Posts Tagged ‘holiday’

Nottingham City Breaks

March 18th, 2010

Bring to mind Nottingham and most folk think of the legend of Robin Hood, his band of merry men  and the Sherrif of Nottingham and though this attracts increasing numbers of visitors yearly there is much more to the area than meets the eye. Infact Nottingham is home to a respectable selection of interesting local attractions making it an excellent place for a a weekend city break and the following article examines the city and a few of visitor attractions in and around Nottingham, and also some hotels offering Nottingham B&B.

Nottingham is located in the county of Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England, UK. As well as Sherwood Forest, the legend of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, the city is also renowned for the lace making industry especially during the period known as the Industrial Revolution when it gained a superb worldwide reputation.

Nottingham Lace Market

Once the heart of the worldwide lace industry, at the time of the British Empire, the Lace Market in Nottingham is, now, a protected heritage area. The area  is home to many superb examples of industrial architecture of the Nineteenth Century. The Lace Market wasn't like a normal market, rather than having stalls and their stall holders, it was a collection of salesrooms and warehouses selling and displaying lace. After the collapse in the lace industry the area became derelict but, nowadays, the vast majority of the old warehouses have been restored and renovated for other purposes for instance photographic studios and the likes. The Lace Market is a popular tourist attraction.

Galleries of Justice & Shire Hall

Not too far from the Lace Market is the Galleries of Justice in Shire Hall. Shire Hall is a Georgian-built building featuring Neoclassical columns, pilasters and dome. The front of Shire Hall has, if you look at it closely, a misspelled word Goal instead of Gaol. Shire Hall has 2 excellently preserved Victorian courtrooms plus old cells, bath house, a women's prison, a prisoner's exercise yard and an Edwardian police station.

Nottingham is a fantastic place to have a vacation. There is lots to see and do around the city and a huge number of visitor attractions not too far away. Places well worth a visit include; Wollaton Hall, Hardwick Hall and Newstead Abbey.

As is common in all England bed and breakfast, Nottingham accommodation is usually of superb quality at a fair price and many folk choose to stay in Nottingham for part of their vacation and then somewhere else for the remaining days.

City Breaks In Bath

March 17th, 2010

The city of Bath, in the county of Somerset, The Somerset city of Bath may be just less than thirteen miles from the city of Bristol but it is vastly different in many ways. Bath is a much more laid back city than its neighbour. With its enormous number of open spaces, Georgian buildings and elegant crescents it is a highly popular take a short city break.

Bath has been important for an incredibly long, long time. Because of the hot springs, the only hot springs in Britain, it was treated as a shrine by the local Celtic population. It wasn't until the appearance of the Romans that, because of their technical expertise, the springs were developed to their full potential. Right up until today the Roman Baths are an incredibly Bath tourist attraction.

Until the 16th century Bath was just a town, Queen Elizabeth I granted the town a Royal Charter in the year 1590, having paid a visit to the town in fifteen seventy four. By the eighteenth century city of Bath Bath had become an extremely popular resort where etiquette had to be followed and Beau Nash ensured the social scene ran smoothly.

It was during this time that Jane Austen, who resided for some time in Bath, wrote Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, and where Gainsborough, the artist, established himself as a portraitist and landscape artist. It is possible to discover more about Jane Austen, the city's most famous resident, at the interesting Jane Austen Centre.

Bath has a multitude of visitor attractions including, the Roman Baths (mentioned earlier), The Holburne Museum of Arts, Bath Abbey and The Royal Crescent. One tourist attraction you must get to see are the Assembly Rooms and this is where you will discover the incredibly interesting Museum of Costume which features a collection of historical and modern dress.

Many folk choose to take day trips to Bath however if you do not like rushing around it is much better to stay for at least two or three days and walk around peacefully exploring all the city has to offer.

If you are planning a short break in Bath it is important to know that although there are many guest houses and hotels in Bath finding bed and breakfast in Bath can sometime be rather difficult. Because of this it is vitally important to book your accommodation at the earliest opportunity.

Finally I would like to wish that you have a thoroughly enjoyable vacation in the incredible city of Bath, England.

Vacation In Scotland With A Difference

March 13th, 2010

The country of Scotland has some of the most glorious scenery in the U.K. making it the greatest vacation destination. Countless numbers of visitors to Scotland choose Edinburgh as their main destination, whereas others decide upon something a little different. The article below examines vacations in Scotland and some of the things to do when in Scotland. The article also examines the Wickerman Festival.

With such a diverse countryside the list of things to do is endless. Mountain climbing is tremendously popular, as are mountain biking vacations. The most popular vacations are fishing or golf. With Scotland being the place of origin of golfing it should not be surprising that you are hardly ever too far from a minimum of one excellent golf course. With the Rivers Tay, Tweed and Spey you almost guaranteed of an incredible days fishing. But what if you fancy something a little different?

A growing number of families are making music festivals their annual vacation. Even though most music festivals are incredibly large with a focus upon making money, you can find a small selection of family music festivals, such as the Wickerman Festival and Tartan Heart.

The Wickerman Festival is an annual music and arts festival is held on a farm close to Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway about 5m away from the town of Kirkcudbright in Scotland. The event celebrates the cult classic British film, “The Wicker Man” which the stars Sir Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland and Ingrid Pitt.

The very first festival was held in the month of July 2002 and was organized by local guy, Sid Ambrose. With no experience of putting together a very large event it is a surprise that it is still held today, especially when you think about the present economic climate. Wickerman has changed each year and, like the film, has a cult following.

Wickerman is hugely family friendly it features many activities for children including, a mountain biking trail, a fairground, workshops and face painting. This can be easily proven by by visiting a search engine and searching for Wickerman Festival photographs 2009 or simply visit the official Wickerman Festival Gallery.

Near to the festival site is the small village of Kirkudbright where you will find many of the locations used in the film including Harbour Cottage which was used for the bakery and High Street Gallery which was used for the post office and sweetshop. You will find that there are a great many places worth visiting in the region and it is well worth having a short vacation here so that you can visit all of the visitor attractions. Common places in which to stay include Castle Douglas and Dumfries. Bed and breakfast accommodation in Scotland is nearly always first class and is also priced very reasonably and less costly than staying in a hotel.