Seasonal Wonders in Great Britain
Summer Sensations
Brits are never one to pass up a bright, sunshiny day, escaping to the seaside to enjoy fish and chips while reveling in the activities on a retro Victorian pier. Summer nights are filled with beer gardens and music festivals, like the star-studded Glastonbury Festival, Glasgow’s TRNSMT and the famed Isle of Wight Festival.
For nature lovers who prefer to explore at their own pace, Scotland’s North Coast 500 is a road trip that rivals the best on the planet. Start at Inverness Castle to embark on this 516-mile coastal odyssey that takes you past towering mountains, secret beaches, mysterious lochs and fairy-tale castles. The entire trip takes anywhere from five-to-seven days, and there are specific itineraries you can follow tailored to foodies, luxury seekers, golf enthusiasts, history buffs, whisky connoisseurs and active adventurers.
Road winding through the Highlands in Glen Shiel, Scotland
Autumn Aura
Nature’s full palette of colors bursts across Great Britain in the fall, giving every national park and castle garden a hypnotic mix of reds, oranges and yellows. This explosion of colors is best experienced at Westonbirt Arboretum in southwest England, home to 15,000 trees, as well as across Wales, a bucolic wonderland. In fact, 2021 is the Year of Outdoors in Wales, when the country will be celebrating its spectacular National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Wales Coast Path, the first path in the world to follow a country’s coastline in its entirety.
Autumn is also the time of food festivals, as the harvest is finished, and the produce is at its ripest. In September, two of Britain’s best take place: the Ludlow Food Festival and Abergavenny Food Festival. Ludlow Castle comes alive with culinary experiences, live music and food stalls, creating a glorious scene of smiling faces and sweet aromas. Serious foodies head to the Welsh market town of Abergavenny this time of year for tours and forages, workshops and masterclasses, all of which ends with a Saturday-night party at the castle.
Shopper at a Christmas market in Glasgow
Winter Wonders
Great Britain buzzes throughout winter, embracing both the festive air of Christmas and the cooler temps, making it a desirable off-season destination for travelers looking for an escape. The scent of mulled wine and the sound of choirs singing can be heard at Christmas markets from November onwards in Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and more. Cozy pubs provide the perfect setting to celebrate New Year’s Eve, especially in Scotland where their popular Hogmanay party — a three-day event including a city-wide street party and fireworks — concludes with the loudest Auld Lang Syne you’ll ever hear at midnight.
Ice-skating is a popular pursuit across Great Britain during the winter months. Under the stars, you can glide across the smooth ice at the Natural History Museum, as well as beneath the battlements of the Tower of London. Wildly popular Somerset House feels like a movie scene come to life as the ice-skating rink is framed by the 450-year-old building and bathed in soothing lights. Be sure to visit the ski lodge-themed Fortnum and Mason café on-site for a warming cup of hot chocolate.
Spring flowers at Balmoral Castle
Spring Swing
With bluebells covering England's forest floor, magnificent lavender fields within two hours of London and golden daffodils as far as the eye can see around Ullswater in the Lake District — Great Britain blooms like nowhere else on earth. This bounty is best appreciated in Kent, where the floral spectacles at Hever Castle, Leeds Castle and Goodnestone Park Gardens as earned this area the nickname “the Garden of England.”
The royal palaces are particularly resplendent this time of year. The parks surrounding Buckingham Palace are brilliantly alive with burgeoning greeneries, providing the ideal scene to leisurely enjoy the afternoon. The pastoral grounds around Windsor Castle, the Queen’s favorite weekend home, fill the air with floral scents as you visit the Castle's luxurious State Apartments adorned with priceless works of art. And the gardens at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, the Scottish home of the British Royal Family, cover three acres, giving you plenty of space to enjoy several Victorian glasshouses and the conservatory.
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