Windsor Castle - Plan a Visit

Windsor Castle State and Semi-State Apartments

 Guests arrive for a State banquet at in St. George's Hall, Windsor Castle. The table can be set for 160 guests. Staff use rulers to measure each place setting so that the table will look neat in photographs or from the galleries above.

ROTA/Getty ImagesWaterloo Chamber, just before the State Apartments, was created to honor the forces who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. The paintings of the heads of state and peace negotiators of the time, were all painted from life by a single artist, Sir Thomas Lawrence. The Indian carpet, woven for Queen Victoria's Jubilee, is thought to be the largest seamless carpet in existence. During the 1992 fire at Windsor, it took 50 soldiers to roll it up and carry it to safety. This sequence of rooms was created for Charles II and Catherine of Braganza between 1675 and 1678 and reflects the baroque tastes of the times. They are always open to the public and display some of the greatest treasures of the Royal Collection.

Highlights: The King's Drawing Room:Paintings by Rubens and Van Dyke and a remarkable musical clock. The King's Bedchamber:Charles II never slept in this bed, used for the courtly ceremonies of levée and couchée - wakey wakeys and nighty nights before the King actually retired to a smaller room nearby. The King's Dressing Room: Some of the most important Northern Renaissance paintings in the Royal Collection, including Breughel's painting the Massacre of the Innocents and a wonderful portrait of a lady in green by Bronzino. The Queen's Drawing Room: Among the paintings look for the famous Portrait of Charles I in three positions by Van Dyke. The King's Dining Room: Created for Charles II's private entertaining, it is dark and masculine, covered in rococco decoration and wood carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The Queen's Ballroom: Among the collection of Van Dykes, look for the portrait of the five eldest children of Charles I, the King beheaded in 1649. St. George's Hall: Often used for state banquets, this room is 185 feet long and can hold a table that seats 160. The ceiling you see is a new hammerbeam roof, constructed of green oak after the 1992 fire using medieval carpentry methods. The shields are coats of arms of the Garter Knights. Look for the plain white ones - marking the Order of the Garter Knights disgraced by crime or treason. The Lantern Lobby: Formerly a private chapel, this is where it is believed the 1992 fire began. Today it is used to display gilded silver objects from the Royal Collection. A suit of Henry VIII's armor against a wall gives some idea of the old king's size. Walk around it to see the profile view.This sequence of ornate rooms was created to suit the extravagant tastes of George IV, creator of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. They are used by the Queen for formal and informal entertaining and are sometimes closed to the public.

The rooms were badly damaged in the 1992 fire but most of the contents, removed earlier during rewiring, survived. The glittering gilded ceilings are remarkable restorations. In some cases, elaborate parquet flooring that had been charred was saved by simply turning over the individual pieces of wood.

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London to Swansea

Details of how to get from London to Swansea by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.
Read more about London and Swansea. UK Travel Tip The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

Trains leave hourly for Swansea Station from London Paddington Station. The trip takes about 3 hours, with advance round trip fares starting at £25.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey.

National Express run at least 10 journeys a day to Swansea Bus Station from London Victoria Coach Station . The journey takes 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours (longer trips stop in Cardiff first) and costs just over £36. Tickets can be booked online and there is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Swansea is 187 miles west of London via the M4 and A483 roads. It takes 3 hours 40 minutes to drive. Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart.

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Best Antique Shopping UK

Tetbury is at the heart of royal territory in the Cotswolds. Highgrove, the home of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales is in the countryside outside the town. Garden tours of the Highgrove can be booked in advance. Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, lives nearby as well.

The town first made its fortunes in the Cotwolds wool trade and can boast a 1300 year history. A number of interesting landmarks and buildings dot Tetbury's historic center, in particular its striking, 350 year old market hall. Other local attractions include Chavenage, an Elizabethan house open to the public, and the Westonbirt Arboretum, keepers of more than 18,000 named specimen trees.

This thriving market town is also the capital of the Cotswolds when it comes to antiques, with about 20 antique stores and antiques centers in which to browse and buy.

Where: Tetbury is aboout 105 miles from London in the heart of the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. It's at least a two and a half hour drive from central London on the M4 and local roads, so if you are planning to shop till you drop and visit a few sights as well, staying in the area makes sense.

By Train: The nearest train station is Stroud, 11 miles away. Trains from London Paddington take an hour and a half. Plan on taking a taxi from the train station because local bus services require multiple changes and take forever. Parts of the Cotswolds are like the Los Angeles of England - you just need a car.

Food and Drink Tetbury is a busy market town in the midst of some fine agricultural country so there's plenty of fresh local food around in a variety of cafes, pubs and restaurants. Look for produce, prepared products and meats from "The Duchy", that's the Prince of Wales' own organic food business. The Duchy Home Farm is just down the road on the Highgrove estate.

