We’re compiling the ultimate bucket list of the top 101 things to do before you go abroad and need you to help make it happen! Upload your absolute favourite things to do in England that are every bit as good or better than an overseas experience on our Facebook page and you could win one of six breaks in England. Here are a few of Katie Rowe’s favourite experiences to get you started…
Royal Pavilion in Brighton ©VisitBritain
Nose around an exotic royal palace
Soak up chinoiserie interiors, priceless antiques and drool over a Regency banqueting menu that consisted of 36 main courses at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, once a regal bachelor pad of one of England’s most eccentric kings. Discover more about the debauched monarch and the palace’s hedonistic past with an audio tour that will have you gasping and gawping from beginning to end.
Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire ©James McCormick
Drop by the cute yet creepy harbour town of Whitby. Bram Stoker took inspiration from the eerie ruins of Whitby Abbey when penning Dracula here. And you can learn more about the town’s eerie history on a moon-lit In Search of Dracula Walk with Gothed-up storywalker Harry Collett in his long black overcoat and blood-red bow tie.
Puffin spotting in the North East ©Paul Bunyard
Dote over baby seals and pretty puffins
Jump on a boat to the Farne Islands to experience a close encounter with nesting seabirds, including around 37,000 pairs of loved-up puffins during the summer months and see some of over a thousand seal pups born in autumn.
Steam train chugs along the Devon coastline ©David Clapp
Chug along on a vintage steam train
Book a Round Robin trip with the Dartmouth Steam Railway Company and soak up almost every glorious nook and cranny of the English Riviera by steam train, boat and ferry. There is nothing quite like chugging along the coastline with views of harbour towns, rolling hills and pristine beaches all neatly framed in the age-old windows, whether you’re six or 60.
South Bank, London ©Pawel Libera
Walk along South Bank on a sunny afternoon
It’s hard not to have anything but The Kink’s Waterloo Sunset playing in your mind as you mooch around this pocket of London with its gang of art galleries and theatres congregating along the Thames. There’s Shakespeare’s Globe, the imposing Tate Modern with its signature industrial chimney, the neon-soaked Southbank Centre and the London Eye all to check out.
Blogger: Katie Rowe
VisitEngland Copywriter and expert on all things vintage. Londoner born and bred. Hooked on grand architecture, kitsch coastal towns, music festivals, flea markets and roaming the V&A.
These are excellent tips! We are always interested in hearing about the best ways to discover the wonders of Britain. Visiting the Farne Islands is now on our list.
What a lovely idea- listing all the things to try before you die
having recently left London for Cardiff I have adopted this list idea but just for wales! Great way to make sure you see more to a city than first thought