1,000 Places to See Before You Die

by Patricia Schultz

  An easy half-hour drive along the Cornish Riviera leads to the picturesque fishing village of St. Mawes and the Hotel Tresanton. Here, Olga Polizzi (scion of England’s most famous hotel dynasty, the Fortes) has created a boutique hotel above the sea with breezy terraces, gorgeous views, and a simple but superb restaurant specializing in local ingredients with hints of Spanish and Italian influence.

  WHERE: 250 miles/400 km southwest of London. THE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT: Tel 44/1841-532-700; www.rickstein.com. Cost: from $150; dinner $75. EDEN PROJECT: Tel 44/1726-811-911; www.edenproject.com. HOTEL TRESANTON: Tel 44/1326-270-055; www.tresanton.com. Cost: from $325; dinner $60. BEST TIME: Apr–Oct for finest weather.

  The “Palace of the Peak” in the Heart of England

  CHATSWORTH HOUSE

  Bakewell, Derbyshire, England

  Of the many historic “Stately Homes” and “Great Houses” enriching England’s countryside, Chatsworth is one of the most impressive. The centuries-old seat of the dukes of Devonshire, this Baroque palace was built in the late 17th century and has some 300 rooms, the most spectacular of which are open to the public. Lavish state apartments are decorated with a wealth of treasures, and the chapel features one of the finest Baroque interiors in all of England. The prodigious art collection includes paintings by such masters as Tintoretto, Veronese, and Rembrandt, enhanced with more contemporary works, including portraits by Lucian Freud.

  Alongside the house is a 100-acre garden landscaped by the famed Lancelot “Capability” Brown in the 1760s; a century later, the equally esteemed Joseph Paxton transformed it into one of the most celebrated gardens in all of Europe. A highlight is the stepped Cascade waterfall along with the seasonally changing display of contemporary sculptures. Surrounding the property are another thousand acres of parkland, where herds of deer graze on the grassy plain by the river, and a steep wooded hillside provides the backdrop.

  Beyond the manicured Chatsworth lies a very different landscape: the craggy moors and limestone dales of the Peak District, England’s oldest national park. The little market town of Bakewell lies just a few miles away; it is famous across England as the birthplace of the Bakewell Pudding. Every local tearoom and bakery claims to make the best, but start your quest at the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop to sample the goods eaten hot, with custard or cream, or choose among the various renditions if you’re in town for the busy outdoor market on Monday.

  A team of 18 gardeners works to maintain Chatsworth House’s historic grounds, with the help of some four-legged friends.

  WHERE: 150 miles/241 km north of London. Tel 44/1246-565-300; www.chatsworth.org. OLD ORIGINAL BAKEWELL PUDDING SHOP: Tel 44/1629-812-193; www.bakewellpuddingshop.co.uk. BEST TIMES: May and Sep for the gardens; Mon for market day in Bakewell.

  Luxurious Stays in Romantic Countryside

  DARTMOOR

  Devon, England

  England’s Southwest Peninsula—and especially the county of Devon—is renowned as a green and lush destination. Fertile conditions and a long farming heritage explain why it’s the home of Devon cream and the sacrosanct tradition of sitting down to a Devonshire tea. At the center of this bucolic idyll, though, lies a very different landscape: the high hills and rocky outcrops of Dartmoor, with 368 square miles of countryside protected as one of England’s many national parks. Surrounding its wild, dramatic moors are delightful wooded valleys, where streams and rivers meander along or plunge over waterfalls. A maze of footpaths is perfect for strolls or more energetic hikes. Other activities include excellent trout fishing and visiting Dartmoor’s famous country houses and gardens.

  Chagford is a good base for exploring the park. It is also where you’ll find the secluded and elegant Gidleigh Park, a Tudor-style mansion built in 1928 on over 100 magnificent acres. From the terraced patio, guests hear only the rushing waters of the North Teign River. Gidleigh Park is also one of the country’s finest eating establishments, with chef Michael Caines at the helm since 1994 and featuring an unrivaled wine cellar.

  Anglers revere the Arundell Arms, an old coach inn, just to the west of Dartmoor in the village of Lifton. It has been a premier fishing hotel for more than half a century, with 20 miles of private access to the River Tamar, one of the best salmon rivers in England and home to wild brown trout and sea trout too. Exceptional cuisine and delightful accommodations add to the experience, making the Arundell Arms a standout among a vanishing breed of well-heeled sporting hotels.

