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Daily Mirror
28-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
UK's 'top beach' has sandy dunes and beautiful panoramic island views
Par Beach on the Isles of Scilly has been dubbed the 'greatest beach' in the UK and is popular with families and dog walkers as it stretches for half a mile long A sandy beach off the coast of the UK mainland is rated as one of the top beaches in the country. Par Beach on the Isles of Scilly, a crescent-shaped beauty stretching for half a mile, has previously been crowned the 'greatest beach' in the UK. Boasting light sandy dunes and sweeping views of the uninhabited Eastern Isles, Par Beach is a hit with families and dog walkers, offering a plethora of activities from kayaking to sailing, alongside traditional seaside pastimes like bathing and swimming. "I tripped over it [the beach] during the pandemic, in that time when we were all meant to be discovering our own country," shared Chris Leadbeater, travel correspondent at The Telegraph, who dished out the award. "And it did feel like a discovery, as I approached by water – and found myself staring besotted at this largely unadorned crescent, with its little jetty and handful of rowing boats." Nestled on St Martin's Island, visitors are spoilt for choice with nearby accommodation options, including the charming shepherd huts at St Martin's Vineyard and Winery. Far from the typical cramped and basic shepherd huts, these hand-built havens boast mains water pressure showers and extra width for comfort, ensuring a cosy stay just a stone's throw from the beach. To enhance your appreciation of the stunning surroundings, all power for the hut is sourced from solar panels and battery storage on the farm or via its renewables-only energy provider. The huts are priced at £820 per week, but savvy guests can snap up a deal in February, March and November when the rate drops to £670 for two adults per week. Alternative lodgings can be discovered at Carron Farm and Scilly Farm Holidays or if you're partial to a yurt, Scilly Organics has one available for booking from £450 for a week. Wildlife enthusiasts will be thrilled with Seal Snorkelling Adventures' 2.5-hour excursions where guests can have an intimate encounter with Atlantic grey seals. Wetsuits, snorkels, masks and the boat trip are all bundled into the cost, which stands at £65 per person. Get holiday recommendations straight to your WhatsApp! In need of a holiday? With the summer in full swing, the Mirror has launched its very own Travel WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest holiday recommendations from our travel experts straight to your WhatsApp. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For those who'd rather avoid the chilly ocean waters, there's a plethora of cafes scattered across the island. Open between Easter and October, The Island Bakery whips up handmade treats using local and Cornish ingredients. The local Polreath Guest House also boasts its own tea room, a fixture since the 1950s and family-run for the past 21 years. Venturing further inland, visitors will stumble upon The Seven Stones Inn, a charmingly rustic family-run pub offering breathtaking views across the island. All produce at the pub is locally sourced as much as possible. Par Beach presents the ideal staycation spot, particularly for those who prefer to stay close to their accommodation and immerse themselves in the local community.
Telegraph
18-04-2025
- Telegraph
The best (and worst) UK World Heritage Sites, ranked
Unesco created its first World Heritage Sites in 1978, aiming to preserve places of 'outstanding universal value'. It's a bold ambition, and one that now includes everything from the Taj Mahal to the Great Barrier Reef. Of the 1,223 worldwide, however, the UK is home to some 31 (35 if you include sites on overseas territories). These include the elegant streets of Edinburgh and the majesty of Stonehenge, but also some lesser-known spots, tucked away across the country. Places such as the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape in Wales, where bucolic countryside was transformed by mining and steam. Or Scotland's Flow Country, where vast peatland forms an intricate, boggy ecosystem filled with remarkable wildlife. All are representative, somehow, of the country's culture. It is because of this that they make for a remarkable day out, too, often supplemented by museums or visitor centres, or, at least, a very good café. With so much choice on our home soil, and to mark World Heritage Day (April 18), our experts can help you decide which to visit next. Whether it's a glorious country park or an imposing engineering marvel, this is our honest review of every Unesco site in the UK. Gough and Inaccessible Islands (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha) 0/10 (in terms of tourism experience) The general aesthetic of these sibling outcrops in the