Chester has been declared ‘an open-air city’ – a place to wander safely in the great outdoors while admiring its many assets: Britain’s most complete Roman and medieval walls, for example, Chester Cathedral’s gardens, or – in the half-timbered streets of the old shopping centre – the remarkable Tudor galleries they […]
Devastated by the Blitz and rebuilt after WW2, Plymouth boasts the UK’s largest number of post-war listed buildings outside of London. Good enough reason to pay a visit? Indeed, but what makes Devon’s Ocean City so very interesting is the mix of old and new. Starting in the 16th century, our trail features a 1930s Lido, a lighthouse, a museum with a box on top and a bit of Neo Egyptian.
Part Two of our Covid-friendly, walking tour of Bristol’s architectural highlights include Europe’s longest terrace (we think), a Victorian engine house, a Greek Revival chapel with a shiny new extension, a giant’s cave (actually two giants) and the city’s oldest building. For more on Bristol landmarks, see Part One.
Despite the challenges facing the hospitality industry, it’s business as usual for some enterprising hoteliers – in fact 2020 has been something of a bumper year for exciting new openings. Our list of eight new hotels reveals a trend for rejuvenating listed landmark buildings: three are Grade I listed; the […]
An 8.5-million revamp of Cornwall’s historic Georgian jail opens today. Like most of Cornwall’s post-industrial inland towns, Bodmin doesn’t have a lot to offer the visitor, but the superbly creepy Bodmin Jail is one good reason to check it out. The new Bodmin Jail visitor attraction opens today [1 October]; the forecast […]
Can’t wait to check out The Box in Plymouth, opening tomorrow (Tuesday 29 September) and adding a new museum, gallery and heritage archive to the so-called Ocean City’s cultural landscape. The £46 million project occupies the old – and old-fashioned – City Museum site on North Hill (more or less […]
According to Tripadvisor, Woolacombe in North Devon is home to one of the best beaches in the world. The beach (pictured above), which made number 20 in the annual round-up of best travel experiences (hotels, cities, countries etc), is described as ‘three miles of heaven’. Number one of the top […]
In June 2020, we emerged from lock-down, blinking in the sunlight and longing for fresh sea air – and Britain’s beaches have never been so crowded. For those who like a more socially-distanced seaside experience, the cooler off-season months can’t come soon enough. From Cornwall to the Scottish islands, we present ten potentially empty beaches (and the pictures to prove our case).
Love architecture or just looking at buildings? Here are some of Bristol’s highlights – a walking tour of the city’s varied architectural landscape combining history with fresh air and social distancing. The list is deliberately random, occasionally obscure and ranging from medieval to modernist and multi-storey carpark.
Most of eye-traveller’s favourite places to stay in the UK are on the coast – preferably right on the sea, a pebble’s throw from the beach (or so close you can smell the salt in the air). Our hot-list is big on Cornwall, but we’ve also included boltholes in Devon, Dorset, Lancashire, East Sussex and County Durham.