{"id":18460,"date":"2026-07-31T09:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.timbuktutravel.com\/blog\/?p=18460"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:04:34","slug":"the-best-things-to-do-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timbuktutravel.com\/blog\/the-best-things-to-do-in-the-uk","title":{"rendered":"The Best Things to Do in the UK: London, the Cotswolds, the Lake District & Edinburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mention a British holiday and people tend to picture grey skies and a queue. Well, we\u2019d like a word. On this magnificent island, it\u2019s possible to enjoy medieval alleys and Michelin kitchens, fells that swallow the horizon whole, and markets that have been haggling since the rag-and-bone men – and most of it is within a few hours\u2019 train ride of the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve kept this guide to four of our favourite destinations within the UK<\/a> – London<\/a>, the Cotswolds<\/a>, the Lake District<\/a> and Edinburgh<\/a> – and this is what we\u2019d genuinely send you to do. Some are the classics (earned, not inherited) and some are a little quieter. And because nobody enjoys a nasty surprise, we\u2019ll tell you when to turn up early, when to splash out and when to let the crowds have it. Kettle on? Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Big<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

London<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everything funnels through the capital, so we\u2019ll start here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Lose a day in London\u2019s art museums<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The capital\u2019s<\/a> great national collections are, gloriously, free, which means you can wander into the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, stand nose-to-canvas with Van Gogh\u2019s sunflowers and Turner\u2019s squalls, and walk out again having spent nothing but time. Across the river, the Tate Modern fills a hulking former power station, where all manner of art colours the walls, while upstream, the Tate Britain houses five centuries of home-grown art. The catch is the predictable one: free and famous usually means busy, especially at weekends. For Old Masters without the elbows, the Wallace Collection and the Courtauld are the pick of those-in-the-know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Several of the nationals throw open their doors one evening a week: the National Gallery is on Fridays, and the Tate is on the last Friday of the month. You\u2019ll have the Impressionists practically to yourself, often with live music and a glass of something in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Enjoy afternoon tea at Claridge\u2019s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Afternoon tea in London<\/a> is a competitive sport, and Claridge\u2019s has been winning at it for over a century. It\u2019s served in the hotel\u2019s Foyer & Reading Room beneath Dale Chihuly\u2019s \u2018Gilded Dawn\u2019 chandelier, a froth of 800 hand-blown glass pieces that are cleaned, one by one, in the dead of night. The ritual hasn\u2019t budged in 150-odd years: finger sandwiches (two-thirds bread to one-third filling, since you ask), scones, still warm, and plenty of clotted cream, dainty pastries, and a choice of two dozen teas poured by a sommelier who knows their oolong from their Assam. Oh, and there\u2019s an option to add a glass of something sparkling for an extra special occasion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip<\/strong>: Bookings open exactly 89 days ahead and weekend tables vanish within the hour, so set an alarm and pounce the moment the window opens. And when you can\u2019t finish it all (you won\u2019t), ask them to box up the leftovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. See a West End show<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

London\u2019s<\/a> theatreland is the real deal and you\u2019ll find long-running giants like The Lion King, Les Mis\u00e9rables and Phantom rubbing shoulders with whatever\u2019s just opened. Prices, however, swing like airline seats. The same stalls ticket on a sleepy Tuesday can cost half of what it does on a Saturday night, so choose wisely\u2026 For seats at the eleventh hour, sidestep the touts and head for the official TKTS booth in the clocktower on Leicester Square, run by the not-for-profit Society of London Theatre, which usually has a selection of unsold seats for that day at reduced prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Chasing a sold-out hit? Try the daily online lotteries through the TodayTix app – Hamilton runs a \u00a310 draw and the Harry Potter plays go for \u00a340 for the pair. And if you do fancy the booth, the lesser-known one out at Canary Wharf sells the same tickets with none of the Leicester Square chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Haggle along Portobello Road<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Notting Hill does pastel-fronted terraces and film-set good looks, but its beating heart is Portobello Road, the largest antiques market on the planet at more than a thousand stalls deep. It shape-shifts by the day: expect fruit and veg early in the week, and silver, old maps and curios on Saturdays (the full technicolour experience). Of course, there\u2019s the famous blue door in the film of the same name, and the \u2018travel bookshop\u2019 (now a souvenir shop), but the real magic is in the stalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Arrive between eight and half-nine on a Saturday for first pick before the crowds thicken, carry cash (it loosens the dealers and sharpens your bargaining), then drift north to Golborne Road and the Portobello Green arcade, where the food stalls sizzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"London<\/figure>