South Atlantic is rather embodied by the name of the second. True, neither Gough nor Inaccessible are strictly inaccessible in a world where boats exist, but they are a long way from the beaten track, marooned in the ocean some 1,350 miles beyond even the distant horizon that is Saint Helena. This, in terms of Unesco status, is entirely the point. Both islands are all but uninhabited (Gough has a weather station), and, as such, are home to ecosystems undamaged by man's touch, or invasive species. They do, though, have vast colonies of seabirds, in splendid solitude. But visitor experience is non-existent. Chris Leadbeater Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands) 0/10 (in terms of tourism experience) That said, compared with Henderson Island, Gough and Inaccessible are practically Mallorca and Ibiza. A tiny pinprick in the South Pacific, Henderson is one of the most remote places on the planet – sitting 120 miles north-east of Pitcairn Island, on which the mutineers of the HMS Bounty hid from the world in 1789. There is almost no chance of a traveller ever finding their way to Henderson, and its elevation to the Unesco pantheon (it was inscribed in 1988) happened precisely because it is uninhabited; a pristine speck of land in an enormous expanse of blue, kept in the state of isolation it has always enjoyed. Chris Leadbeater Flow Country 5/10 The Flow Country (pronounced to rhyme with 'cow' by the way) is Britain's most recent Unesco World Heritage Site, designated in 2024. I have visited this part of Scotland on a number of occasions. While I would not for a second question the significance of this peatland ecosystem (read: absolutely enormous bog), and the diverse species that thrive here, in all honesty, it doesn't make for a particularly enthralling visitor experience, particularly given the truly magnificent landscapes that await in Sutherland to the west. Greg Dickinson Gracehill, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland 5/10 After being persecuted since their founding in Bohemia in the 14th century, the Moravians built a church at Gracehill in 1759, then a village in which the 39 churchgoers lived austere, simple lives. It became a World Heritage Site in 2024, and while locals welcomed the honour, some worried about coach parties disturbing the peace of what is still an active church. The Vatican or Notre Dame it isn't, but the village and church are still pleasant places to savour a moment of stillness. Geoff Hill Blaenavon Industrial Landscape 6/10 With its ruined foundry, workers' cottages and soaring water tower, the settlements at Blaenavon are a picture of industrial life. Attractions such as the Big Pit National Coal Museum provide a lively, if confronting, day out – this is an area totally transformed by the raw materials once mined here. It may not be as spectacular as Stonehenge, but then not all cultural landmarks need to be. Sophie Dickinson Jodrell Bank Observatory 6/10 Jodrell Bank is home to the UK's largest radio telescope: first designed to monitor Soviet space probes, and now used to observe quasars, giant stars and gravitational lenses. For those interested in space, it's an unbeatable glimpse into the working lives of astrophysicists, and budding stargazers will adore their far-out exhibits. If science isn't your thing, however, Jodrell Bank might fail to launch. Sophie Dickinson Maritime Greenwich 6/10 The architecture at Greenwich, which includes Christopher Wren's Naval College and Inigo Jones's first Palladian building, is evidently beautiful. As too is the parkland, from which London's skyline can be observed. The area's history will be engrossing for those interested in the nautical development of Britain, but otherwise this is just a lovely London neighbourhood – full of picnickers and Lime bikes and, whisper it, overpriced pints. Sophie Dickinson Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar) 6/10 Perspective on the British Overseas Territory at Europe's southern tip rarely looks beyond its tricky relationship with Spain, or the monkeys that leap across its fabled 'Rock'. But the hard stone of Gibraltar conceals less vaunted attractions. Gorham's Cave is one of four sea-level holes in the wall – Vanguard, Hyaena and Bennett's are the others – which enjoy Unesco status thanks to the evidence of Neanderthal life found within them. Access is limited to summer, and visitors must be accompanied by a guide from the national museum – but for the curious, these four outposts are windows into lost worlds. Chris Leadbeater Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 7/10 What a wonderful thing that the world's greatest botanical garden (home to more than 500,000 living plants) is set within the bounds of the M25. A visit to Kew is always a joy, and in recent years my family has made it an annual tradition to take my toddler son around the Kew Lights display at Christmas, which is always artfully executed. The