  Or exchange river for sea: Head south of Dartmoor to the coast and the Burgh Island Hotel, a romantic Art Deco retreat that conjures up the Jazz Age, located on its own 26-acre private island off the southern coast of Devon (the closest mainland village is Bigbury-on-Sea). It holds a special place in history too: The Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson escaped the attention of the world here, Noël Coward sipped gin cocktails at the bar, and Agatha Christie (who was born in Devon) wrote And Then There Were None during a visit in the early 1930s.

  WHERE: 230 miles/384 km southwest of London. VISITOR INFO: www.dartmoor.co.uk. GIDLEIGH PARK: Tel 44/1647-432-367; www.gidleigh.com. Cost: from $510; dinner $150. ARUNDELL ARMS: Tel 44/1566-784-666; www.arundellarms.com. Cost: from $270. BURGH ISLAND HOTEL: Tel 44/1548-810-514; www.burghisland.com. Cost: from $600, inclusive. BEST TIMES: Apr–Sep; May for wildflowers; Aug for heather on the moor turning purple.

  Where the Moors Meet the Sea

  EXMOOR

  Devon and Somerset, England

  In a beautiful corner of the West Country, where Somerset becomes Devon, sits the dramatic and romantic landscape of Exmoor National Park. On the high hills, bare of trees, are the remains of Bronze Age settlements, while streams and rivers cut steep-sided valleys down to the sea—most famously, the boulder-scattered Valley of the Rocks.

  Just north of the Valley of the Rocks, the rolling hills suddenly meet the sea at the Bristol Channel, with Wales beyond. The landscape is cut as if by a giant knife, with cliffs plummeting to the surf below. Tucked into a bay are the twin Victorian towns of Lynmouth and Lynton, linked by a century-old funicular railway, which uses cables and the power of water to carry passengers up and down the steep cliff face. Near the harbor is the Rising Sun, a 14th-century smugglers’ inn of crooked beams, uneven floors, and thick walls. Percy Bysshe Shelley supposedly chose the inn’s private thatch-roofed cottage for his honeymoon with his first wife, Harriet, in 1812; it is a cozy refuge with a four-poster bed, lovely views of the quaint little harbor and its bobbing boats, and “a climate so mild,” wrote Shelley, “that myrtles of immense size twine up our cottage, and roses bloom in the open air in winter.” From here myriad footpaths make the perfect starting point for inland forays onto the sweeping moors of the national park; the coastal path will take you to the sheer face of Countisbury Cliffs, which at 1,200 feet are the highest in England. Enjoy bracing sea winds and breathtaking scenery before ambling back “home” to the lovely Rising Sun, whose smiling staff and warm fireplace make the restaurant’s freshly caught salmon and lobster taste extra scrumptious.

  WHERE: 200 miles/320 km southwest of London. VISITOR INFO: www.visit-exmoor.co.uk. THE RISING SUN HOTEL: Tel 44/1598-753-223; www.risingsunlynmouth.co.uk. Cost: from $210; dinner $35. BEST TIME: Sep–Nov for heather at its most beautiful.

  The European Circuit’s Summertime Standout

  GLYNDEBOURNE FESTIVAL

  Lewes, East Sussex, England

  For true opera fans, summer in Europe remains sacred, with no lovelier setting than at the renowned Glyndebourne Festival, amid the green hills of the Sussex Downs. The cream of British society has been flocking here since 1934, to a grand country estate whose small but charming old opera house was replaced in 1994 by a much larger, modern theater with excellent acoustics. Even skeptical old-timers love the new building, and more seating means tickets are somewhat less difficult to come by. Serious aficionados know they’ll find world-class standards in the festival’s innovative repertoire, which offers a little of everything for everyone, per
formed by international artists both established and emerging. The festival also provides the social season’s highlight: the ritual evening picnic enjoyed on a garden-framed lawn that stretches before the graceful neo-Elizabethan manor, private home of the festival founder’s son. Sheep and cows graze within sight while musicians tune up in the background.

  To get there, hop on the train from London for the one-hour trip to the charming country town of Lewes, from which Glyndebourne is just 3 miles by taxi. Or book a room at one of the many small historic hotels in Lewes, such as the Shelleys (formerly in the family of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley), a polished favorite located in a 1588 town house on the main street. The hotel’s garden offers views of the Sussex Downs, while the restaurant serves award-winning food in a relaxed and traditional setting.

