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When thinking about places to visit it is easy to imagine those dreamy locations thousands of miles away, but every now and then it makes sense to stop and bring those travel plans a little closer to home, to do this I decided to spend some time thinking about my English travel wish list and consider some of the places I would like to visit without having to leave the country.
My English Travel Wish List
Brighton
Brighton is one of England’s most colourful and outrageous cities. The highlight for any sightseeing visitor is the Royal Pavilion, a 19th-century party palace built by the Prince Regent, which remains one of the most opulent buildings in the country. Now the city is known for beach parties, inspiring Graham Greene novels, mods and rockers and being home to the UK’s biggest gay scene.
Durham
This city is home to England’s most beautiful Romanesque cathedral and a huge castle all surrounded by winding cobbled streets waiting to be explored.
Lincoln
Ringed by historic city gates, this beautiful city’s old centre is a tangle of cobbled medieval streets surrounding its 11th-century castle and colossal 12th-century cathedral. The lanes that topple over the edge of Lincoln Cliff are lined with Tudor town houses, ancient pubs and independent shops.
Liverpool
The city’s impressive cultural heritage, dating back to when Liverpool was Britain’s second-most important city, is a source of justifiable pride to Scousers, but what really excites them is the ongoing program of urban regeneration that is transforming a once dilapidated city centre into one of the most pleasant cities in northern England.
St. Ives
The town remains an artistic hotspot, with numerous galleries lining its cobbled streets, as well as the renowned Tate St Ives, which recently received a multimillion pound extension. Whether the town has managed to retain its artistic soul is another matter – it’s one of Cornwall’s holiday home hubs and uncomfortably packed with tourists in summer, so visit in spring or autumn if you can.
Whitby
Whitby is a town of two parts, with the River Esk carving a path between a huddle of 18th-century fishermen’s cottages along its East Cliff and a genteel Victorian suburb atop the West Cliff. Keeping a watchful eye over the town is an atmospheric ruined abbey, the inspiration and setting for part of Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror story Dracula. The town embraces its reputation for the weird and wonderful, which culminates in two hugely successful Goth Weekends each year.
York
No other city in northern England says ‘medieval’ quite like York, a city of extraordinary cultural and historical wealth that has lost little of its pre-industrial lustre. A magnificent circuit of 13th-century walls encloses a medieval spider’s web of narrow streets, with its myriad museums, restaurants, cafes and traditional pubs, a carefully maintained heir to that heritage.
Which cities are on you English travel wish list?
Let me know in the comments.
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