London<\/div>
Learn more<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cotswolds<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Cotswolds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Two hours west, the pace drops and the stone turns the colour of honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Walk a stretch of the Cotswold Way to a pub lunch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Cotswold Way runs 102 miles from Chipping Campden to Bath, but the trick the locals know is to walk a single morning\u2019s section and time your arrival for a pub at lunch – boots off, fire crackling, something slow-braised on the menu. The Chipping Campden to Broadway leg is a beauty, climbing past Broadway Tower, a hilltop folly from which, on a clear day, you can count thirteen counties. Be warned, however: this is proper walking with proper ascents, so leave the plimsolls at the cottage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip<\/strong>: A handful of hotels will ferry your bags ahead between villages, so you can amble unburdened and still make the table you booked at a Michelin Bib Gourmand pub like the Kingham Plough. Ask us and we\u2019ll let you know if it\u2019s possible when you book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Beat the crowds to Bibury\u2019s Arlington Row<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

William Morris once described Bibury as the most beautiful village in England, and Arlington Row, a line of weavers\u2019 cottages from the 1380s leaning companionably over a water meadow, was the reason. It really is lovely, but by mid-morning in summer, it\u2019s anything but peaceful so time your visit accordingly\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Come at first light or in the gilded hour before dusk, when the coaches have rumbled off and the row is yours. While you\u2019re there, the trout farm next door lets you catch your own supper – a daft, brilliant little detour the photo-snappers tend to miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Roll up your sleeves at a Cotswolds cookery school<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With farm shops, walled kitchen gardens and cheesemakers down every lane, The Cotswolds<\/a> really is one big larder. It\u2019s little wonder, then, that the region has become a hotbed for cookery courses. Knead and simmer your way through a day at Thyme in Southrop or at Daylesford Organic: they both follow the same happy rhythm of picking from the garden, cooking by lunch, and eating your creation before you leave. For something extra special, try the Raymond Blanc Cookery School at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat\u2019Saisons, just over the Oxfordshire border. It was the first Michelin-starred kitchen in the country to open its own school, and you\u2019ll forage in Le Manoir\u2019s eleven gardens before cooking the rustic French dishes of Raymond\u2019s childhood in the afternoon. There\u2019s even a masterclass in bread-baking from Benoit Blin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip<\/strong>: Le Manoir is closed for a top-to-toe redevelopment, and the cookery school won\u2019t reopen until summer 2027. If you can\u2019t wait, book Thyme or Daylesford now. If you can, time a future visit for Le Manoir\u2019s reopening and stay the night, so the only thing between you and breakfast is a flight of stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/figure>
The Cotswolds<\/div>
Learn more<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Lake District<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Northwards again to the fells, where the weather writes its own itinerary…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Earn your views on a proper fell walk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No trip to the Lakes<\/a> is complete without getting your boots muddy, and the joy is the sheer range of places to do so. Catbells above Derwentwater is a short and sharp classic, while the loop around Buttermere is a gentle two hours beneath Haystacks, the fell Alfred Wainwright loved so dearly he had his ashes scattered there. For the surefooted, Helvellyn\u2019s Striding Edge is a knife-ridge with the drama to match, and Scafell Pike is England\u2019s rooftop. A word to the wise: the weather here turns on a whim, and Scafell sits where three microclimates collide, so go prepared or don\u2019t go high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> You don\u2019t need a summit for stunning views. Little Latrigg, a 20-minute amble from Keswick, offers Derwentwater and the great rounded bulk of Skiddaw for almost no effort at all and is loveliest at first light or last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Follow Wordsworth to Dove Cottage & Grasmere<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the village of Grasmere is Dove Cottage, the modest house where William Wordsworth wrote his finest verse (and, by all accounts, walked off a great deal of the rest). The museum next door brings his world to life, and it makes a restful half-day, conveniently ideal for when the famous Lakeland drizzle decides to set in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Pay your respects at his grave in St Oswald\u2019s churchyard, then duck into Sarah Nelson\u2019s Grasmere Gingerbread, sold from a pocket-sized