Travel Topics
Faithless, Razorlight and The Proclaimers are headlining the Lindisfarne Festival 2025 held at Beal Farm, Northumberland from 3 to 5 September. Overlooking the majestic Holy Island, the Northumberland music festival…
The Edinburgh Festival, or Edinburgh International Festival, kicks off on 7 August, 2026. This year’s programme features some of the best and emerging contemporary artists from around the world. This…
One of the largest arts festivals in the world, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes place in the Scottish capital from 7 to 31 August, 2026. The world’s oldest fringe festival…
The UK’s biggest air balloon bonanza, Icons of the Sky, the Longleat Sky Safari, will take place this 11 to 13 September at the the nation’s premier safari park in Wiltshire. Numerous balloons…
Forget the Edinburgh Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival, Fringe by the Sea returns to the East Lothian town of North Berwick in August for ten days of music, literature, film…
It’s Summer. For many of us, this means it’s time to jet off to foreign shores, but for others it’s a time to be jealous while watching the obligatory airport…
Sadly the Cambridge Folk Festival has been cancelled for 2025 just like WOMAD. Despite making a loss in 2024, organisers say they will channel their resources in planning a bounce…
The August Bank Holiday weekend can really only mean one thing in London – the Notting Hill Carnival. The largest free street festival in Europe runs from the Saturday to Monday of the long weekend…
From day trips in the UK to family-friendly cycling holidays in Provence or a tour of the Pyrenees, the possibilities are endless when you ditch the car and put your…
July 6 – 8: Famed for its amazing fish and chips and spectacular abbey (see cover photo) , the Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby, birthplace of Captain James Cook, will…
On the cusp of the Cotswolds, just outside Malmesbury, Whatley Manor is a wonderful place to relax for a weekend or more, just make sure you don’t bite off more…
Our Americas correspondent Mike East returns home to give his guide to the best pubs in Cheshire, starting with a pub in the historic houses of Nantwich…
A photography exhibition that pairs the words “London” and “nights” might too easily be dominated by the hedonistic or noirish aspects of the capital, but London Nights at the Museum…
The month of May marks the start of Spring, it is also the time that festival organisers start getting their boots on, hoping to avoid those unwanted showers. At Travel…
The historic city of Winchester offers a wealth of music and literature throughout the year, including the Winchester Festival. Sadly, Carol Butler, Festival Director…
Mixing gourmet food, great music and a great atmosphere, Pub in the Park will continue its tour around England this summer, ending in St Albans in early September. The brainchild…
Looking for a cocktail with a difference then head for No 29 Power Station West that has air designed by NASA and vodka infusions to match…
Travelling around the lost counties of Hidden England, Mark Bibby Jackson discovers a land rich with history, the spectacular Lincoln Cathedral, a Tudor home and castles from the Norman conquest…
Spending a night at the Barnsdale Lodge Hotel, Mark Bibby Jackson experiences a touch of Scandinavia in Middle England to discover a restaurant that highlights the best of British cuisine…
Since 1826, Lendy Cowes Week has been an essential entry in the English summer calendar, alongside Wimbledon and the Henley Regatta. Of its type, the largest sailing…
One of the most popular and colourful festivals in the summer music scene, the Isle of Wight Festival returns to the rolling isle off the South Coast of England. Sting, Stereophonics …
One of Yorkshire’s premier local food festivals will occur in the town of Malton over the May bank holiday weekend. The Malton Food Festival 2025 will attract tens of thousands…
London’s westend will burst into music once again this June with the Soho Music Month, a free music and cultural festival. Hosted in a variety of venues across Soho and…
If you are a fan of cress then Hampshire is the place to head for this May. Held on 17 May, the 2025 Alresford Watercress Festival will see fifteen thousand…
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.
