Enjoy England hidden gems

The Lake District
Take a trip to the North West and discover the awesome Lake District. Home to England’s largest natural lake, Lake Windermere, at 10.5 miles and backdrop to Galava, a major Roman fort.

England's smallest pub
Head to the East of England where you can visit the Nutshell Pub, claimant to the title of “England’s smallest pub” and listed by the Guinness Book of Records. This place gets crowded if more than 6 people are in the bar – so get there early!

Birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill
For a fun day out take a trip to Blenheim Palace in the South East – home to the world’s second largest symbolic hedge maze. The maze was designed to display the history and architecture of the palace that was the childhood home of Sir Winston Churchill.

From the highest pub to the oldest pub
Yorkshire boasts about having both the highest and oldest pub in England. The Tan Hill Inn in Swaledale is 1,732 feet above sea level; and The Bingley Arms in Bardsey, near Leeds has proven to trade since 905AD and was even recorded in the Domesday Book.

The Bridgenorth Cliff Railway
The Bridgenorth Cliff Railway in the Heart of England is the only remaining inland electric, funicular railway. For over a century the Railway has been transporting the people of Bridgenorth up and down the 111 ft sandstone cliffs that separate High Town from Low Town and the River Severn.

A cup of Earl Grey
Earl Grey tea originates from North East England and you can enjoy afternoon tea at the very place where it was first created, Howick Hall, the ancestral home of the Earl Grey is situated on the Northumberland coast.

The National Space Centre
The National Space Centre in Leicester, East Midlands, is the UK’s largest visitor attraction and research facility dedicated to space. The centre has five main galleries which contain innovative displays and interactive exhibits. The centre piece of the exhibits is the huge, six-storey, tower that contains two rockets. Visitors can travel up the elevator to view the fuel tanks or stand underneath to look straight up the nozzles. There is a full-scale walk-through of part of the International Space Station as well as a sit-in Mercury capsule.

Visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Hadrian’s Wall is a 73 mile long monument to Roman occupation in Britain and snakes from the west of Carlisle across to Newcastle in the east. It is England’s longest monument and was built in AD122 by the Roman Army on the command of the emperor Hadrian. The best place to go and visit it is Birdoswald Roman Fort, which has the best preserved defences of any section of the wall.

A legacy of the Knights Templar
Royston Cave in the East of England is a truly unique place in Europe. Believed to date from the 13th Century, it is a man-made cavern in the shape of a beehive, with a small aperture at the top for ventilation. Its remarkable feature is an extensive range of wall carvings representing the Crucifixion, the Holy Family and several saints, among them St Katherine, St Laurence and St Christopher. There’s evidence to suggest that the cave may have been used by the legendary Knights Templar.

Break the code
Bletchley Park in the South East was home to the ‘Code Breakers’ in World War Two, responsible for unraveling the secret of the German Enigma cypher machine. The teams of code breakers were responsible for unraveling the code that lead to the success of the D-Day landing. A fun and interesting day out for people young and old.

Secret passages
Many of the houses in Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire, are said to be connected by cupboards or passages in the cellar and it was said that in smuggling days, a bale of silk could pass from the bottom of the village to the top without seeing daylight!

Medieval castles
In medieval times, Warwick Castle was one of only five licensed jousting venues in England. Famed for his prowess in the tournament, Earl of Warwick Richard de Beauchamp, having beaten the entire French court, was accused of being illegally screwed onto his saddle so he couldn’t fall off. Outraged, he immediately jumped off and re-mounted his horse to prove the accusation was false!

Glorious bridges
The Sydney Harbour Bridge provided the template for the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle and both were built by Dormon Long of Middlesbrough. In total 7 bridges cross the Tyne joining Newcastle and Gateshead including the Millennium Bridge, the world's first and only tilting bridge.

Follow the footsteps of Robin Hood
Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve contains some of the oldest trees in Europe, veteran oaks five centuries old and the world-famous Major Oak, still producing acorns after standing at the heart of Sherwood Forest for an estimated 800 years! Legend has it that once upon a time Robin Hood hid from his enemies inside the hollow of the Major Oak.

More than just bridges
There are only two bridges in England with multi storey buildings along their length, and they are both found in the South West – Pulteney Bridge in Bath and the Town Bridge in Frome.

From pirates to puffins
Lundy Island – just 3 miles long and half a mile wide, Lundy Island is found 12 miles off the North Devon coast. Lundy has a tempestuous history having been home to smugglers and pirates including Captain Kidd, however today it is a haven for wildlife including the famous puffins and seals.

Marvel at Art Deco
Eltham Palace in London is a unique Art Deco mansion in a medieval setting. Built for millionaires, Eltham Palace reflects the glamour and allure of 1930s fashionable society. The mansion’s backdrop is a medieval royal palace from Tudor times, with magnificent Great Hall, the childhood home of Henry VIII. The 19 acres of beautiful gardens blend 1930s and medieval features, including London’s oldest working bridge over the moat.

Art and achitecture
Sir John Soane's Museum in London is the former residence of Sir John Soane, architect of the Bank of England. Over 20,000 architectural drawings, antiquities and works by Hogarth, Turner, Canaletto and Piranesi. Two sets of paintings by William Hogarth and the Egyptian Sarcophagus of Seti I.