Trust does vital scientific and conservation work, and as a result the at-the-gate fee is a steep £25. My tip? Turn up after 4pm and you can get in for just £11. Greg Dickinson Saltaire 7/10 Forget dark satanic mills. Titus Salt's visionary mill village has Italianate architecture, cream-coloured stonework, a hospital, almshouses, a church and an Institute – now known as Victoria Hall. It was no utopia. Workers had two-up, two-down terraces, while larger houses were reserved for supervisors and managers. Residents weren't allowed to hang washing in the street, and it's said that Salt kept a watchman posted to cut down unseemly lines of clothes. But it was, and is, aesthetically pleasing, orderly and very functional. The Saltaire Village Society was formed in 1984 to regenerate the area on the outskirts of Bradford. Another visionary owner, Jonathan Silver, bought the mill, transforming it into a thriving cultural space known as Salts Mill. In 1987, he opened the 1853 Gallery on the ground floor, exhibiting works by local legend David Hockney. These days, the mill is also home to restaurants, cafés and bookshops, as well as a second gallery space. There's no better repurposing of a former mill in northern England. Chris Moss Ironbridge Gorge 7/10 Ironbridge, Shropshire's valley of invention, or the 'Silicon Valley of its day', according to one trustee, is a rite of passage for day-tripping schoolchildren across the country. In truth, you could (and probably should) spend much longer than a day exploring its many sites – the tile museum, china museum, iron museum, Victorian town, Gorge museum, the bridge itself. I could go on. If you are studying, or remotely interested, in the Industrial Revolution, a trip to Ironbridge is essential. Greg Dickinson Canterbury Cathedral 7/10 Shortly before Thomas Beckett was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, he said it was wrong to 'make a fortress out of a house of prayer'. The cathedral has continued in this vein, warmly welcoming visitors and pilgrims in the centuries since. How you favour it compared with the other Unesco churches will depend on your interests: here, you can find a memorial to the martyr and intact medieval cloisters; Fountains Abbey, for example, is better for ruin-haunting. Sophie Dickinson Tower of London 7/10 Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Guy Fawkes all had their time in the Tower. You can too, for the princely sum of more than £100 per family. Historians will delight in its storied chambers, but London is a city of remarkable museums and galleries – and there are more successful ones than the Tower. It's an extraordinary part of London's history, but perhaps not its most extraordinary attraction. Sophie Dickinson New Lanark 7/10 A couple of centuries ago, the gorge and three waterfalls of the Falls of Clyde were famous Scottish beauty spots, visited by the Wordsworths, Coleridge and Sir Walter Scott. Merchant banker David Dale saw not so much romance but commerce. Together with Preston-born inventor Richard Arkwright, he planned a new mill complex, with water diverted from the Clyde by tunnel and aqueduct to drive a series of huge wheels. Dale added housing for around 2,000 residents, with a planned village also providing a school, church and other social amenities. New Lanark village was the result. Handsome sandstone buildings are spread out along the bottom of the gorge, with mills, workshops and a counting house open to the public. People still live in the apartments. You can wander at will or join an expert-led tour, which is highly recommended. Chris Moss City of Bath 8/10 Other Unesco-listed cities include Dubrovnik, Vienna and Rio de Janeiro, so Bath is in fine company. It's for good reason: the honey-coloured architecture and eponymous hot springs are as captivating now as they were to the Georgians. The modern city is home to exceptional restaurants and fine hotels, too, making it a wonderful spot for a weekend away. Just be warned – its popularity is no secret, and at busy periods it can feel as claustrophobic as a stuffy drawing room. Sophie Dickinson The Lake District 8/10 With England's tallest peak (Scafell Pike: 3,210ft) and largest lake (Windermere: 5.7 sq miles), the Lake District has a cinematic majesty unlike anywhere this side of the Scottish and Welsh borders. But the secret is out, and the 20-million-odd annual visitors are taking their toll. The Lakes, without humans, are a solid 10/10, but with concerns around sewage, traffic, litter and pollution, I have given the national park an 8 – what's more, the overall visitor experience could drop farther if urgent action isn't taken soon. Greg Dickinson Dorset and East Devon Coast 8/10 One line of argument says that the British waterside does not offer quite the photogenic punch of that supplied by, say, the Pacific vistas of California or the fractured coves of Andaman Thailand. Another says that the