Fans of The Fabulous Baker Brothers (cook book and television program) should stop in at Hobbs House Bakery to buy some bread and local produce. Tom and Henry Herbert are part of the five generations of Herberts who have run this family business. If you visit on the weekend, they run a bistro from 7p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

More information

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Bicester Outlet Village

Savings on UK and European designer brands

 Mulberry, a UK-based luxury leather goods designer known for its work with colored leathers, has a discount outlet store at Bicester Village.

©Ferne ArfinAll of the shops at Bicester Village offer at least 30 to 50 per cent off normal retail prices. But arrive at the change of the season, when shops are making room for next season's goods and savings of 70 to 90 per cent are not unheard of. I bought a skirt from a hugely famous designer that was reduced from £105 to £7.

In fact, savings can be so good that some companies are very shy about being photographed. That's probably understandable when you consider the end of season reductions. At Ralph Lauren in August 2007, I saw a gorgeous red coat reduced from around £4,000 to less than £500, a sweater reduced from about £6,000 to £500. In Studio Moda, a D&G skirt was reduced from £500 to £199 and at Burberry a classic duffel with their trademark lining fabric was reduced from £410 to £199. The center operates a Global Refund tax free shopping scheme so overseas visitors can save another 17.5 per cent in Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds.

The 100 plus shops sell apparel for men, women and children; shoes - ranging from utilitarian Clarks to totally frivolous Jimmy Choo, household goods and electronics. Many of the internationally familiar designer shops carry goods only available in Europe. Other shops are European or UK originals - Nicole Farhi, Ozwald Boateng, Gieves & Hawkes, Mulberry, Pringle of Scotland, Charles Tyrwhitt, Hackett.

There's also a good selection of the better UK high street brands - Monsoon, Reiss, The White Company, Jaeger, L.K. Bennett.

There's a full listing of shops on the Bicester Village website.

Next, how to find Bicester Village and other, essential information.

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York Minster Facts

Northern Europe's Biggest Gothic Cathedral - But Size Isn't Everything

 York Minster rises above the roof tops and Medieval Walls of York. The view is of the West Front.

©britainonviewYork Minster is one of England's most popular attractions, voted one of the UK's Seven Wonders by visitors in 2002. More than two million people pass through it annually from all over the world.

And no wonder. York Minster is truly awe inspiring. This architectural and artistic masterpiece took more than 250 years to build. It is filled with unique and fantastic carvings and the world's greatest collection of intact, Medieval stained glass windows.

Its size, as it happens, is also fantastic. Facts: Length - 525 feet (160 meters) Width - 249 feet (76 meters) Height to vault - 88.5 feet (27 meters) West towers - Nearly 184 feet each (56 meters) Lantern tower - 233 feet (71 meters)The lantern tower, by the way, at 16,000 metric tons. And here's a fantastic fact about that: it weighs about the same as 40 jumbo jets.

As Northern Europe's largest consecrated Medieval Gothic space, York Minster is also one of the world's largest Medieval Gothic Cathedrals. Only Chartres, south of Paris, is larger.

But size isn't everything. Among York Minster's other attractions are its unusual Chapter House and a history as a sacred place that extends back nearly 2000 years.

Essential Visitor Information for York Minster

Find a place to stay in York and get a great rate

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London Pub Theatres

London theatre is famous and most visitors have heard something about it. But few visitors take advantage of London's pub theatres. And yet this form of entertainment, one that many Londoners take for granted, is one of the most exciting kinds of live theater available in the UK capital.

The majority of London's pubs are hundreds of years old. The buildings once held upstairs breweries or had large numbers of rooms to rent to travelers. As those uses began to die out - especially during the 20th century - pub landlords looked around for new ways to earn money from their large amounts of empty space. Since pubs and theatre have always been closely associated in London, creating small, intimate theatre and cabaret spaces seemed natural.

The modern pub theatre is a relatively new phenomenon that has a very old pedigree. The Internet Shakespeare, a web site sponsored by University of Victoria and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, describes inn-yard theatres, common in Shakespeare's day, but much older, as the first enclosed performance spaces.

From the early Middle Ages, actors and musicians traveled around the country in troupes, putting up in travelers' inns and taverns - the forerunners of pubs - when they stopped to perform. If an inn's landlord allowed them to put on shows in his coach yard, he could charge playgoers to enter the yard. He could charge the public even more to go up to the covered balconies or galleries, a common pub feature through the 18th century. (Check out the National Trust owned George Inn, London's last galleried pub, in Southwark, London). And of course he could sell food and ale.

By the Elizabethan era, the first purpose-built theatres using the galleried and enclosed yard model - like Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - were being built and the tavern theatre soon died out.

Westminster walking guide and London blogger Joanna Moncrieff informs us that the King's Head in Islington, founded by the late Dan Crawford in 1970, is most likely the first pub theatre since Shakespearean times. It established the model for the typical London pub theatre of today in a room above - or occasionally below the pub itself. Seating areas are small - often holding less than 100 people - and the space between the audience and the actors is miniscule. If the thought of an actor playing his heart out while staring you in the face from a distance of about four feet is more than you can handle, pub theatre may not be for you.

