It is safe to assume that so many tourists visit the Tower of London and the British Museum and eat shepherd’s pie. But I bet you as natives know/like some aspects of the UK and its culture that not so many tourists experience. Be it some regional food, some lesser-known but awesome festivals, or maybe some local crafts.
To give you an example, I would say US is not just the Statue of Liberty or the Yellowstone park. The tourists usually miss out on ice fishing in Wisconsin, cherry picking in California, or being invited to a Thanksgiving house party.
How would you answer that for the UK (not limited to England)? What are your picks? You do not need to give a scientific answer; feel free to express your own opinion. That’s indeed what I am asking for.
(The context is I am about to visit the UK for a few weeks and I would like to go beyond being just a tourist.)
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If you’re here on the 29th May get yourself down to Coopers Hill for the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake.
https://www.carnifest.com/coopers-hill-cheese-rolling-2023/
Honestly, just visiting places other than London or the south of England.
There’s a lot of cool things down there, but there’s also some stunning scenery, and interesting places in the Midlands, the North, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland too.
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Food. We have a wide variety of different foods, some are only really eaten locally. Whether it’s Scotland’s famous Battered Mars Bar or fresh seafood in coastal areas.
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And just the the weird quirks of culture that every tourist across the globe, no matter what country they visit, will miss. Unless you go on a specific day or for a long enough amount of time, you are bound to miss something. Whether it’s watching (or participating in) cheese rolling, or laughing at some of the nation’s most loved comedians live on stage. You’re going to miss something… but that’s just a reason to visit again another time.
I think a lot of tourists miss the beauty, majesty and uniqueness of our countryside. Just hitting the big cities misses the most fundamental feature of our ‘green and pleasant land’.
The countryside is the biggest difference I notice when traveling outside of the UK.
Go see the moores, the lake District or walk some of the Charles 3 coastal path!
Eccles cakes! They’re so amazing, but barely anyone knows about them… they’re super hard to find because of that. I don’t go in many local bakeries, they’re probably in there!
Aside from that, the National Trust has many places to visit, from mansion ruins to gardens to an old post office!
The natural history museum in London is quite underwhelming, especially if you hate crowds and excessive stuffed animals, and the dinosaurs are all kiddie-fied with basic fun facts that it was so ubenjoyable. I found the Sedgewick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge to be far more enjoyable, it’s more of an archive than a display show. And right next to it is the museum of Archaeology, and the University Museum of Zoology, which is more display-ey.
If you like old English architecture, you should go to Stamford. They have streets of them, and it’s home to Burghley house, which is a huge mansion and grounds, and an abseloutely lovely garden!
A night out in Manchester Canal street. It’s so much fun and the vibes are usually great.
A traditional scrap at the kebab shop after 10 pints at the local spoons.
You’ll never guess where my friend took his wife’s family from Montana when they visited the UK for the first time – Margate! And you know what? They absolutely loved it! They said it was the perfect “real English experience.” They even got a classic shot of his father-in-law chowing down on some fish and chips with a hanky tied around his head. It just goes to show that sometimes the best surprises come from unexpected places!
Weatherspoon’s carpets. Everyone is unique. You are guaranteed to be dazzled and delighted every time.
American who has moved to the UK: Definitely get out of London. Visit the north. My suggestion would be Manchester and the Peak District.
Pub crawl – choose a smallish town, any town, and wander from pub to pub for the day. I’ve been in the UK 15 years and these are still my favourite days. Bonus points if it’s not raining and there’s a beer garden.
Ive just had a wonderful time in York. Queued half an hour to buy a ghost, and took in the 13th century vibes
Derby’s NatWest hole in the wall is a classic but Bude Tunnel gives the quintessential british experience and has a long and rich history. I’ve genuinely seen overseas visitors weep when they first see it, but for some reason it’s not better known.
I know sometimes tourists come up to the north of Scotland just to look at the many, many castles that are here.
I don’t think very many of them were ever used as castles; they were mostly designed by rich people to say “look, I live in a castle.” But I think growing up I took it a bit for granted that you could just go to a different castle or stately home each week for ages.
I had an ex who’s family were into folk music in a big way. They took me to the Whitby folk festival and it was so much fun! All these classical British folk songs, dances, and tradition I never really experienced but was very much “British”. Not sure how to get into it without an “in” since it seemed most of everyone there were family who’ve been going every year over multiple generations and everyone knew all the dances. Even saw a troupe of sword dancers!
Small, local museums. Every town and city has one, usually run/staffed by volunteers passionate about the history of their area. Fascinating and, sadly, usually quite quiet.
Personally I’m a fan of C-list tourist areas. Places with lots of beauty and culture but aren’t overly commercialised. To use a Scottish example: a lot of tourists go to Skye, Loch Lomond and Edinburgh and they’re absolutely heaving in the summer- I’d call that A-list. B-list is stuff like Orkney or Stirling which have a thriving tourism industry but aren’t so well-known internationally. C-list for me is Shetland- an absolutely gorgeous landscape, fascinating history and thriving local culture but off the beaten path for most visitors. I think this idea holds for tourism in general, but I’d say the stuff that isn’t plastered all over the tourist literature tends to be more interesting, memorable and rewarding.
On another note, *ask locals about their favourite spots!* Often you’ll find the best walks, best chippies or best pubs are little unassuming places that largely succeed on reputation and word-of-mouth. Well-known names tend to be underwhelming and don’t really showcase the best of authentic local culture.