combined shorelines of Dorset and East Devon – better known as the Jurassic Coast – have all the visual impact anyone could ever need, without the requirement to cross oceans. The limestone arch of Durdle Door tends to hog the camera, but you will surely have your own favourite spot on a 96-mile arc of seafront which speaks so persuasively of earlier aeons that fossils are visible in the cliffs. Chris Leadbeater Derwent Valley Mills 8/10 This multi-site hunk of heritage scores high for historical import – it's the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution's factory system, which shaped modern England. Just south of the Peaks, the site stretches 15 miles along its namesake river, from massive Masson Mill to Derby Silk Mill, now the city's free Museum of Making. The star attraction is Cromford, epicentre of Richard Arkwright's innovations and a charming village – combine tearooms with mill tours and canal strolls. Best, the Derwent Valley Heritage Way wiggles through it all, a leisurely walk via hulking factories and wooded hills. Fascinating, and (mostly) pretty too. Sarah Baxter Studley Royal Park/Fountains Abbey 8/10 Henry VIII was proof eternal of the principle that it is easier to destroy than to create. His demolition of England's monastic system between 1536 and 1541 ultimately left many of the country's great abbeys in ruins, their wealth sucked into the crown's coffers. But this royal vandalism came with a romantic aftershock. A ghost among the fields of North Yorkshire, Fountains Abbey is perhaps the most picturesque of the religious wrecks sunk by Henry's ire. Its beauty – and its Unesco status – comes entwined with Studley Royal Park, the country estate that blossomed around the broken church in subsequent centuries. Chris Leadbeater The Slate Landscape of North-West Wales 8/10 It is not difficult to imagine the baffled expression that would spread across the face of a 19th-century miner were you somehow able to tell him that the Gwynned quarries where he toiled in dirt and darkness received a global cultural rubber stamp in 2001. Still, there is a good reason why the hillsides and mine shafts of north-west Wales are on the Unesco list: they are hand-cut case studies in the effort and endeavour that defined the Industrial Revolution. And there is prettiness too. The Talyllyn Railway, once a slate-carrying workhorse of laden trucks, is as lovely a preserved steam line as anything on this planet. Chris Leadbeater Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape 8/10 Mining, once the lifeblood of the south west, took place in sight of today's twee resort and second-home enclaves. The Mining Landscape consists of open and underground sites and stannary towns – which once had their own laws and considerable power – across 17 locations in 10 districts, including St Just, Hayle, Camborne and Redruth, Portreath Harbour, Tamar Valley and Tavistock. All were radically reshaped during the 18th and 19th centuries by deep mining for predominantly copper, tin and the steam engine. The mining areas have none of the overtourism stresses of beaches and quaint harbours. There's an excellent walking route around the Great Flat Lode near Camborne and, partway along, the King Edward Mine Museum (re-opening on Easter Sunday) explains the history and has working machinery to show how Cornwall and West Devon once prided themselves on hard labour and valuable metals rather than the leisure industry. Chris Moss The Great Spa Towns of Europe – Bath 8/10 The Great Spa Towns of Europe is a transnational World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 11 spa towns across seven European countries – Britain's entry is championed by Bath. Tickets to the Roman Baths must be booked in advance, but this is one of the world's best preserved ancient spas, cleverly brought to life with interactive installations. Finish with an indulgent soak of your own in naturally hot mineral water up in the Thermae Bath Spa's rooftop pool. As a resort, Bath offers as much today as it ever did. Natalie Paris St George's (Bermuda) 8/10 Britain's 17th century endeavours in the Atlantic left numerous footprints, but few are prettier or older than the town that was Bermuda's capital for more than 200 years. Set at the north-east tip of the island, St George's does not quite pre-date Jamestown, the first permanent English colony on the American mainland (it was founded in 1612, as against Jamestown's 1607), but it has a pleasing frozen-in-time aesthetic where 400 years seem to fall away as you wander. St Peter's Church is the cornerstone, its foundations having been put down in 1620 – leaving it as the oldest Anglican church outside the British Isles. Chris Leadbeater Durham Castle and Cathedral 9/10 When you roll into Durham by train, the castle and cathedral snap into focus, rising above the trees and rooftops like something from a storybook. The cathedral, intimate yet imposing in its