But if you relish the chance of seeing brand new or rarely performed plays, featuring actors whose talent may still be a bit raw, in spaces often no bigger than some people's living rooms, this is a kind of London theatre you should not miss. And you might even have a close encounter with a familiar face, or a star. Pub theatre audiences are full of actors, drama students, theatre aficionados, directors and casting agents hunting for new playwrighting and acting talent.

Check out what's on in pub theatres by picking up a listing magazine like Time Out at a news agent. Don't bother looking up the magazine online - you have to see the print version for the full listings. Usually, there's some kind of capsule description or review, but pub theatre tickets are generally under £20 so it's easy - and more-fun to take a chance. You may want to book your tickets in advance to collect before the show. If you can, it's a good idea to get your tickets in advance for the most popular shows. Otherwise, just show up on time on the night and get in the queue to buy a ticket. Be prepared to travel - there are only a few Central London Pub Theatres. The Finborough, the Kings Head and the Old Red Lion are among them. (See the list below) Because of the licensing laws in the UK, some smaller theatres pubs operate as clubs. You have to join them to see a play. You can usually join that sort of pub theatre for a few pounds, when you buy your ticket. Pub Theatre is not dinner theatre but some pubs that have theatres also serve food. If you'd like to eat, arrive early enough to have a meal in the pub before the play starts. The play itself will not be in the pub but in a room above it or in a basement. Order your interval (intermission) drinks before you go into the theatre, if you can, because the crush at the bar will be intense later on. When the play is about to begin, and when the interval is about to end, the pub landlord will ring a bell in the pub, giving you about five minutes notice to get to your seat.You can never tell, far in advance, what might be scheduled in London's pub theatres. As a start, check out these links to some of London's most popular pub theatres: Not all London's independent theatres are in pub. Some fill converted warehouses, rooms above cafes and other odd. Some, like The Almeida, The Donmar Warehouse and the Young Vic showcase stars alongside new writing and talent. Others are more experimental and potentially more exciting:

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The British Islands

Jersey - The Biggest Channel Island is a Little Bit of British France

 Mount Orgeuil, Jersey

www.britainonview.comJersey, the biggest Channel Island at about 47 square miles, is 87 miles south of the UK and is considered the Southernmost of the British Islands (the official designation - the "British Isles" being a literary and informal title). It is also just under 14 miles from France.

Jersey is a popular vacation destination, for its mild climate, long beaches washed by Gulf Stream waters, and unusual hybrid "franglais" culture. How this little bit of France became a Crown Dependency of the British monarch is a fluke of history.

The Channel Islands were a part of the Duchy of Normandy and among the possessions William the Conqueror brought with him when he became King of England in 1066. For about two hundred years, the islands, along with Normandy and England, were united but the islands were administered from Normandy. In 1204, King John of England lost Normandy to the King of France. To keep the loyalty of the strategically important Channel Islands, he decreed they could continue to be governed according to the laws they were used to - Norman law.

As a result, a separate system of government was created with the British Monarch ruling as the "Duke of Normandy". Although the systems have changed over time, Jersey retains its separate-ish status. It is not part of the EU - though it has an associate relationship to facilitate trade. It is not subject to the laws of the UK Parliament, though UK currency is legal tender and it depends upon the UK armed forces for defence. The official languages are English and French and there is a local patois that blends them both.

Oh, and one last oddity - to islanders, Queen Elizabeth II is still considered the Duke of Normandy and referred to, by the island legislature, as "Our Duke".

Jersey's main town is St. Helier.

Learn about visiting Jersey
Find a place to stay in Jersey

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Average Precipitation and Rainfall in the UK

Average precipitation and rainfall in the UK may surprise you. Everyone has seen pictures of London in the fog, mist and driving rain. But actually, it's one of the driest spots in the UK.

Western Scotland, on the other hand, can be very wet. Glasgow, in the west, is only about 50 miles from Edinburgh, on the east, yet it has almost twice as much rain.

The truth is the UK has very changeable island weather. During the rainiest months, wherever you are in the UK, the chances are a little bit of rain may fall at any time. Buy yourself a mini-collapsible umbrella or a folding rain hat if it worries you. You may be surprised at how many fashionable women in London go hat and umbrella free unless a little bit of rain turns into a downpour.

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Find Romantic Vacation Rentals

Stay in England's Dreamiest Vacation Rentals: Here's How

 Triumphal Arch of Berrington Hall, a National Trust property that is also a Vacation Rental Cottage!

©The National TrustIf you've ever wondered, "Where can I find a unique or romantic vacation rental?", you've come to the right place. Imagine spending a week holed up inside this magical arch in the woods. Or how about one of these: A cottage on the battlements of a castle A vacation rental apartment in the turret of a Tudor mansion A fairytale cottage beside of one of the most important places in English history.

