THE BEST OF BEAUTIFUL BRITAIN Destinations on our doorstep
Energising walks, dramatic scenery, sandy beaches and breathtaking wildlife… is there anywhere better than Blighty? Here, travel editor David Wickers celebrates the top destinations on our doorstep
Thanks to isolation, many of us have been craving the scenic pleasures of Europe. Maybe we’ve been dreaming about vine-ribbed landscapes of Tuscany, fragrant hills of Provence, Italian lakes, island-studded Greek seas or beaches of the Spanish coast. But why focus on the current lack of European scenery in our lives when, with the easing of UK lockdown, there are so many amazing places waiting to be discovered on our doorstep?
Having been twisted and pummelled over millions of years, Britain’s landscape covers the geological spectrum. The contrasts could not be more dramatic, from the Yorkshire Dales, curvaceously sculpted by Ice Age glaciers, to the dramatic, melancholy wilderness of Dartmoor, the rolling chalk downs of southern England and the bosky woods and heaths of the New Forest.
What’s more, you can discover such rich diversity without having to travel far. In the time it takes most people to get to an airport, check in, take off, land and arrive at their destination, you can be more or less anywhere in Britain, unpacked and ready to play.
We have 6,000 miles of shoreline at our disposal, enough to stretch from Ventnor to Vladivostok – and that’s just the mainland fringe. No matter where you live, you are never too far from the sea. Our coast is also spectacularly varied. Just consider the differences between the broad horizons of north Norfolk with the estuaries of the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall, the wild west of Scotland with the precipitous cliffs of Kent.
So, where to start your British renaissance? Here are some of our favourite pretty pockets of glorious UK scenery…