UK Travel - Travelling Begins At Home!

Though small and familiar, the UK is home to countless hidden nooks and crannies to tantalise even the most seasoned traveller. Tourists will inevitably do as their guides tell them: fly in to Heathrow; spend a few days in London; speed to stonehenge; peer through the windows of Shakespeare's house; walk on the battlements of Edinburgh Castle before taking pictures of protestors in Parliament Square and rushing off. Excellent news for the slower, more patient traveller.

Being relatively small, this island nation is perfect for navigating by car, bus or train. For the truly hardy, it's only just over a 1,000 miles to walk the length of the mainland - from John O'Groats in Scotland's north east to Land's End on the tip of Cornwall's Atlantic coast.

Many many books have been written on the subtle wonders of Britain and - as with any guide, brief or epic - there are bound to be oversights and a road less travelled left, well, less travelled. There are, however, several excellent ways to roam about.

Travelling Begins At Home! - Narrowboats and Canals

Taking a gentle bob down the vast network of Victorian canals is an up-and-coming way to see the countryside. As well as the famous Norfolk Broads, then are navigable canals in central London, Leicestershire, Lancashire, Oxfordshire to name but a few. The experience lets casual sailors glimpse a forgotten world and give them a taste of a particularly British invention.

Travelling Begins At Home! - Train

Train journeys can go spectacularly wrong, and spectacularly right. Some lines are very dull indeed but with a bit of research there are some beautiful sights to be seen and if you book well in advance, there are lots of cheap fares to be had. Lines through the Welsh valleys, England's West Country and the Scottish Highlands are very much recommended.

Travelling Begins At Home! - Camping, Campervans and Caravans

Nothing gives you more freedom than driving and sleeping wherever you stop. Whether in a tent, camper van or caravan, an experience can be as basic or luxurious as you wish. For the boy scouts that might entail a total ban on electricity and blow-up beds, while the glamorous might go the whole hog and sneak a crafty Clarke generator into the boot to power those all-important hair-straighteners and sub-woofers! Campervans are the object of many travellers' desires. The trick here is getting the right one. Renting campervans for any substantial amount of time can be vastly expensive - it is much cheaper to buy and then sell an older model after a trip. If you plump for this more dicey option, remember to be prepared for breakdowns - spare wheels, blankets, petrol cans, even an air compressor for more powerful kit, may well save you hours of roadside misery.