Vacation rental cottages and accommodations like these are available by the week, the weekend and for short midweek breaks from English Heritage and from The National Trust.

English Heritage is a public body that advises the UK government on preserving the historic environment. It manages 400 historic properties, including Stonehenge. Some of these properties have attached vacation rental cottages, lodges and apartments. Guests often have the run of grounds, gardens and parks after hours and can sometimes be offered private viewings of the main historic property.

The National Trust is an independent organization, supported by membership subscriptions and income from the historic properties it manages.

The Triumphal Arch Cottage(Price Band: $), pictured above, is a vacation rental that sleeps four and overlooks parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. It is part of the National Trust's Berrington Hall estate, a Neoclassical mansion, in Leominster, with views over the Brecon Beacons, French Regency furnishings, fine painted ceilings and an interesting costume collection.

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London to Glasgow

Details of how to get from London to Glasgow by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.
Read more about London and Glasgow. UK Travel Tip The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

There are regular train services to Glasgow Central Station from London Kings Cross and London Euston several times a day. The journey takes about 5 hours. Round trip advance fares start at about £56.

Fans of slow travel can take an overnight sleeper, The Calendonian Sleeper, run by First Scot Rail . The train leaves Euston Station nightly, at about 11:30p.m., arriving in Glasgow nearly eight hours later,at about 7:30 a.m. Costs range from £36 for advance booking of a one way ticket in recliner cabin, to £161 for a first class, one way ticket in a single berth cabin. Every month, the company offers about 1200 bargain twin berth fares of less than £50 on a first come first served basis.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey.

Buses from London to Glasgow take 8 to 9 hours and cost just over £40 round trip. There are three direct trips, between Victoria Coach Station in London and Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station, in each direction daily with longer journeys stopping in Birmingham first. Bus tickets can be purchased online. There is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Glasgow is 405 miles north of London via the M1, M6. M42, A74(M), M73 and M8 motorways. It takes about 7 hours to drive. Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart. Regular flights from London to Glasgow Airport leave Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports throughout the day. The flight takes about 1 1/2 hours.

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London to Sheffield

Details of how to get from London to Sheffield by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.
Read more about London and Sheffield. UK Travel Tip The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

Trains leave hourly for Sheffield Station from St Pancras Domestic Station. The journey takes 2 hours and 10 minues with round trip advance fares starting at about £23.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey.

National Express run regular coach trips to Sheffield Meadowhead Station from London Victoria Coach Station . The journey takes about 4 hours with round trip tickets costing under £25. Tickets can be booked online and there is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Sheffield is 167 miles north of London via the M1 and A roads. It takes a little over 3 hours to drive. Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart.

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High Street FAQ

I've come across the phrase "high street" when visiting the UK. People talk about high street fashion or direct me to "the high street". What do they mean?Answer: People in the UK use the term high street the way Americans use the phrase Main Street. A high street is the main commercial and retail street in a town. In big cities, each neighborhood or district will probably have its own high street. In a small village, the high street may have little more than a mail box, a public pay phone and a small convenience store. At the very least, a high street usually has a pub.

High street fashion describes mass-market retail style - the sort of clothing you will find in the chain stores. The more cutting edge and directional a retailer is, the faster it will interpret designer fashions for the high street.

And here's one last bit of confusion -- a town's high street may not be called "High Street" and a street with that name may not be the high street.

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London to Lincoln

Details of how to get from London to Lincoln by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.
Read more about London and Lincoln. UK Travel Tip The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

There are frequent trains to Lincoln Station from London Kings Cross. The journey takes betweem 2 and 3 hours depending upon the specific train service. Round trip advance fares start at £24.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey.

There is one direct trip between London Victoria Coach Station and Lincoln City Bus Station each day, in each direction. The journey takes 4 1/2 hours. There is also a once a day London to Lincoln service stopping in Leicester. That trip takes 5 hours and 40 minutes. Either costs about £29. Bus services can be booked online. There is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Lincoln is 145 miles north of London via A roads (usually divided highways that become motorways for short stretches). It takes about 3 hours and 10 minutes to drive. Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart.

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London to Aberdeen

Details of how to get from London to Aberdeen by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.

Read more about London and Aberdeen.

East Coast offers direct London to Aberdeen services and connecting services through Edinburgh with First Scot Rail. Trains leave from London Kings Cross to http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/abd/details.html Aberdeen Station throughout the day. The journey takes about 7 1/2 hours and costs from £95.50, round trip, when purchased as two one-way, advance-fare tickets. National Express Coaches from London to Aberdeen take between 12 to 13 1/2 hours and cost £38.50 (2011 price) round trip. Buses leave Victoria Coach Station in London for Aberdeen Bus Station twice a day, morning and night.

