have a pace of life just one slow heartbeat away from total extinction. All have white, sandy beaches, gin-clear waters and a swag of shipwrecks for treasure-loving divers. St Mary's is the only island that allows cars.

The 140 rocky islands sit slap in the middle of the warm Gulf Stream. The mild climate enables plants and trees that grow nowhere else in Britain to flourish, and growing flowers for the mainland is an important industry on the islands. The major tourist attraction is the subtropical gardens at Tresco Abbey on Tresco. The best beaches are on St Martin's, but the most powerful sight is Bryher's Hell Bay in the middle of an Atlantic gale. Visitors can fly to St Mary's from Land's End, Exeter, Newquay, Plymouth and Bristol, or catch a boat from Penzance.

Shropshire

The 'blue remembered hills' of Shropshire form one of the most beautiful, peaceful and underrated areas of Britain. The gentle terrain and the low population density make it perfect cycling or open walking country, and the county's capital, Shrewsbury, is probably the finest Tudor town in England.

Nearby Wroxeter boasts the ruins of Viroconium, the fourth-largest city in Roman Britain. Ironbridge, south of Telford, was the Silicon Valley of the Industrial Revolution, and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum is Britain's finest museum of industrial archaeology.

York

For nearly 2000 years York has been the capital of the north, and it played a central role in British history under the Romans, Saxons and Vikings. It's a great city in which to amble through the spectacular Gothic cathedral, medieval city walls, tangle of historic streets and glut of pubs.

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. The city walls - among the most impressive surviving medieval fortifications in Europe - encompass a thriving, fascinating centre.

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. 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 a cloud.

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.

The Cotswolds

This limestone escarpment 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.

This limestone escarpment, overlooking the Severn Vale, 18 miles northeast of Bristol, 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 Campden. The best way to explore the Cotswolds is to walk; the 108-mile Cotswold Way is a gem of a hike, full of history and interesting terrain that make the abundance of quaintness easier to swallow.

London

London - the grand resonance of its very name suggests history and might. Its opportunities for entertainment by day and night go on and on and on. It's a city that exhilarates and intimidates, stimulates and irritates in equal measure, a grubby Monopoly board studded with stellar sights.

It's a cosmopolitan mix of Third and First Worlds, chauffeurs and beggars, the stubbornly traditional and the proudly avant-garde. But somehow - between 'er Majesty and Pete Doherty, Bow Bells and Big Ben, the Tate Modern and the 2012 Olympics - it all hangs together.

The city is so enormous visitors will need to make maximum use of the underground train system: unfortunately, this dislocates the geography and makes it hard to get your bearings. A ride on a red double-decker bus (a quintessential London experience) will help piece things together.

Oxford

Bookish, conservative and closeted, Oxford is a city of remarkable beauty and stunning contrast. Birthplace of Mensa and the Morris Minor, home to the academic elite and the working-class majority, Oxford is a living museum, its beautiful buildings oozing charm and a distinguished past.

You can lose yourself in the winding lanes and alleys that crisscross the city, many of them unchanged since the time of Auden, Wilde and Tolkien. If the camera-wielding tourists get too much, step inside the college walls and feel the studious calm descend on the ivy-clad quads and ornate doorways.

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 hub of service industries. The pick of the colleges are Christ Church, Merton and Magdalen, but nearly all of them are drenched in atmosphere, history, privilege and tradition. The pursuit of excellence, the weight of academic achievement and the whiff of intellectual ideals are palpable as soon as you get off the bus. But don't kid yourself: you wouldn't have studied any harder in such august surroundings.

Northumberland

This is one of the wildest and least-spoilt counties in England. There are probably more castles and battlefield sites here than anywhere else in the country, testifying to the long and bloody struggle with the Scots.

The most interesting and well-known relic is Hadrian's Wall. The Northumberland National Park has a windswept grandeur that is distinctly un-English in character. The grassy Cheviot Hills, part of the park, are a lonely, beautiful and challenging hiking area. The main town in the area is Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in England; the prettiest villages are Corbridge and Brampton in neighbouring Cumbria.

