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England is a patchwork quilt of multicoloured landscapes, heritages and histories. From the craggy coastlines and golden beaches of Devon and Cornwall to the rugged mountains of the Peak District, from the ancient forests riddled with stories of folklore to the picturesque Lake District, from the great cities of London, Manchester and Bath to centuries-old villages of heart-warming charm, England has it all.
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Vibrant, multicultural and contradictory, modern England is a place of extremes, yet at times is fiercely united. Its people have a rich-vein of ‘Englishness' woven into their spirit forged by a heritage of stone circles, Arthurian legend, Shakespeare, the ego of a crumbling aristocracy and the cocky independence of an island race.
When visiting England , London is the place to start. Nowhere in the country can match the scope and innovation of the metropolis, a colossal frantic city which never sleeps. It's here that you'll find Britain 's best spread of nightlife, cultural events, museums, galleries, pubs and restaurants. The other large cities, such as Birmingham , Newcastle , Leeds or Liverpool each have their strengths: Birmingham has its resurgent arts scene whilst people travel for many miles to sample Newcastle 's nightlife and Manchester can match the capital for glamour in cafés and clubs and also boasts the draw of the world's best-known football team.
Away from London, England's ancient cathedral cities, such as Lincoln, York, Salisbury, Durham and Winchester, cannot be equalled for sheer physical beauty and remember no matter where you're based, you're never more than a few miles from a ruined castle, a majestic country house, a secluded chapel or a monastery. In the southwest there are 2500 year old remnants of a Celtic culture that was all but eradicated elsewhere by the Romans, and everywhere you can find traces of prehistoric settlers - most famously the megalithic circles of Stonehenge and Avebury.
Most beautiful and certainly the most quaint of all are the long-established villages of England, hundreds of which amount to nothing more than a pub, a shop, a row of cottages and a farmhouse offering bed and breakfast. Devon, Cornwall , the Cotswolds and the Yorkshire Dales harbour some especially picturesque villages but every county can boast a good showing. Then, of course, there's the English countryside, an extraordinarily diverse terrain from which Constable, Turner, Wordsworth, Emily Bronte and a host of other writers and artists took inspiration. Exmoor, Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor, the North York Moors and the Lake District are the most dramatic and best known of the national parks, each offering an array of landscapes criss-crossed with walking routes. With time to spare, escape the tourist trails and wander over this peaceful countryside and savour a ‘real' pint at a secluded country pub.
England today is welcoming, friendly and fascinating, where pomp and circumstance are balance d by the often bizarre idiosyncrasies of its people where a sense of humour is the passport to having a good time.
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