The United Kingdom and Ireland

The United Kingdom and Ireland are favourite holiday destinations on their own and make a great launch pad for a tour of continental Europe. Great holiday packages around the UK and Ireland cater for all tastes and budgets and frequent cheap flights to Europe make a continental holiday easily within reach.

For many Australians and New Zealanders, a visit to the UK is something of a pilgrimage. Lovers of cultural tradition and picturesque countryside, or fans of fashion, pop culture and sport all have British attractions on their to-do list.

London has so much to offer – palaces and parliaments, markets and theatres, Bobbies and black taxis, pints in a pub and picnics in a park. See a Shakespeare play at The Globe and watch Chelsea play at St James’s park. Shop at Harrods, take High Tea at The Ritz, and wander around Notting Hill’s antiques market on Portobello Road.

In rural Britain, the sights of the Scottish Highlands can be breathtaking. You romantics will not want to miss the subtle yet powerful beauty of the Lakes District, inspiration for poets like Keats, Lord Byron and, especially, William Wordsworth – who here ‘wandered lonely as a cloud’.

Off the beaten track, the rugged coasts of Wales and Northern Ireland, including the famous Giant’s Causeway, are stunning. Old tales of romance and adventure, of kings and wizards and monsters, come alive. Friendly country folk and charming pubs and hotels complete Britain’s appeal.

Ireland’s charms are legendary. A thriving international capital, Dublin’s pubs, poets and pop stars are huge draw cards. The countryside is both wild and welcoming. And a trip to kiss the Blarney Stone in County Cork to get ‘the gift of the gab’ will leave you breathless – but certainly not speechless.

Links:
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
Ireland