As an immigrant, I’d never had toad in the hole until I moved here and it is so underrated! Good luck finding it on a menu.
Also pork pies eaten cold. Sounds unappealing to lots of tourists, but give them a go, they’re great. If you had basically the same thing as “terrine en croute” in a restaurant, you’d be raving about it.
Walking a dog through peaceful countryside and finding your way to a quaint village and a cosy country pub.
Getting stabbed
Norfolk broads! And the north Norfolk coast
The working class culture really, UK tourism is extremmely aimed at the poshness of London, some old posh citys such as oxford but theres a lot of working class culture, urban culture in the uk wich is moving the musical, food and cultural scene and I love it but saddly no one from my country knows anything about it and when they visit they just go to London and the landmarks, even when they go to Scottland they go to the Edinburgh landmarks and the harry potter esque vibe of the city but miss almost every bit of the urban culture.
Working Men’s Club
British seaside towns. The only tourists they seem to get are other Brits, but I think they’re great. I love visiting a good seaside town and having a chippie by the sea.
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The ideal seaside towns needs a good promenade to walk along with a good sea view, then set back behind the promenade a long street filled with arcades, rock shops, fudge shops, chippies, a handful of decent pubs and a quirky attraction like a haunted house. Then, at the end of the promenade, a small amusement park for the kiddie winks.
A pier somewhere along, so you can walk out and see the sea. And a harbour full of little fishing boats so you can go and see what’s been caught.
Bonus points for a lighthouse to visit and a castle on the hill overlooking the town.
Our Folklore and Mythology. Tourists just get a surface level glance and find out about King Arthur, Robin Hood ect but it runs so much deeper. For example, we have over 600 wells or bodies of water that are deemed “Holy” or have paranormal properties about them. There’s usually stories attributed to them also. Like a well that was said to belong to the Fae which was lent to provide enough drinking water for the surrounding people, until someone forgot to cover the top and night, and it overfilled and created a massive lake.
The biggest failure in British tourism is that foreigners still come away thinking the food is shite. As a Brit abroad I make it my mission to give a list of places to eat whenever anyone says they’re going to England. They always come back having had an amazing time. I’ve travelled a lot and England has, by far, some of the best food in the world. It’s just not immediately obvious to tourists.
As others have said I’d say the smaller villages and towns in the countryside, they’re often beautiful but we barely really look at then because we’re so used to them.
Likewise check out local food scenes, a lot of places in the UK produce amazing food in small to medium areas and I think a lot of the UK food being bad thing is due to people eating some truly mediocre food because it’s what’s easy to get or because Brits meme about it online.
Going to literally any of the UK’s other 3 countries besides England
I’m from NZ, have lived here for almost 10 years now so can hopefully give a useful perspective on this! Of course it depends want to want to do and see though.
London is a great city to just wander around because you’re always stumbling on something ancient, beautiful or unique.
What I’d consider ‘alternative’ attractions in London:
-the parks. London has amazing parks and are usually surrounded by ‘proper’ British (though expensive) pubs. Victoria Park is a personal favourite
-Greenwich, another park tbf, but also the observatory and naval college there are great
-The monument to the fire of London. Costs a quid and worth climbing for the view
-Exmouth Market
-City of London museum (though I think it’s closed at the moment)
A but further afield, but if you’re interested in history at all, Bletchy Park is worth a visit too.
Generally the British countryside is amazing. My dad visited from NZ a few years ago and always had a ‘thing’ about how Brits settled NZ and ruined the country with pests and plants trying to change it to look more like Blighty. We were driving through Somerset somewhere, and he asked me to pull over. He got out, gazed over some rolling hills on a sunny day and just said “I get it now”. I knew exactly what he meant.
Brits think it’s naff, but I’ve always really liked the seaside here, places like Whitstable or Margate. Britain isn’t known for its especially beautiful beaches and you can’t rely on the weather when visiting, so there’s this unique atmosphere with all the strange attractions, rides, stalls etc lining the beaches. It’s not beautiful or particularly exciting, but I think it’s uniquely British.
If you can, I think it’s also worth getting the Thames Clipper at some point. Seeing the city from the river is great.
The south coast of England; Dorset, Devon, Hampshire got some lovely scenery and walks, Portland bill in Dorset is excellent to see Little owls and migrating birds coming back to the country, if that’s ya thing
the Weetabix factory at Kettering is unique to Britain as it is the only one in the world. yet not even Rikki Soonack knows about it
Freedom of speech. Used to be brilliant
A home cooked Sunday roast
Belbroughton scarecrow festival. Or in fact any of the random scarecrow things. We seem to of had an influx of them the last few weeks in North Yorkshire.
We also have a beautiful coastline.
Visit Forbidden Corner in North Yorkshire if you can. It’s my favourite place to visit in England.
(It’s not as naughty as it sounds)
The coast. Most seaside towns are full of penny arcades and donuts and it’s just not the same as taking a flask of tea to remote piece of the coastline. Have a paddle. Go rock pooling. Find a little pub that has below average service and good local beer.
Taking the piss, obviously.
Tower of london and British museum are hardly british culture. It has stuff from Africa india and other colonized countries
I never understand why we don’t have the same reputation for beer as, say, Belgium or Germany. So many great breweries, and real cask ale is a uniquely British thing. Why don’t we make a huge deal of it, like Scotland does so successfully with its excellent whisky?