Romanesque grandeur, finds creative ways to attract different generations – there is a Lego cathedral on display, and they host tea parties in the Chapter House, where Professor McGonagall held transfiguration classes in the Harry Potter films. And the castle, next door, offers perhaps the most extravagant university digs in the land. Greg Dickinson Forth Bridge 9/10 You don't forget your first sight of this great steel leviathan. Born of the tragedy of the Tay Bridge Disaster, it was forged to look (and feel) invincible. The titan that survived thrusts across Scotland's Forth river, anchored with an improbable 6.5 million rivets, the hulking tubes of its triple cantilevers wide enough to house a London Tube train. Admire for free from South Queensferry, and then join the Maid of the Forth for a closer inspection of this pinnacle of Victorian engineering. Robin McKelvie Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast 9/10 When I drove Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way in 2018, one of the highlights was undoubtedly the otherworldly Giant's Causeway, and the coastal scenery around it. The causeway is unlike anything else you have seen, a gathering of 40,000 basalt columns (many almost-perfect hexagons) that were formed during volcanic eruptions 61 million years ago. A futuristic visitor centre opened in 2012 to help manage the million or so visitors who stop by each year. Greg Dickinson Old and New towns, Edinburgh 9/10 I fell for this most romantic, cosmopolitan city (overlooked by an extinct volcano, for heaven's sake) back in 2007 on a university open day. The fact that they rejected my application did not stop me from returning, year after year, usually for the Fringe, which turns the entire city into a carnival of creativity and laughs. It is, for me, Britain's most appealing city. If I could airdrop my friends, family and job up there, I would move to Edinburgh in a heartbeat. Greg Dickinson Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal 9/10 If Ironbridge tells the story of the Industrial Revolution, then the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct ('Pont-ker-suthly') brings it to life like a low-octane rollercoaster. This 127ft-high aqueduct, rising above the Welsh Dee Valley, is still navigable by both canal boat and on foot. The entire stretch of canal listed by Unesco spans 11 miles, but for 1,000ft or so you are quite literally floating in mid-air. If it isn't already on your to-do list, I would scribble it on pronto. Greg Dickinson Blenheim Palace 10/10 Versailles will always be the elite example of the grand estates which sprouted up in Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, but Blenheim is a close second. Crafted by the master architect Sir John Vanbrugh, its Baroque majesty still sings three centuries after its (long-winded) completion in (about) 1735 – its grounds sweeping across the Oxfordshire landscape, the palace spreading out just as beautifully in its broad wings and art-stuffed chambers. That it was built to salute the Duke of Marlborough's victory – at 1704's Battle of Blenheim – over the man who created Versailles (Louis XIV) adds a sweet symmetry. Chris Leadbeater Heart of Neolithic Orkney 10/10 No wonder the BBC hailed Orkney as 'Britain's Ancient Capital'. The archipelago thrills with prehistoric sights that pre-date the Pyramids – and Stonehenge. On its enlisting, Unesco honed in on a remarkable quartet of islands dating back more than 5,000 years. Wander around the prehistoric village of Skara Brae, delve down a dark 36ft-long tunnel into the chilling Maeshowe burial cairn, commune with our ancestors at the spectacular Ring of Brodgar henge and ponder your own insignificance under the ancient vaulting Stones of Stenness. It's all free too; bar Skara Brae. Robin McKelvie Castles of North Wales 10/10 Totems of conquest can have tricky relationships with the places they were constructed to control. And there is no question that this is what the 13th and 14th century castles which fringe the coast of North Wales are – multi-towered reminders of the brutal way in which Edward I of England annexed Welsh territory in the 1280s (and of his determination to keep his boot on the local throat once he had done so). But my, those mighty fortresses – Caernarfon and Harlech, plus nearby Conwy, and Beaumaris on Anglesey – were built to last. And for all that they symbolise, the Welsh shore wouldn't be the same without them. Chris Leadbeater St Kilda 10/10 The utterly unique St Kilda archipelago was Unesco's first dual listing: for its human heritage and unique nature. Mankind survived in the Atlantic wilds until 1930 – the old village tells the story. Tolkien-esque sea cliffs (Conachair at 1,411ft is the UK's highest), geology more in common with the Faroes, and world-famous seabird colonies swoon the head and heart in a real-life Jurassic Park, with its own species of mouse and wren. The best way