I was in London in the spring catching up with friends, when one of my friends suggested we spend the day at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. I love Kew Gardens and hadn’t been there for years, so I was more than happy to revisit one of my favourite London haunts. Home to more than 50,000 species of plants from all corners of the globe, the world-famous gardens date back to the mid-18th century, when King George III’s mother, Princess Augusta, established a botanical garden at Kew. In 1840, the gardens were handed over to the state and they’ve…

Perched high atop one of Edinburgh’s two dormant volcanoes, Edinburgh Castle is an impressive fortification that dominates the surrounding landscape. A citadel home to lots of different buildings rather than a simple stone castle, it’s worth taking the time to explore all the many structures within the castle walls. These include various museums (including one on prisoners of war and a couple of regimental ones), the royal palace, St Margaret’s Chapel, David’s Tower and the Scottish National War Memorial. If you want to learn more about Scotland’s royal family, make sure to visit the royal palace. The apartments take you…

Straddling the Essex-Hertfordshire border, the Lee Valley Country Park is a 1,000 acre picturesque site teeming with wildlife and the home of the Lee Valley White Water Centre (where you can follow in the footsteps of the London 2012 Olympic canoers). It’s also a surprisingly peaceful and calming place to while away an afternoon. Aside from the odd cyclist, dog-walker and family picking blackberries and raspberries, I came across very few people during my two-and-a-half hour stroll along the banks of the River Lee and its surrounding wetlands. I did, however, enjoy the company of lots of birds, including some…

Welcome to part two of my Wells adventure, which after Wells Cathedral and Vicars’ Close focuses on the remaining part of the city’s triumvirate of medieval masterpieces – the Bishop’s Palace and gardens. The partially-ruined Bishop’s Palace has been the home of the Bishop of Bath and Wells for more than 800 years and is steeped in history. The palace, along with the 14 acres of gardens that surround it, lies in the heart of the city, a stone’s throw from Wells Cathedral, concealed behind high stone walls. To get inside, you have to cross a large moat, which is…

With its extraordinarily well-preserved keep that’s surrounded by uncommonly tall earthworks, the castle at Castle Rising is one of the most memorable and unusual in the UK. Situated in the small, charming Norfolk village a few miles north of King’s Lynn (below), the castle has an illustrious history. Built in the 12th century by William D’Aubigny, Earl of Arundel and husband of Queen Adeliza (Henry I’s widow), the castle was sold to Queen Isabella (Edward II’s widow) in 1331, who spent the last 25 years or so of her life in luxurious retirement there. The castle remained in royal hands…

When I was looking for somewhere to stop to help break up the long journey home from Norfolk, Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire seemed to fit the bill. Boasting a monastery-turned-stately home, 114 acres of gardens and a working mill, the National Trust property looked right up my street – and it’s safe to say, I wasn’t disappointed. Nestled in picturesque countryside some six miles to the northeast of Cambridge, Anglesey Abbey is a charming affair. Originally founded as a hospital by Henry I in 1135, it was turned into an Augustinian priory in the 13th century, before being closed by…

Last Friday, the Charterhouse, near Smithfield Market in London, opened to visitors for the first time in its 700+ year history. I’d walked past the medieval manor many times when I lived in London, always dying to have a peek inside, so when I was in London yesterday, my friends and I decided it was time to have a look around. The Charterhouse dates back to the mid-14th century when the area was used as a burial ground for victims of the Black Death. In 1371, a Carthusian monastery was built on the site and it remained a monastery until…

Towards the end of March 2022, I set off on a little road trip around northern East Anglia. When I was looking in my guidebook for inspiration for places to visit, one place that jumped out at me was Ely. I was aware Ely was a small cathedral city in Cambridgeshire but knew little else about it. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered this unassuming city in the heart of the Fens boasts a truly spectacular cathedral that’s up there with the best in the UK, if not in Europe. I spied Ely’s cathedral, nicknamed the ‘Ship…

When I was in London at the end of August, one of my friends suggested we visit Dennis Severs’s House and the Barbican estate, and having never been to either, I readily agreed. We started our day at Liverpool Street station, where we popped into Eataly London, just outside the station for a cup of tea and cake, before making our way along Bishopsgate to Dennis Severs’s House on Fore Street. Dennis Severs’s House London is full of weird, wacky and wonderful places, but Dennis Severs’s House has to be one of the most peculiar. For this unassuming Georgian town…

The 8.6-mile Regent’s Canal runs from Paddington Basin in west London to Limehouse in the east, and the short stretch between Little Venice and Regent’s Park is one of my favourite London walks. So when I was in London in August and had a bit of time to kill, I decided to revisit this old favourite. I started my walk in Little Venice, so-called because it’s where the Grand Union and Regent’s canals meet. No-one’s quite sure who gave the area its name, but the infamous Lord Byron and his fellow poet Robert Browning have both been attributed with coining…