Sightseeing in the UK

Britain is rich in its historic places which link the present with the past. There’s lots to see when you come to Britain, but where do you start? Our sightseeing ideas are a taste of some of the best attractions and scenery to enjoy on days out in the UK. So, here goes the list of the sites undoubtedly worth visiting.

Looking down from a plane circling Heathrow, the towers of Windsor Castle are often the first sight of the UK a visitor gets. They are unmistakable. Windsor is an easy train journey from London. The castle, a short walk from the station, dominates the town. The building itself covers 13 acres and is the biggest inhabited castle in the world. William the Conqueror picked the site, west of London overlooking the Thames and it has been a Royal residence and fortress ever since - almost 950 years. The Queen still spends most weekends there and, we've heard it is her favorite "home from home".

The first time I saw Stonehenge, a friend and I had decided to visit this Vernal Equinox. The first day of Spring is one of the times the sun aligns with various stone arches and lintels to dramatic effect and for unknown purpose. No one knows who built Stonehenge, as much as 5,000 years ago, or why they did it, but it has captured the imagination of visitors for tens of centuries. To protect it, Stonehenge was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1980s. Access is now controlled.

Being interested in history I would definitely like to glimpse at Hadrian’s wall. The Roman Empire began to crumble, the Romans built a defensive wall, across the North of Britain, from Carlisle to Newcastle-on-Tyne, to keep out Picts, invading from Scotland. No one knows how long it might have held because troubles in the rest of Europe drew the Romans away from this northern most reach of their Empire. Today, remnants of the wall can be found for about 73 miles - a lot of those remnants forming stone fences, stone barns and the cobbles in stable courtyards.

British visitors voted York Minster one of the Seven Wonders of Britain in 2002. It's not surprising. This enormous and beautiful Gothic cathedral is like nothing else in the UK. It took about 250 years to build -- between 1220 and 1472, but there was probably a Roman Basilica on the site as early as 306 A.D. And that may have been built on top of a Roman fort. Yorkshire folk still do afternoon tea the way it should be done - with rich cakes, neat sandwiches and a bottomless teapot. The best place to have afternoon tea after a visit to York Minster is Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms another famous institution in the City of York.

According to my British friends, the best place to find foreigners in the UK is Stratford-upon-Avon. It's all right for them to be a bit ironic. They're completely immersed in Shakespeareana from a very early age -- even when they don't know it. For the rest of us, visiting the birthplace of the man considered by many to be the greatest writer the English language has ever produced, is a terrific day out, about two and a half hours - by train or car - northwest of London.

High up on what is believed to be an extinct volcano, Edinburgh Castle has dominated the city for almost 1,000 years. The landmark is visible from almost anywhere in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Castle has had many uses over the years. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Edinburgh Castle was a prison for sailors. More than a million people a year visit Edinburgh Castle, thousands to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a colorful pageant of the Scottish regiments, complete with bagpipes, tartans and lots of horses, held every August.

History breathes calmly in every castle and in every city of Wales. King Edward I, known as Longshanks, ringed Wales with castles, in the 13th century, as a way of subduing the rebellious Welsh and cementing English power over them. He intended Caernarvon Castle to be a Royal residence and the seat of his government in North Wales. The first Prince of Wales was born there in 1284. Caernarvon is the finest of Edward's many castles, still standing, all over Wales.

There are some to many places of interest and history worth seeing as the UK has always been and will remain the country of enormous cultural, historical and traditional heritage.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29