Roman Baths Museum

These monumental remains are some of the best preserved in Britain. The city's steaming soul is the bath-and-temple complex built by the Romans over one of Bath's three natural hot springs from the 1st century AD. You can usually avoid the worst crowds by visiting early on a midweek morning or outside the peak months (July and August).

An audioguide (read by the bestselling author Bill Bryson) is included in the admission price.

Shakespeare's Globe

Shakespeare's Globe was originally built in 1599, burned down in 1613 and immediately rebuilt. The Puritans, who regarded theatres as dreadful dens of iniquity, eventually closed it in 1642. American actor and director Sam Wanamaker fought to rebuild it last century, sadly dying before the opening night in 1997.

The visit includes a tour of the theatre, where you learn interesting snippets like where the audience used to go to the loo in the absence of lavatories (take a wild guess) and what theatre was like in Shakespeare's time, plus a fascinating exhibition on Elizabethan London and the rebuilding of the theatre.

Plays are still performed in this faithful replica with thatched open roof and actors wear traditional costumes (made by painstaking traditional methods). See the website for upcoming performances. During summer matinee performances the guided tour visits the nearby site of Rose, Bankside's first theatre.

Brighton Royal Pavilion

If you thought the current batch of British royals were an eccentric bunch, just wait until you see Brighton's crowning jewel, the Royal Pavilion. The exotic palace-cum-playpad of Prince George, later Prince Regent then King George IV, is one of the most self-indulgently decadent buildings in England and an apt symbol of Brighton's reputation for hedonism.

Even the forest of Indian-style domes and minarets outside is only a prelude to the palace's lavish oriental-themed interior, where no colour is deemed too strong, dragons swoop and snarl from gilt-smothered ceilings, gem-encrusted snakes slither down pillars, and crystal chandeliers seem ordered by the tonne.

The palace was commissioned by Prince George, eldest son of King George III, in 1787 and in 1815 converted to reflect the current fascination with all things Eastern. George finally had a palace suited to his outlandish tastes, and to boot he was now the king. His brother and successor, William IV (1765-1837), also used the pavilion as a royal residence, as did William's niece Victoria (1819-1901). But the conservative queen never really took to the place and in 1850 sold it to the town, but not before stripping it of every piece of furniture. Thankfully, many original items were later returned and the palace is restored to its former glory.

Canterbury Cathedral

It's hard to imagine a more imposing mother church for Anglicanism than this majestic early Gothic cathedral. Though ominous undertones of violence and bloodshed whisper from its walls, it's an overwhelming edifice filled with enthralling stories, striking architecture and a very real and enduring sense of spirituality.

This great antique war machine is chock-a-block with monuments commemorating the nation's battles. Also here is the grave and heraldic tunic of one of the nation's most famous warmongers, Edward the Black Prince (1330-76). And of course, it was here that saintly Archbishop Thomas Becket met his grisly end at the altar. You'll find the very spot that has drawn pilgrims for over 800 years in the northwest transept, marked by a lit candle and striking modern altar.

The doorway to the crypt is beside the altar. This cavernous space is the cathedral's highlight, an entrancing 11th-century survivor from the cathedral's last devastating fire in 1174, which destroyed the rest of the building.

When you leave the cathedral, go round the eastern end and turn right into Green Court, surrounded on the eastern side by the Deanery and the northern side (straight ahead) by the early-14th-century Brewhouse and Bakehouse, which now house part of the very exclusive prep school, King's School. In the northwestern corner (far left) is the famous Norman Staircase (1151).

Stonehenge

One of the most important prehistoric sites, the ancient ring of monolithic stones at Stonehenge has been attracting pilgrims, poets and philosophers for the last 5000 years. Despite the constant flow of traffic, and the huge numbers of visitors, Stonehenge still manages to be a mystical, ethereal place - a haunting echo from Britain's forgotten past.

A reminder of a lost civilisation who once walked the many ceremonial avenues across Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge is also still one of Britain's great archaeological mysteries: although there are countless theories about what the site was used for, ranging from a sacrificial centre to a celestial timepiece, in truth no one really knows what drove prehistoric Britons to expend so much time and effort on its construction.