to explore is on a Hebrides Cruises live-aboard adventure vessel, whalewatching en route. Robin McKelvie Frontiers of the Roman Empire 10/10 What, to paraphrase Monty Python, did the Romans ever do for us? Well, we could talk endlessly about baths and road systems, but the finest echoes of the ancient era on British soil may be the lines of stone which remember what the Romans did not do: take (what is now) Scotland. Both Hadrian's Wall (across Cumbria and Northumberland) and the Antonine Wall (40 miles to the north, between the Firths of Forth and Clyde) were a tacit admission that the top end of Britannia was too tough a task to tackle for even the foremost fighting force of its age. See either, and you are standing at the end of the world. Chris Leadbeater Palace of Westminster/Westminster Abbey 10/10 For evidence of Britain's deep-rooted ties to democracy, and its role in its development, you need look little further than the 11th-century kernel of London's Houses of Parliament. The Palace of Westminster does not receive the television coverage of the House of Commons, nor the opprobrium directed at the House of Lords, but almost every crucial figure in this country's most recent millennium has stepped across its flagstones at some point. It shares its Unesco status with the adjacent St Margaret's, and with a Westminster Abbey where several of the monarchs who helped – or hindered – democracy's flow lie buried. Chris Leadbeater Stonehenge 10/10 You never forget your first time with Stonehenge. Having seen it from the road, or on a dubious documentary, or in Spinal Tap, you might feel like you get it – Neolithic rocks, dragged across the countryside, placed in a field. But nothing compares to being in their presence. The stone circle, and the similar henge in Avebury, defy easy explanation and are a testament to the bizarre and ineffable rituals humans have felt compelled to enact for millennia. You needn't be there at the solstice to feel its majesty. Sophie Dickinson Our methodology Our experts' ratings consider the visiting experience, how each site compares with others around the UK and the world, its value for money, the site's preservation and the heritage it represents.
Telegraph
26-03-2025
- Telegraph
In defence of the world's ‘worst' attractions (including Stonehenge)
The world of travel is often only interested in the nice things: in the biggest and the best. The coolest and the most chic. The furthest and the finest. The five-star and the fabulous. So a certain amount of credit should go, perhaps, to a recent study which introduced a balancing note of realism – in suggesting a smattering of famous sites that do not live up to expectations when you cross an ocean, a continent or a city to admire them in person. Compiled by the people behind the casino website Casimonka, this disappointed survey scoured the web for the unimpressed opinions of international travellers, and produced a ten-strong list of celebrated locations whose starry images are rather less lustrous when seen first-hand. These included major plazas in New York, vast Roman amphitheatres, much loved curves of sand in Rio – and entire bodies of water in the Scottish Highlands. But then, most opinions are subjective, and there is almost always an opposite view. As the saying sort of goes, one woman's horribly crowded beach can be another's sunbathing heaven, and one man's weird plaque in the desert can be another's road-trip of a lifetime. Something like that, anyway. Here, a selection of Telegraph Travel 's regular writers come out fighting – or, at least, with a peeved and/or perplexed expression on their faces – to defend the honour of six maligned tourism hotspots. And yes, this includes Times Square. Chris Leadbeater Times Square Robert Jackman There are some places that are so famous that no sensible person could fail to recognise them. I call it the Mario Kart test: if you put a parody version in the Nintendo game, would the audience know what they're looking at? And Times Square is one of the few destinations on earth that meet that standard (hence its inclusion in Mario Kart Tour). Sure it might be crowded and over-commercialised, but can you really visit New York City without seeing it at least once? I remember the first time I walked through it heading back from the theatre and getting that thrilling feeling where your brain makes that connection between your surroundings and the image of New York you've held in your subconscious for so long. It might seem a preposterous comparison, but it was the same feeling I had when I first caught sight of the Hagia Sophia on a youthful venture to Istanbul. It's that final confirmation that you have arrived at your destination. Stonehenge Sarah Baxter If you go just because you think you should, Stonehenge is an anticlimax: a clump of rocks you can't get close to, squatting by the A303. But think deeper, broader, ancient-er, and this site is something