shop that was once the village schoolroom where Wordsworth himself taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Explore the Lakes by steam and by steamer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For a slower, soot-scented day, ride the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, a restored steam engine that hauls 1950s carriages three and a half miles through the greenery of the Leven Valley. At the far end, it\u2019s a two-minute stroll to the pier, where one of Windermere\u2019s grand old launches (choose the Swan, the Teal, or the Tern) will carry you up England\u2019s largest lake. Add in a stop in pretty Hawkshead village and you\u2019ve made a proper day of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> Rather than just bobbing across to busy Bowness, get the Freedom of the Lake ticket (24 hours of unlimited cruising plus the train) and sail all the way north to Ambleside, the quieter jetty with the best of the high fells laid out before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/figure>
The Lake District<\/div>
Learn more<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dugald<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Edinburgh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

North of the border, to a city built on a volcano and stuffed to the rafters with ghosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Climb Arthur\u2019s Seat at golden hour<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Arthur\u2019s Seat, an extinct volcano that rises 251 metres out of Holyrood Park in the heart of Edinburgh<\/a>, is quite the offering! The walk to the top takes about three-quarters of an hour, with a choice of routes ranging from gentle to genuinely puff-inducing. From the top, you\u2019ll see the whole city below, the Firth of Forth glinting beyond, and the castle squatting on its crag like it owns the place. Which, historically, it rather did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip<\/strong>: This far north, the summer sun lingers until around half-ten at night, so a \u2018golden hour\u2019 climb is a leisurely evening affair rather than a dawn raid. Start from the Dunsapie Loch car park on the eastern flank and you\u2019ll cut out some of the climb, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Go underground at the Real Mary King\u2019s Close<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beneath the Royal Mile lies a buried warren of closes, the narrow tenement alleys where Edinburgh\u2019s<\/a> residents once lived, traded and, often enough, died. Sealed off for centuries, they\u2019re now open for guided, costumed tours that are equal parts history lesson and shiver down the spine. It\u2019s a side of the city you simply can\u2019t see from street level and absolutely fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> The tours sell out well ahead, so book before you arrive and pick an early slot. Fair warning, too: it\u2019s tight and underground throughout, so give it a miss if close spaces aren\u2019t your friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. Walk the \u2018Royal Edinburgh\u2019 trail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the full regal sweep of the city, start at Edinburgh Castle and its Crown Room, where the crown, sceptre and Sword of State, the Honours of Scotland, sit behind the glass. They are the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles and were first used together to crown a nine-month-old Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543. From there, wander down the Royal Mile to Canongate Kirk, the monarch\u2019s parish church in the city, and on to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where Mary\u2019s secretary Rizzio met a famously grisly end. For a more modern glimpse into Scotland\u2019s history, the Scottish parliament is just across the street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top tip:<\/strong> In the kirkyard you\u2019ll find the grave of Adam Smith, father of modern economics, and even locals can\u2019t resist a photo behind the headstone of the man who dreamt up the \u2018invisible hand\u2019. Time your visit for late June or early July and the city dons full ceremonial dress for Royal Week, though note that Holyroodhouse shuts to visitors if the King is in residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Edinburgh<\/figure>
Edinburgh<\/div>
Learn more<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might be small, but the UK<\/a> offers a host of experiences in all four of its corners. Combine them over a fortnight’s trip, or pick a single region and dig deep – there really is no wrong way to go about it. Whichever way you lean, this is exactly the sort of trip we love piecing together and we\u2019d love to help build yours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Wizard\"Wizard<\/figure>
Not sure where to go?<\/div>\n Answer a few simple questions to get instant trip recommendations<\/span>\n
Start the wizard<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The experiences worth crossing the country for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":18477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Things to Do in the UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read about the best things to do in the UK, from touring the capital's prestigious galleries to exploring the remote fells in the north.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timbuktutravel.com\/blog\/the-best-things-to-do-in-the-uk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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