Just wondering if people prefer Scotland, England or Wales for sheer beauty of the landscape. Or is this like asking which child one favors?

Oh no! they're totally different. But then, the Lake District's totaly different from Cornwall. <BR> <BR>me? I'd like Corwall's climate in the Inner Hebrides. Can you fix it please?

I prefer northwest Scotland -- no wait, I prefer mid-Wales -- no wait, I prefer Shropshire -- no wait, I prefer the Scottish borders -- no wait, I prefer Northumbria -- no wait, I prefer the Wye Valley....

Scotland - the Highlands.

The Pennines around Manchester, the Peak District near to Sheffield and Stockport, Swaledale in North Yorkshire and the countryside near to Balmoral in Northern Scotland.

What you're talking about is Great Britain, not the United Kingdom. <BR> <BR>In the UK, the best scenery is along the Antrim Coast road in Northern Ireland. Tied for second would be the Lake District and Cornwall.

Here, here, for Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, because of the troubles everyone is fearful about going there. Northern Ireland has some of the best scenery in all of Ireland. <BR>

It is a bit like the favorite child question, but I would have to say England, simply due to the scale and variety. Admitedly there's nothing in England to compare with the northwest Highlands or Skye, but when one condiders the areas in England for which there are few, if any, Scottish, Welsh or N. Irish counterparts, I think the conclusion is inescapable. The mountains around the Lakes district are not the Cairngorms, but they're bare and rocky enough; then there are the Yorkshire Dales, the low country in East Anglia, the Devon and Cornish coasts and villages, the soft hills of the Cotswolds, the Peak District, Dartmoor and the New Forest and the Isle of Wight and the Northumbrian castle-clad coast... <BR>The English countryside is more human-influenced and settled than some other parts of the UK (although even the bleakest moor in Scotland can and usually does reflect centuries of human impact, for example excessive livestock grazing) but in many ways I think that adds to its appeal.

No American tourist has ever been injured in Northern Ireland because of the Troubles. Can't really say that about the Irish visiting the U.S. <BR> <BR>Northern Ireland is very safe, assuming you're not involved in the whole political scene yourself, deal drugs, or make a point of going into certain parts of Belfast and Derry. Not 100% safe, of course, but no place is. <BR> <BR>I live in Washington, D.C., and would never walk around the city or even in the burbs by myself at night, but when I lived in Belfast, I often would walk home from the pub by myself, rather than figure out how to dislodge husband from the bar before he was ready! <BR> <BR>But, of course, this makes wandering around Northern Ireland that much nicer, as there aren't that many tourists, unlike the Republic of Ireland, which is literally overrun by tourists.

No variety in N.Ireland? Here we go... <BR> <BR>Within less than 100 miles, we have: the Irish sea, the incomparable Mountains of Mourne (sweeping down into that sea), the Glens of Antrim, Giant's Causeway, the Silent Valley (in the Mournes), Strangford Lough (which has 365 islands), more castles than you can shake a stick at--need I go on? <BR> <BR>Why else would the English be struggling so much to hold onto N.Ireland if it wasn't so beautiful?