else. The 5,000-ish-year-old stone circle is the postcard, but it's only one part of a wider landscape of curious, mysterious earthworks. Eschew the bus from the visitor centre and walk to the stones – or, better, approach from Durrington Walls, via the tombs of King Barrow Ridge then along the processional Avenue, ideally at dawn, imagining the meaning it all held millennia ago – and it's not a let-down at all. Four Corners Monument Chris Leadbeater I am not completely surprised to find Times Square in such a survey. It is one of the focal points of New York, thousands pass through it every hour, and there will always be those who think (with reason) that it is quite high on crowdedness, but a little short on 'clean'. Yet the presence of the Four Corners Monument in the study left me rather bemused. For one thing, it is not a place you form an opinion of at random. It is a fairly long way from everywhere, and even if you are glimpsing it en route to or from Monument Valley, there are 80 miles between you and that particular enclave of Wild West rock formations. You have to make a real effort to reach Four Corners. You don't simply stumble across it. So I suppose I can understand the viewpoint of anyone who has driven a great distance to visit what is effectively a giant plaque marking the point where four US states – Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico – meet in a single spot. The monument does not, it scarcely needs saying, have the majesty of the Mitten Buttes or Castle Rock (let alone Eagle Mesa or King-On-His-Throne) that hour-and-a-half's drive along US Route 160. However, Four Corners is as much a part of that Western landscape as its eulogised neighbour – only in a slightly silly, rather than spectacular, way. It is, after all, a triumph of geometry over geology – a visual representation of how these four states are straight lines and rigid right-angles drawn on a map; a case-study in humanity imposing its will upon a desert landscape. But more than this, it is a location where you can put your big boot down and be in four places at once. And who, given the chance, wouldn't want to do that? Copacabana Beach Chris Moss Copacabana is many things at one – all of them are interesting. It's a classic crescent-shaped beach of cool golden sand, with bracing water that is sometimes swimmable, often best for surfing. Most people go there to lie down, read, doze, bronze. It's a cultural space. Brazilians adore the coast and Rio 's residents – the cariocas – have perfected the art of seaside fashion, from otiose bikinis and boarder shorts to flipflops. Copacabana has an open-air exercise gym for working out and weight-training, tai chi, yoga, a massage. It has hundreds of unmarked pitches for football in all its variations, including altinha – a version of keepy-uppy that blends soccer with volleyball. From dawn till dusk locals come down to get fit and have fun, or hang out. Along the famous wave-tiled promenade are postos – lifeguard stations, each with its own distinctive social scene (10 is for celebs, 12 for families, 9 is LGBTQ+ -friendly). Nearby are bars for coconut water and chilled beer, and music bars. You can swim, surf, sunbathe, dance, drink, flirt, pose or people-watch. Ipanema is more fashionable. Leblon is posher. But Copacabana is the biggest and is popular in the true sense of the world. It's rightly the most famous beach in the world and TripAdvisor naysayers reveal more about themselves than the local reality when they diss it. Loch Ness Robin McKelvie The idea of Loch Ness being a 'letdown' is surreal, as this epic aquarium-clear, mountain-kissed oasis holds more water than all the lakes in Wales. And England. Combined. Were it called the fjord (it is in all but name) this glaciated wonder would be trammelled by even more tourist hordes than it already is. Perhaps the biggest 'letdown' is not catching sight of Nessie, but if you've based your hard-earned break around a (probably – sorry Scottish tourism) non-existent monster you've only really let yourself down. Maybe just forget Nessie and savour the rugged peaks, the fine pubs of Fort Augustus, Thomas Telford's remarkable 200-year-old Caledonian Canal and the Jacobite-tinged romance of fairy-tale Castle Urquhart. The Colosseum Lee Marshall Underwhelmed by the Colosseum? I blame Gladiator. And Spartacus, and all the other films, and books, that have led people to expect, if not a full-scale naval battle, at least a couple of tigers prowling around a guy with big muscles and a trident. Instead, there isn't even a floor – just what is left of the hypogeum, a maze of exposed underfloor passageways. These are fascinating – this is where the wild animals entered – but to bring it all to life you need information, and imagination. A good guide can supply both – like Agnes Crawford of Understanding Rome, who believes firmly that 'if you're disappointed by the Colosseum, you're doing it wrong'.
