United Kingdom Guide
Four nations as one, the United Kingdom is a land with strong local identities and long histories from Roman settlements to northern industrial heartlands. The wildly contrasting landscape takes in big cities, sleepy villages, national parks, hedge-lined lanes, the White Cliffs of Dover, the fens of East Anglia and the mountains of Scotland and Wales.
Capital sights – the London Eye, Cardiff's majestic Wales Millennium Centre, Edinburgh's Georgian New Town and Belfast's community murals – make way for the solid Victorian architecture of Manchester and Glasgow and contemporary rejuvenated centres in Birmingham, Newcastle and Liverpool.
Feel the breeze on the wilds of Dartmoor, the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District and Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway. Refresh the batteries in the beauty of the New Forest, the Trossachs and Mourne Mountains, or get the adrenalin pumping by climbing Snowdonia, Ben Nevis or the Cairngorms. Unearth ancient history at Stonehenge and stand amid the ghosts of Vikings in the Shetlands, Orkneys or York. Take a dip along Devon's English Riviera or around Cornwall.
Dress in cashmere, tartan or Harris Tweed from Scotland, or the creations of news-making designers Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney. Stock up on Twinings Teas, traditionally enjoyed from fine china. For a stronger tipple, try Pimm's as a summer refresher or malt whisky to warm you by the winter fire.
Despite ex-President Chirac's jibes, there is great British food, from Cornish pasties to Scottish salmon and venison; from London's jellied eels to fish and chips. Sunday roasts like beef with Yorkshire puddings remain an abiding tradition, while cheeses, from crumbly Lancashire to blue-streaked Stilton, ring the changes. Real ale ( bitter) comes in myriad flavours, while Scottish malt whisky is a traditional final tipple of the day.
The British have decided they do like art – join the throngs at the various Tate Galleries (there are four; two in London; one each in Liverpool and St Ives, Cornwall) or Newcastle Gateshead's Baltic.
