Western Europe’s most populous country doesn’t always spring to mind as a low-cost destination. However, in a place this big and diverse, there will always be a smarter way to spend your euros.
21.07.2023 - 07:51 / roughguides.com / Aurora Borealis
Britain's museums and galleries have upped their game, now entertaining and enthralling young visitors as well as educating them. Where «don't touch» used to be a common command, these days children are positively encouraged to interact, often involving some mind-blowing hands-on displays. Here are some of our favourites.
This is no straight-laced museum but a place for a phizz-whizzingly good time. Children can dress up as Dahl’s characters, make up funny words, smell walls that look like chocolate and create illustrated tales. As well as meeting the great storyteller through pictures and manuscripts, you can even sit in his chair and jot down your own swizzfiggling story ideas.
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Did your kids see Night at the Museum? Well this is where prehistoric creatures, science and nature truly come to life before your eyes. Come face to face with the animatronic T Rex, stand beneath the world’s largest mammal and feel the ground move in an earthquake. Witness giant tarantulas among the specimens in the Darwin Centre’s Cocoon, and discover just how humans are changing the environment. Inspirational for all ages.
With their highbrow culture and silent exhibition halls, art galleries were once fun-free zones for kids. But Manchester Art Gallery is just one place where things have changed. Dressing up in imitation of the artworks, chariot racing and a gallery filled with tactile objects all bring art into creative young hands. Here you get backpacks stuffed with activities for 7- to 12-year-olds and tool belts with binoculars and magnifying glasses for younger children. All this, plus a calendar packed with workshops and events, in a buggy-friendly venue with a decent family café.
ODE takes children on an awe-inspiring journey, special effects at every turn, from the Big Bang, through the earth's core, to the future. En route they'll witness spectacular natural phenomenon such as icebergs and the Aurora Borealis, zoom back millions of years aboard a time machine, stand on the edge of a volcano, fly over glaciers and experience the Arctic, oceans and rainforests in 4-D.
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Learn all about the elements on a high-octane, interactive adventure through fire, water, earth and air. Make waves, squirt cannons and get rained on. Dry off by a towering fire tornado and experience a ground-shaking pyrotechnic display. Drive a JCB and explode a rock face. Spin on a gyroscopic chairs and play on trampolines, spinning bowls and tilted roundabouts – all in the interest of science, of course.
Make The Most Of Your Time In Britain includes 500 great British experiences — find out more.
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Western Europe’s most populous country doesn’t always spring to mind as a low-cost destination. However, in a place this big and diverse, there will always be a smarter way to spend your euros.
A recent report released from travel marketing engine Sojern, analyzed travel trends from January 2015 to April 2016 and found the top international destinations for U.S. travelers as well as the top emerging and declining international spots.
Jacob Keanik scanned his binoculars over the field of ice surrounding our sailboat. He was looking for the polar bear that had been stalking us for the past 24 hours, but all he could see was an undulating carpet of blue-green pack ice that stretched to the horizon. “Winter is coming,” he murmured. Jacob had never seen Game of Thrones and was unaware of the phrase’s reference to the show’s menacing hordes of ice zombies, but to us, the threat posed by this frozen horde was equally dire. Here in remote Pasley Bay, deep in the Canadian Arctic, winter would bring a relentless tide of boat-crushing ice. If we didn’t find a way out soon, it could trap us and destroy our vessel—and perhaps us too.
Unlike the Eurostar that takes passengers from London to cities on the European continent in record time, The Ghan, one of Australia’s four luxurious trains, is not something you book because you need to get from point A to point B. It may sound like the biggest travel cliché there is, but in this case it’s true: Riding The Ghan is all about the journey and not really about the (albeit lovely) destination. You go on the Ghan because you want to see and experience parts of Australia you’d never get to go to otherwise, at a slow pace, and in the comfiest, most lavish setting you could find.
Glasgow has a rich history and culture, with plenty of attractions to explore like the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis, or the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The city also offers lively nightlife, excellent shopping opportunities, some of the best live music venues in Scotland, an ever-growing selection of world-class restaurants and cafes, and an array of cultural activities like theatre, dance, and art galleries. These Glasgow Airbnb rentals put you close to everything.
Every journey starts with one small step, to paraphrase Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. But some journeys contain more steps than others.
For five days of the year each summer, the somewhat soulless exhibition centre in Earls Court is transformed into a giant pub (pictured above). Or at least that’s what it feels like. Gone are the trade stalls and suited delegates, replaced by an army of (mostly bearded) volunteers manning hundreds of kegs, dispensing beers few people have ever heard of to thousands of squiffy punters – a lot of whom are wearing traffic-cone hats or sombreros for no apparent reason.
Britain is a nation bursting with song. While this most musical of islands has nurtured numerous world-class singers and bands, it almost bursts with festivals and concerts all year round. Here's five favourite escapes for music fans. Add yours below.
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In a city where it’s possible to pay up to US$250 for a rib eye steak, it is no surprise that most feel daunted at the prospect of visiting the pricy Russian capital, Moscow . Yet there are plenty of quirky cafés, hidden restaurants and expat haunts that will not break your budget. Here is a selection of some of the city’s best.
The Ridgeway really is as old as the hills — well, almost. For over 5000 years, travellers, farmers, soldiers and, more recently, cyclists have followed this 87-mile-long trackway (pictured above) between Avebury in Wiltshire and Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire — part of an ancient trading route that once stretched from the Dorset coast all the way to Norfolk. The chalky downland ridge that comprises the Ridgeway's western half is open to cyclists all year round, and provides a moderately challenging 42-mile ride.
If you fancy indulging your inner artist on your next British break, try one of these excellent galleries and art spaces across Britain.