For such a celebrated site, Stonehenge has seen a surprising amount of upheaval over recent years. The tense stand-offs between solstice-goers and police have been replaced by a fresh controversy over the alleged mismanagement of the World Heritage site. Hemmed in by busy roads and wire barricades, jammed with visitors throughout the summer, and underscored by a cacophony of roaring traffic, it's a long way from the haven of peace and spiritual tranquillity most visitors expect to find, and was even described by one government department as a 'national disgrace'. Thankfully, plans are afoot to reinvent the Stonehenge experience.

Yorkshire Dales National Park

Sitting snugly between the brooding North York Moors to the east and the dramatic Lake District to the west are the Yorkshire Dales (from the Viking word dalr, meaning 'valleys'), a marvellous area of high hills and moors, cut through by rugged stone walls and spotted with extravagant houses and the faded, spectral grandeur of monastic ruins.

Thankfully, nature's feast has been protected as a national park since the 1950s, assuring its status as a walker's and cyclist's wonderland. But the fabulous scenery attracts plenty of four-wheeled visitors, making the roads very crowded - especially during the summer. If you can't avoid busy summer weekends, try to come by bus or train, and even then it's well worth getting off the beaten track.

The 683 sq mi (1769 sq km) Yorkshire Dales National Park divides into two parts: in the north, two main valleys run west to east - broad expansive Wensleydale (home of the famous cheese) and narrow secretive Swaledale. In the south, the main valleys - Ribblesdale, Malhamdale, Littondale and Wharfedale - all run north-south and are the most popular areas for tourists.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is one of the most sacred and symbolic sites in England. With the exception of Edward V and Edward VIII, every sovereign has been crowned here since William the Conqueror. It's a beautiful building, full of morose tombs and monuments, with an acoustic field that will send shivers down your spine when the choirboys clear their throats.

The abbey is a magnificent and arresting sight. Though a mixture of architectural styles, it is considered the finest example of Early English Gothic (1180-1280) in existence. The original church was built during the Dark Ages by the King (later St) Edward the Confessor in the 11th century, who is buried in the chapel behind the main altar. Henry VII's huge and magnificent chapel was added in 1519.

Unlike St Paul's, Westminster Abbey has never been a cathedral. It is what is called a 'royal peculiar' and is administered directly by the Crown.

The interior is less impressive than the exterior but there are many highlights including the incongruously ordinary-looking Coronation Chair, the late perpendicular-style Henry VII Chapel, the Royal Air Force (RAF) Chapel, the octagonal Chapter House, the Pyx Chamber and the Abbey Museum with death masks of generations of royalty.

Free concerts are held once a week from end-July through August in the 900-year-old College Garden. Next door to the Abbey is the smaller St Margaret's Church, the House of Commons' place of worship since 1614. There are windows commemorating churchgoers Caxton and Milton and Sir Walter Raleigh is buried by the altar.

Highgate Cemetery

The Victorian symbols - shrouded urns, obelisks, upturned torches (life extinguished) and broken columns (life cut short) - the eerily overgrown graves and the twisting paths of the western side of Highgate Cemetery weave a creepy kind of magic. On the other, less atmospheric side you can visit the graves of Karl Marx and George Eliot.

Richmond Castle

Yorkshire has a great selection of spooky, majestic castles but none more so than this 1070 heap. It's had many uses through the years, including a stint as a prison for conscientious objectors during WWI. Legend has it that King Arthur rests beneath the keep. The best part of a visit is the view from the top of the remarkably well-preserved 30m-high tower.

Tate Modern

This former power station is home to the tremendous Tate Modern, Europe's most successful contemporary art gallery and one of the South Bank's most exciting attractions. By the end of the museum's first year it had attracted 5.2 million visitors, making it the second-favourite attraction in London.

Following the Tate's first re-hang since opening in 2000 the permanent collection is now organised by period so you can stroll through Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism; Surrealism and Surrealist tendencies; Abstract Expressionism and European Informal Art; and Minimalism. The vast Turbine Hall is as dramatic as it's always been and a real highlight of any visit; and the temporary exhibitions are still enticing.

Another attraction is the view from the top-floor restaurant and cafe.

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