Bus tickets can be purchased online. There is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Edinburgh is 545 miles northeast of London, using the M1, M6 and M42 motorways in England and the M74, M8, M9 and M90 motorways in Scotland. In perfect conditions, it can take about 10 hours to drive but conditions are rarely perfect and this journey should only be taken by car as part of a multi-day tour or by alternating drivers.

Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart. Parking in Bath Centre may also be expensive.

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London to Nottingham

Details of how to get from London to Nottingham by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.
Read more about London and Nottingham. UK Travel Tip The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

Frequent trains leave for Nottingham Station from London St Pancras Domestic. The journey takes under 2 hours with round trip advance fares starting at about £20.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey.

There is a regular bus service between London Victoria Coach Station and Nottingham Broadmarsh Bus Station. The journey takes about 3 hours 40 minutes, with round trip tickets costing about £24. Tickets can be booked online and there is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Nottingham is 128 miles north of London via the M1 and the A543. It takes about 3 hours and 40 minutes to drive. Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart.

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Best UK Rock and Pop Festivals

This 30-year old festival is a bit like an English Woodstock with cherries on top. There's a famous Pyramid Stage, smaller venues, camping, food, a kids Glastonbury and every kind of music imaginable. Musicians are the top acts at the top of their games as well as great blasts from the past. There are at least seven main stages, circus tent and theatre and loads of Greenfield activities. The weather usually turns it into a huge mud bath. And if you don't have the stamina for three solid days of partying, don't come.

Who's there? Every kind of music imaginable. In 2009 - Bruce Springsteen, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Lily Allen, Blur, Nick Cave, Regina Spektor, Kasabian, Status Quo, Franz Ferdinand, Jarvis Cocker, even Tom Jones!

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UK National Holidays

UK National holidays have been called Bank Holidays since the late 19th century. The name originates because these were the days on which the banks were closed.

Find UK Public Holidays through 2014

The banks are still closed on UK National holidays but not much else is. If you are planning a trip to England, Scotland or Wales that includes a national holiday, here's what you can expect: Banks are closed - obviously, so are Post Offices and other government offices and departments. Most office businesses, including travel and booking agencies are closed. Motorways are clogged. Queues at popular family attractions are longer than usual. Rooms may be harder to book or slightly more expensive during bank holiday weekends. Most, but not all, of the larger shops are open. This is a bit hit or miss. Some businesses hold big, bank holiday sales events while others shut their doors. The only exceptions are Easter Sunday and Christmas Day when the law requires the larger shops to close. Trains, buses and the London Underground operate reduced services so it is important to plan Bank Holiday travel on public transportation carefully.As in the other countries, the popularity of long holiday weekends in the UK has meant that few Bank Holidays fall on exactly the same dates from one year to the next. New Year's Day January 1 or the Monday immediately following January 1 Good Friday Easter Monday May Bank Holiday First Monday in May Spring Bank Holiday Last Monday in May Summer Bank Holiday Last Monday in August Christmas Day Or the Monday immediately following if Christmas falls on a weekend. Boxing Day The day after Christmas, or the Monday following if 26 December falls on a weekend.If both December 25 and 26 fall on the weekend, the following Monday and Tuesday are Bank Holidays.

Northern Ireland celebrates two additional Bank Holidays: St. Patrick's Day March 17 or the nearest Monday if it falls on a weekend. Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day) July 12 or the nearest Monday if it falls on a weekend.Scotland does not celebrate Easter Monday as a bank holiday, although many people do take that day off. In addition, since 2007, St. Andrew's Day (Nov. 30 or the following Monday)is an optional bank holiday. Banks have the right to close but employers don't have to give their employees the day off. So far, it is too early to tell how that day will be observed.

Find UK Public Holidays through 2014

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London to Exeter

Details of how to get from London to Exeter by various forms of transportation. Use these information resources to plan your journey.
Read more about London and Exeter. UK Travel Tip The cheapest train fares are those designated "Advance" - how far in advance depends upon the journey as most rail companies offer advance fares on a first come first served basis. Advance tickets are usually sold as one-way or "single" tickets. Whether or not you buy advance tickets, always compare the "single" ticket price to the round trip or "return" price as it is often cheaper to buy two single tickets rather than one round trip ticket.

Trains to Exeter St. Davids leave from Waterloo and Paddington several times a day. The journey takes about 3 hours though some very early services can take about 4 hours. Round trip advance fares start at about £24.

UK Travel Tip National Express offers a limited number of "funfare" promotional tickets that are very cheap (£6.50 for a £39.00 fare, for example). These can only be purchased on line and they are usually posted on the website a month to a few weeks before the trip. It is worth checking the website to see if "funfare" tickets are available for your chosen journey.

Buses from London to Exeter take 4 to 5 hours and cost about £36 round trip. There is a regular bus service between Victoria Coach Station in London and Exeter Bus and Coach Station, Paris Street.