  The 400-year-old creeper-covered Gravetye Manor, a 20-mile drive out of town, is the perfect luxurious match for Glyndebourne. It is one of the oldest baronial manors in Sussex, filled with comfortable furniture and surrounded by famously gorgeous gardens. It also has one of the area’s best chefs (who packs a fantastic gourmet picnic hamper for the opera).

  WHERE: 55 miles/88 km south of London. Tel 44/1273-813-813; www.glyndebourne.com. Cost: tickets $50–$375. When: late May–Aug. THE SHELLEYS: Tel 44/1273-472-361; www.the-shelleys.co.uk. Cost: from $185 (off-peak), $285 (peak); dinner $55. GRAVETYE MANOR: Tel 44/1342-810-567; www.gravetyemanor.co.uk. Cost: from $380; dinner $60.

  Timeless Tableau of the English Countryside

  THE COTSWOLDS

  Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Oxfordshire, England

  The Cotswolds is the quintessence of rural England, stretching about 100 miles between Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon (see pp. 26 and 28) and marked on its western side by a steep slope called the Cotswold Edge. Sheep graze in the fields, as they have for centuries; wool was the key commodity here in the Middle Ages, and almost every once-prosperous town in the region has a Sheep Street and an impressive church or cathedral built with the industry’s profits. Most of the villages are constructed from the local honey-colored stone and have preserved their character despite being unabashedly devoted to tourism.

  At the northern end of the hills sits pristine Chipping Campden, with its showpiece main street and famous 10-acre Hidcote Gardens. Nearby is the deservedly popular village of Broadway, its architecturally striking High Street lined with antiques stores. Removed from Broadway’s hubbub, Buckland Manor hotel is a former Elizabethan home that is surprisingly unfussy despite a superb dinner elegantly served amid silver domes and candlelight. It’s a 3-mile hike to Broadway Tower, the highest point around and a favorite picnic spot.

  Continue south, to the towns of Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, and Bourton-on-the-Water sitting astride the Fosse Way, an ancient Roman road. Like Broadway, Stow is famous for its antiques shops, while Bourton’s streams have earned it the nickname “the Venice of the Cotswolds.” The nearby village of Bibury was chosen by William Morris, father of the Arts and Crafts Movement, as the most beautiful in England.

  The Cotswolds is a prime area for walkers, whether they seek gentle riverside strolls or more serious hikes. One of the most popular long-distance trails is the Cotswold Way, a clearly marked path along the crest of the Cotswold Edge from Bath to Chipping Campden. The whole 102-mile route is usually completed in 7 to 10 days, with hikers lodging at comfortable inns or B&Bs along the way; for a shorter trek, follow the beautiful section of path north of Winchcombe.

  A more relaxing tour lets you saunter along the tranquil valleys of the rivers Colne or Windrush. On the banks of the latter, the old market town of Burford offers another enticing place to stay: the 15th-century inn The Lamb, with traditionally decorated rooms and a great restaurant. Top off your tour of this region with a stay in the spa town of Cheltenham (just to the west of the Cotswolds), with its beautiful Regency-era Promenade, gardens, and famous horse-racing festival.

  Turrets and gargoyles grace Broadway Tower.

  WHERE: 140 miles/225 km from London. BUCKLAND MANOR: Tel 44/1386-852-626; www.bucklandmanor.co.uk. Cost: from $340; dinner $75. THE LAMB: Tel 44/1993-823-155; www.cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk. Cost: from $250; dinner $50. BEST TIMES: May–Oct for nice weather and numerous town fairs; Mar for the Cheltenham Festival, which includes the Gold Cup horse race.

  Queens of the High Seas

  CUNARD’S CRUISE LINERS

  Southampton, Hampshire, England

  In 1840, Samuel Cunard secured the first contract to carry mail by steamship between Britain and America, and to this day the cruise line that bears his name remains the most recognized in the world. The first ships were paddle steamers, the fastest vessels of their time, serving the route from Liverpool in England to Halifax and Boston in North America. In the early years of the 20th century, Cunard’s flagships on the transatlantic route were the Mauretania and the Lusitania, the latter tragically sunk at the outset of World War I.

  By the 1960s, though airplanes were taking over transatlantic travel, Cunard’s flagship was the Queen Elizabeth 2 (usually shortened to QE2), a classic ocean liner built specifically for the North Atlantic passage. For more than 30 years the QE2 was the only ship sailing that route on a regular schedule. Carrying about 1,800 passengers, she was the epitome of luxury, strength, and speed in an age of jetliners and more prosaic cruise ships, delivering an old-fashioned Atlantic crossing filled with white-glove service, informal lectures, a preponderance of eating options, idle hours in the top-drawer spa or library, and much gazing out over the rail at the high seas.

