England Guide
Introduction to England
The largest and most populous of the component parts of the United Kingdom, ENGLAND has historically enjoyed political and financial dominance over its smaller neighbours, which may in part explain its less developed sense of national identity, imbued as it is with an inherent sense of superiority.
London is the place to start. Nowhere in the country can match the scope and innovation of the capital, a colossal, frenetic city, where the only obstacle to having a great time is the shockingly high cost of everything. Among the other large cities, Birmingham has a resurgent arts scene, while people travel for miles to sample Newcastle's nightlife and the high-end shopping in Leeds. Manchester can match the capital for glamour in cafés and clubs, and is home to the world's best-known football team, while its near-neighbour Liverpool earned the title of European Capital of Culture 2008.
The ancient cathedral cities of Lincoln, York, Salisbury, Durham and Winchester cannot be equalled for physical beauty, and wherever you're based, you're never more than a few miles from a ruined castle, a majestic country house, a secluded chapel or a monastery. In the southwest there are remnants of a Celtic culture that was all but eradicated elsewhere by the Romans, and everywhere you can find traces of prehistoric settlers – most famously the megalithic circles of Stonehenge and Avebury.
Most beguiling of all are the long-established villages of England, hundreds of which amount to nothing more than a pub, a shop, a gaggle of cottages and a farmhouse offering bed and breakfast. Devon, Cornwall, the Cotswolds and the Yorkshire Dales harbour some especially pretty specimens. Then, of course, there's the English countryside, an extraordinarily diverse terrain from which Constable, Turner, Wordsworth, Emily Brontë and a host of other writers and artists took inspiration. Exmoor, Dartmoor, the North York Moors and the Lake District are the most dramatic and best known of the national parks, each offering an array of landscapes crisscrossed with walking routes.