Bus tickets can be purchased online. There is usually a 50pence booking fee.

Exeter is 196 miles west of London via the M4 and M5 motorways. It takes about 4 hours to drive. Keep in mind that gasoline, called petrol in the UK, is sold by the liter (a little more than a quart) and the price is usually more than $1 a quart.

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UK Department Stores

When you have a lot of shopping to accomplish in a short time - and visitors often find themselves in that position - department stores are useful for everything from outfitting all the family or choosing a fashion wardrobe for round the clock to furnishing your home and buying gifts to take home - all in one go.

This handy guide will help you figure out what to shop for in the different department store groups around the country. Look here for what you can expect to find and what you can expect to spend.

Tell us how you shop: scroll down the page and vote in the Shoppers' Poll

Harvey Nichols, made world famous as Harvey Nicks by the BBC's classic comedy Absolutely Fabulous, is a must visit department store for supermodels, celebrities, fashionistas and Sex and the City-style shoppers. Glamorous, trendy and expensive.

Prices? If you have to ask, wait for the sales.

All over the world, people who have heard about shopping in Britain have also heard about Marks and Spencer. This department store chain is so fully enmeshed in British life that it is hard to imagine a decent sized town or village without one.

The company specialises in budget to modestly priced, high quality clothing for men, women and children. Most Englishwomen, no matter what their social status, have at least some M&S lingerie or underwear. And separate food departments, selling M&S own label food products and prepared or ready to cook foods are very popular.

Prices? Inexpensive to moderate and invariably good value.

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How to Order a Beer

 A barmaid pulls a pint in The Harp pub, the Campaign for Real Ale's national pub of the year 2011, a first for a London pub. CAMRA said the pub 'retains its appeal as a true local, even though situated in the tourist heart of the capital'.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

On my first trip to the UK, I wandered cluelessly into a country pub, on my own, expecting some friendly conversation and an ice cold beer with a frothy head spilling down the sides of a chilled glass.

Of course, I got none of those things. Having misinterpreted decades of British tourist publicity and old movies, I suppose I was expecting "Cheers" with an English accent. The experience put me off going into pubs on my own for years.

Nowadays, I find British pubs altogether less intimidating. Could be they've changed, but probably I have as well.

If you're a pub beginner, this guide will:

help you find a pub you'll really liketip you off on what to order and how to order itexplain how Brits order and drink their beerfast track you through the mysteries of British Pub etiquetteensure that you enjoy your experience of the Great British Pub.

Different kinds of pubs attract different kinds of crowds. First off, know what sort of place you're planning to amble into.

The City Pub - Pubs in city centers tend to attract people who work nearby. At key times during the day - lunch, right after work - they'll probably be very crowded with groups of workmates unwinding from their jobs or meeting up with friends after work. Noisy and bustling, they are places where people gather to drink and have a laugh. Depending upon where they are, they may close when the last of the office workers head home, or stay open for the busy times before and after shows and movies.
Theme pubs are a sort of subspecies of City Pubs, rarely found outside of cities and bigger towns. Goth pubs, Jazz pubs, comedy pubs, rock pubs like The Hydrant in Brighton can all be found in the local listings magazines or town websites. Name your special interest and there is probably a theme pub that caters to your crowd.The Country Pub - The "heritage pub" that glows in all those tourist authority pictures really does exist. But what a pub looks like on the outside doesn't necessarily match what you'll find on the inside. Visitors looking for the warm glow of firelight, and a cosy seventeeth century interior could be disappointed by the presence of a one-armed bandit (called a fruit machine in the UK)and a microwave menu of packaged burgers and lurid orange fish and chips.
Country pubs come in all varieties but visitors will most likely warm to what I like to call destination pubs, the sort of pubs people will travel for miles to visit (even plan a day out in the country for) because of the food, wonderful beer garden, character or history. Destination pubs come in city and country varieties.
You might like these: The Local - Locals are just that - very local. And as such, they aren't the most welcoming of places. As a visitor, don't expect a friendly welcome, unless you've been introduced by another local. And even then, everyone will be sizing you up to see if you deserve their attention. How can you tell if you've stumbled into a local? If conversation stops and everyone looks you over before turning back to their drinks, you're in a local. Time to move on.The Freehouse - Nowadays most pubs are tied to breweries through outright ownership or through various financial arrangements with the landlord or publican. This means they can only serve beers and other beverages made or distributed by the parent company. Freehouses are independent pubs that can serve whatever beers and drinks the landlord and the punters (paying customers)like. Though rarer, freehouses can still be found. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is a big supporter of freehouses and you can find them, along with tied pubs that offer a good selection of guest beers (like the Anchor in Walberswick) in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide (Buy Direct).Chain - You're likely to find them in big train stations, shopping malls and town centers. Some have themes - like O'Neill's Irish Pubs - and some are just gigantic eating and drinking mills, like Wetherspoons. They offer mass market, standardised fare and like anything mass produced, there are good ones and bad ones. One thing they don't offer is real character.