  In 2003, QE2 sailed her last transatlantic voyage, replaced by her younger—but much larger and more luxurious—sibling Queen Mary 2. The Queen Victoria joined the fleet in 2007, and a brand-new Queen Elizabeth followed in 2010. The three Cunard Queens cruise the world from the Caribbean to the Baltic, while the Queen Mary 2 continues the original Cunard legacy as the only ship to consistently ply the historic transatlantic route between Southampton and New York on a regular schedule.

  WHERE: westbound departures from Southampton, 80 miles/130 km southwest of London. Eastbound departures from Brooklyn, NY. In England, tel 0845-3565-555; www.cunard.co.uk; in the U.S., tel 800-728-6273; www.cunard.com. Cost: 7-night transatlantic crossings on the QM2, from $845. WHEN: year-round Cunard itineraries; Apr–Nov for transatlantic crossings on the QM2.

  A Medieval Wonder That Still Surprises

  WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

  Winchester, Hampshire, England

  Work first began on Winchester Cathedral in 1079, on the site of an even older Saxon church, to create what would be the longest cathedral in existence (526 feet), famous as well for its soaring 12-bay nave. The surrounding city of Winchester, which still feels like a market town, is even older than the cathedral. As capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex and the seat of legendary King Alfred the Great, Winchester was a major religious, political, and commercial center in the 9th century. Be sure to visit the Great Hall, another medieval masterpiece in town, where King Arthur’s iconic Round Table is displayed, a potent centerpiece of English mythology and literature.

  While slightly austere on the outside, the cathedral has a grand and awe-inspiring interior. Lovers of classic English literature can pay a visit to the tomb of novelist Jane Austen (1775–1817) in a quiet corner of the church. They may combine a Winchester excursion with a visit to Chawton Cottage, her pleasant country home 15 miles west of town. Now the Jane Austen’s House Museum, this is where many of her greatest works—including Emma and Persuasion—were penned. Victorian author Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) hailed from the neighboring county of Dorset and also mined this bucolic area for literary inspiration. He revived the historic name of Wessex in works such as The Return of the Native and Far from the Madding Crowd and renamed many local towns and cities—Dorchester became “Casterbridge” and Winchester “Wintoncester,” where Tess (as in Tess of the d’Urbervilles) was executed.

  Walkers can get a taste of the landscape by following the
South Downs Way from Winchester eastward toward Beacon Hill or the village of Exton. For more of a challenge, follow this national trail 107 miles, all the way to Eastbourne in Sussex and the famous white cliffs of the Seven Sisters.

  You’d do well to check into Lainston House Hotel, a stately old redbrick mansion dating from 1683, set among fabulous gardens and famously featuring a mile-long avenue of lime trees. The food and service are the principal draws, while the atmosphere is relaxed and inspiring, with log fires in winter and croquet on the lawn in summer.

  The interior contains original medieval tiles and wall paintings.

  WHERE: 72 miles/116 km southwest of London. VISITOR INFO: www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk. JANE AUSTEN’S HOUSE: Tel 44/1420-83262; www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk. LAINSTON HOUSE HOTEL: Tel 44/1962-776-088; www.lainstonhouse.com. Cost: from $255; dinner $80. BEST TIMES: 2nd and last Sun of every month for market.

  A Retreat for Royal R&R

  OSBORNE HOUSE

  Isle of Wight, England

  The Isle of Wight lies off the southern coast of England, a short ferry ride from the major ports of Southampton and Portsmouth, or, more scenically, from the little harbor town of Lymington. The island’s name is derived from Vectis, the name given to it by the Romans when they settled here some 2,000 years ago. In the 19th century, Charles Dickens was drawn to its sandy beaches and dramatic cliffs, while another man of letters, poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, spent time strolling the hills overlooking the sea.

  A compact 23 by 13 miles, it is a favorite summer destination of the British. Its most visited site is Osborne House, the cherished home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert that was constructed at Victoria’s own expense as a seaside retreat in 1845. It was here that they managed to leave royal responsibilities behind, enjoying long walks and informal family dinners with their nine children. Grief-stricken at Albert’s death in 1861 at the age of 42, Victoria requested that everything remain exactly as it had been in his final days. Family mementos fill the bedroom where the queen died in 1901.