NYE at the Adam Handling Collection
Ring in the New Year with flair as Chef Adam Handling MBE presents a series of exceptional New Year’s Eve experiences across his award-winning restaurants and bars in London, Windsor…
Travel Topics
Ring in the New Year with flair as Chef Adam Handling MBE presents a series of exceptional New Year’s Eve experiences across his award-winning restaurants and bars in London, Windsor…
Now in its 5th year, Bishop Auckland Christmas Town has become a much-loved tradition, transforming the historic town centre and marketplace into the “Christmas Capital of the North.” Visitors can…
Somerset is one of my favourite counties. There is a relaxed friendliness to the place. The town of Somerton, which used to be the capital of the county in the…
This major exhibition of the trailblazing surrealist photographer Lee Miller is a hot ticket right now. Just looking ahead on the booking calendar there are numerous timeslots sold out. How…
As the festive season approaches, Christmas markets across the UK begin to sparkle with twinkling lights, enticing scents and the joyful buzz of holiday shoppers. UK Christmas markets are not…
From the original December market to the city that created stollen, the source of mulled wine and the first Christmas tree, let Travel Begins at 40 guide you through some…
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2025 is the UK’s blockbuster festive experience, with headline rides, huge themed bars, an alpine village of food stalls, and the UK’s largest seasonal ice rink…
Birmingham’s long‑standing partnership with Frankfurt delivers the UK’s biggest authentic German market – the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market. Wooden huts line New Street and Victoria Square, wafting aromas of bratwurst…
Few markets have a setting as dramatic as Edinburgh’s, with the Castle perched above Princes Street Gardens. The core market mixes Scottish produce with international treats—think hot toddies, shortbread and…
Award‑winning Bath Christmas Market threads through handsome Georgian streets around the Abbey, creating one of the most photogenic Christmas scenes in the UK. In 2025 it celebrates 25 years of…
York’s St Nicholas Fair fills the medieval city centre with alpine chalets selling Yorkshire produce and thoughtful crafts. The warren of lanes around Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square springs…
Nottingham transforms Old Market Square into a complete festive village. Beyond the Christmas market stalls you’ll find an Ice Bar, alpine‑themed bars, an observation wheel and entertainment programme. Food is…
Belfast Christmas Market wraps around City Hall, filling Donegall Square with wooden chalets. Warm up with glühwein, try Belgian chocolates and flamboyant crêpes, or brave an ‘exotic’ burger before browsing…
Organised by Craft*Folk for over three decades, the Cardiff Christmas Market – or Marchnad Nadolig Caerdydd in Welsh – champions home‑grown creativity. The streets around St John’s Church fill with distinctive…
If you’re planning a festive visit, the Leeds Christmas Markets make unmissable highlights. From 21 November to 21 December 2025, up to 60 beautifully decorated chalets will take over City…
Exeter’s market blends independent South West artisans with a strong street‑food line‑up, all set on the lawned Cathedral Green. Between gift shopping you can graze your way around—wood‑fired pizzas, curries…
Liverpool’s market clusters outside St George’s Hall, the city’s grand neoclassical icon opposite Lime Street station. Traditional chalets sell crafts, decorations and warming food, while the bar huts pour mulled…
Canterbury’s festive scene stretches from the open‑air Whitefriars quarter to the atmospheric Cathedral Precincts, mixing craft stalls and street food with choral services and heritage sights. It’s a wonderfully compact…
Bristol Christmas Market fills Broadmead with twinkling chalets, après‑style bar huts and the eye‑catching ‘sky gondola’ dining pods. Expect an eclectic, foodie‑led line‑up—mulled cider (naturally), churros, Yorkshire pud wraps and…
Newcastle Christmas market threads through the elegant streets around Grainger Market near Grey’s Monument and Eldon Square, bringing together northern street food, local designers and festive bars. Expect proper Geordie…
Set within the grounds of UNESCO‑listed Blenheim Palace, Blenheim Palace Christmas Market feels suitably grand. Chalet stalls line the Great Court with artisan crafts and fine foods to match the…
Stratford‑upon‑Avon rolls out two festive weekends across its most photogenic streets, with seasonal food, music and costumed traders creating a Dickensian mood, which is slightly off-piste considering this is Shakespeare’s…
Worcester’s Victorian Fayre is a beloved four‑day celebration that transforms the cathedral city into a period scene. Stallholders don top hats and capes, street performers roam, and carols mingle with…
Chester’s market is storybook pretty: a pyramid of a Christmas tree, the Gothic Town Hall and the city’s famed black‑and‑white Rows framing a ring of wooden huts. Expect small‑batch gin…
The UK has so much to offer with its rich history, galleries, theatres and concert halls, its commercial and scientific enterprise and its varied and undeniably scenic countryside.
UK National Parks
There are 15 National Parks in the UK, ranging from coastal areas to mountainous regions in England, Wales and Scotland. There are currently none in Northern Ireland. Unlike National Parks in other countries, in the UK parts of the designated, protected areas can be owned by private landlords. Such areas as the Lake District, Yorkshire Moors, Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, Snowdonia and the Cairngorms draw hikers and naturalists to them like a magnet.
UK Weather
The British never tire of the weather as a talking point. Broadly speaking it is a temperate climate, although winters are becoming wetter and summers warmer, probably from climate change. Warmer in the South, wetter in the West and colder in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the UK climate can be subject to diurnal change on a sudden basis, although, with the advent of satellites, the weather forecasts are more accurate. It is wise to take a waterproof with you on an extended trip.
Northern Ireland
Since the Good Friday Agreement brought greater stability to this previously troubled land, visitors are on an increase. The Titanic Museum displaying memorabilia regarding that renowned disaster and Ulster Museum looking at 3,000 years of Irish culture and history, are well worth a visit. Outside of Belfast, the Mountains of Mourne in County Down and the Giant Causeway, 60 miles outside Belfast, are not to be missed.