So how do you choose? The easiest way is simply to walk in and see how you feel about it. If you find a pub uncomfortable or below par for any reason, find another. With more than 50,000 pubs in the UK, you're bound to find one nearby that suits you.

Pubs sell beer, wine and spirits (whisky, gin, etc), along with soft drinks (usually at least Coke and Diet Coke), bottled fruit juices, cider and perry (more on these last two in a minute). Fizzy water from a pump is usually free.

A variety of beers and ales, including bitter, and pale ales are available on tap. There may be one lager on tap as well, but most lagers are sold as bottled beers. If you want a cold beer, you'll have to order a bottled beer. Brits don't think you can appreciate the flavor of a beer if it is icy cold.
Ask the bar staff about local beers. Some regional breweries, such as Adnams in Suffolk, Fullers in London and and Shepherd Neame in Kent, bottle special seasonal brews. Check out a run down of British beer styles to help you choose.Porter and Stout Except for the popular Irish stout, Guinness, which is widely available on tap, porters and stouts are high alcohol, specialty beers often available in bottles. Just be aware, if you decide to experiment with these, that some have an alcohol content of 7 to 9 %. Draught Guinness has an alcohol content of about 4.2%, Murphy's and Beamish are Irish stout's that may also be available in some pubs.

NEXT: More Pub Drinks,How to Order, Pub Manners

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Top Ten English Country Houses to Visit

The country houses of England are among the its finest treasures. Generations of families have maintained them as storehouses of history, heritage and culture, with magnificent grounds and parks, and fabulous art collections.

Once the exclusive domain of rich landowners and aristocrats today, whether owned and managed by the National Trust or in private hands, most are open to the public for at least part of the year.

These are some of the best.

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Ghost Walks and Haunted Places

Ghosts, spooks and creepy places are all over the United Kingdom. For Halloween, if you are looking for the best ghost tours, haunted places or a good scares, you've come to the right place.

Chester, Derby, York and Edinburgh compete with each other for the title of Most Haunted Place in Britain - or even Europe. What with haunted inns, ghostly Roman Legions, headless Queens and mournful ghostly brides, they've all got a pretty good claim to the title. And there are more haunted destinations.

Here then, the best ghost walks and haunted places in the UK to scare yourself silly.

Ferne ArfinShakespeare's home town has been one of England's biggest visitor attractions for hundreds of years. The guest list in the woodframed house that was Shakespeare's birthplace reads like a who's who of English literature from the 17th century onward. Curious spirits visit regularly and practitioners of magic and Wicca like the place too, so there are plenty of attractions for anyone who enjoys a good skin crawling, hair raising halloween frightfest.

Eerie evenings at the Tudor World Museum take place in the Shrieve's house, which reports daily sightings from the spirit world. And, of course, as restoration works are planned, you might want to worry about the curse on Shakespeare's grave.

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National Parks in the UK

Facts and Figures About UK National Parks

 Stone wall meanders over a fields of heather, gorse and bracken on Kirkstone Pass in the Lake District National Park.

©Ferne ArfinThe National Parks in the UK protect some of the most spectacular and valued landscapes in England Scotland and Wales. It may surprise some visitors that National Parks in the UK also protect farms, villages and cultural heritage.

Unlike the national parks of North America, the 15 National Parks in the UK are not large, virgin wilderness areas owned by public bodies. They are, in fact, populated places, with much of the land in private ownership, where people who farm the land or settle in the towns and villages take part in preserving Britain's wild and worked landscapes.

Early on, it was decided that in many areas, British farming and village life had shaped its characteristic landscapes and should be preserved - even in relatively remote and wildly beautiful landscapes. So, while the national parks in the UK protect some of the most breathtaking wildlife and scenery in the UK and provide access and facilities for their enjoyment, they also protect buildings and places of architectural and historic interest and maintain established farming use.

Within the UK National Parks, visitors can find a mixture of privately owned land and land owned or controlled by the the National Trust,The Forestry Commission, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and central and local government.

