Packed with 196-pages of the best attractions, days out, places to stay and food and drink destinations, the 2015 BRITAIN Guide is your definitive companion to getting the best out of your holiday. From forgotten medieval villages, to country houses within easy access of London and shopping areas for picking up quintessential gifts, you won’t want to leave home without it.
EDITOR'S LETTER
YOUR LETTERS • Write to us with your thoughts on the magazine and memories of Britain
The BULLETIN • Ravishing Raynham Hall, a new Welsh pilgrimage trail and the timeless appeal of Edward Bawden
READING CORNER • Find inspiration for your next trip with one of these great reads
GREAT ESTATES • We explore beautiful Buckinghamshire, a county blessed with grand country estates and glorious gardens, and with intriguing wartime connections
Experience the pomp, pageantry and spectacle
THE PLANNER
NO PLACE LIKE HOME • The recent staycation craze is nothing new: the Georgians were pioneers of holidays at home
MARTYR OR MURDERESS? • There have been few monarchs in British history quite as tragic or beautiful as Mary, Queen of Scots. We sift the fact from the fiction
Magnificent Manors • In the last of our series focusing on the iconic properties of the National Trust, we tour four Tudor houses full of fascinating historical detail
BOOK AHEAD
BLOODLINES & BETRAYALS • In the first of a two-part series, we delve into the bitter feud that divided the rival royal houses of York and Lancaster, leading to the bloody Wars of the Roses
The ROYAL ALBERT HALL • Prince Albert’s huge domed red-brick amphitheatre is the city’s most atmospheric concert venue and the site of the raucous annual Proms
BOOK AHEAD
WIN
HOW TO ENTER
LAND of LEGENDS • Escape to a cosy hideaway on the Causeway Coast and take in the wild seascapes, salty towns and big skies of this mystical corner of Northern Ireland
BOOK AHEAD
Villages of LONDON • In the first of a two-part series, we explore the villages of south London, which retain distinct identities amid the capital’s cosmopolitan bustle
THE PLANNER
FALMOUTH • With its colourful harbour, cheerful pubs and a legendary oyster festival, Falmouth has plenty of seaside charm
THE PLANNER
TO BE A PILGRIM • To mark the 900th anniversary of Thomas Becket’s birth, we discover the highlights of the ancient Pilgrims’ Way, a scenic route that’s packed with history
THE PLANNER
A GOURMET STAY IN THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE DISTRICT
HOW TO ENTER
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
ENTRY FORM
DUNDEE • With the opening of a new V&A Museum – the first outside London – the regeneration of this old port city on Scotland’s underrated east coast is well under way
Dundee: cut-out-and-go guide
Live like a local
Amazing ALDERNEY • Just a stone’s throw from the south coast of England lies the emerald isle of Alderney: a hidden gem with beautiful beaches, rich heritage, diverse wildlife and breathtaking scenery
Mary Shelley • Two hundred years after the publication of her Gothic masterpiece, we look back at the English novelist's life