There are mountains, moors, woodlands, marshland, pasture, lakes and coasts. Most UK National Parks have numerous nature reserves that shelter rare species - native red squirrels, wild ponies, orchids and ospreys. At least 331,000 people live in the National Parks of England, Scotland and Wales. There are at nearly 4,000 ancient monuments in the UK National Parks. The UK National Parks contain more than 350 Conservation areas which are protected areas of special architectural interest. England's National Parks cover 7% of its land area. In Wales, the National Parks cover 20% of the land. National Parks cover 7.3 per cent of Scotland. 7,842 square miles are included in UK National Parks. The largest National Park is The Cairngorms in Scotland, covering 1,467 square miles. The oldest National Park, The Peak District, was founded in 1951. The newest National Park is The South Downs, established in April, 2009.The Cairngorms National Park 1,467 square miles of wild, dramatic peaks in central Scotland. Ben Macdui, at 1,309 meters, is the highest peak within the UK National Parks - though not the highest in the UK. Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park 720 square miles of west central Scotland, this is Rob Roy and Sir Walter Scott country with the largest freshwater body in the UK. Northumberland National Park 405 square miles of virtually empty land in the North East of England. It has a total population of about 2,200 and includes the Cheviot Hills, 31 sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), 3 National Conservation areas and a stretch of Hadrian's Wall, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Lake District National Park 885 square miles of landscape carved out by glaciers about 15,000 years ago. It has England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike; about 50 lakes and tarns, including England's biggest and England's deepest, and connections with leading literary figures, including Wordsworth, Coleridge and de Quincey. The Yorkshire Dales 680 square miles of dramatic hills and woodlands that straddle the Pennines in the North of England. Very popular with walkers. The North York Moors 554 miles of heath and moorland, as well as 26 miles of dramatic North Sea coast in England's North East. This is Wuthering Heights territory. The National Park also protects more than 800 ancient monuments. The Peak District National Park 555 square miles in the heart of England, it has more than 450 protected monuments. One of its principal towns, Bakewell, is home of the famous jam and almond Bakewell Tart (Make your own with this About.com recipe for Bakewell Tart). Snowdonia National Park 840 square miles of North Wales, this famous National Park includes castles, coasts, ancient monuments and rugged, dramatic peaks. Welsh is the mother tongue of 68% of the population. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Of the 240 square miles of this West Wales park, a remarkable 260 linear miles are coast - and some of the most dramatic coast and beautiful beaches in all of the UK. The Brecon Beacons National Park 519 square miles of South Central Wales. Its massive, open hills are popular for riding and hunts, hang gliding and sheep rearing. The Norfolk Broads 117 square miles of wetlands, marshes and fenland in East Anglia, in the East of England, with, remarkably, only 1.7 miles of coast. The dry land is dotted with windmills that pump out water to keep it that way. Popular with birdwatchers, the reeds of this waterworld are harvested for thatch. Exmoor National Park 267 square miles and thirty four miles of stunning coastline in South West England. The park's varied landscape of woodlands, river valleys and a rolling patchwork of fields is popular with walkers, birdwatchers and outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds. A beautiful place. Dartmoor National Park 268 square miles of moorland in Devon, South West England, is a wild rolling landscape, famous for bleak, windswept tors and once treacherous, fog bound roads. Nearly half is open moorland, with about 10 per cent covered by forests and woodland. Most of Dartmoor is privately owned land but there is extensive public right of way. A large part of it is managed by the military for training. Range danger areas are, remarkably, open to the public and only closed during live firing. Most of the time, it is available for riding, hiking and grazing livestock. The New Forest. Despite its name, it was actually created by William the Conqueror in 1079 as his "new forest" for deer hunting. Modern New Forest Commoners, occupy land, owned by the Crown, with "commoning" rights to graze their livestock in the forest. New Forest ponies are the most famous inhabitants. The South Downs After a 60 year campaign, England's chalk desert in the sky became a national park in 2009.

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UK Trains Overview

UK Trains - Where to Buy a British Rail Ticket and How to Pay

 First ScotRail Ticket Office at Aviemore, Scotland

Courtesy of ATOC

If all this has you reeling, don't worry. The National Rail Enquiries website includes an excellent trip planning tool and staff at the manned railway stations can suggest best fares.

You can buy a UK train ticket for most off-peak journeys minutes before you board, but some discount tickets are available in advance for longer journeys so it's a good idea to check the National Rail Enquiries online tool to see the range of fares available. If you see a really cheap, advance fare and you're sure you will take that trip - buy it online or at the ticket office. The cheapest fares don't last long.

Buy a Standard Open, Cheap Day Return or Saver ticket:

Online: Choose journey and fare and let the National Rail Enquiry tool guide you to a train company to buy your ticket, using a credit or debit card. You'll get an email with a confirmation number.Print and save it.

Get your ticket:

By mail if purchased four or five days in advance from a UK address. At a fastTicket machine at the station. Bring the credit card you used to pay for the ticket, along with the confirmation number you've printed out and saved, and follow the directions on the machine. At a manned ticket booth. If fastTicketing isn't available at the station, or if there's no time for mail, present credit card and confirmation at a manned ticket window.At the station: Tickets are available on the day or in advance from manned ticket windows at mainline stations or from ticket dispensing and fastTicket machines.

Smaller stations may not be manned all the time. If you board at an unmanned station, you can buy a ticket on the train. But make sure because if staff is available and you board without a ticket, you may be fined or have to pay the highest available round-trip fare.

Insider Tip: National Rail Enquiries' How to Get There is a list of key UK visitor attractions, cathedrals, parks and zoos with links to more websites for detailed addresses and maps.

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