868 Best Sights in England

This is the spot where Shakespeare lived for the last 19 years of his life and where he wrote many of his plays, including The Tempest. Though the actual 15th-century building he inhabited was torn down in the 18th century, the site was imaginatively reinterpreted in 2016 as an outdoor space where the footprint of the original house can be traced. Each of his 38 plays is represented by a pennant in the Golden Garden, and his sonnets are engraved into the stone paving. Highlights include a mulberry tree that some believe was given to Shakespeare by King James I and a restored Elizabethan knot garden. A permanent exhibition inside the neighboring Nash’s House tells the story of the New Place and Shakespeare’s family life within it; there's also a roof terrace, which provides views of the gardens. Nash’s House was once home to Thomas Nash, the husband of Shakespeare’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall.

After building this castle in 1594, Sir Walter Raleigh made it his home for 10 years before it passed into the custodianship of the Digby family. The castle's interiors cover a variety of periods, including Tudor, Jacobean, and Georgian. The Victorian Gothic rooms are notable for their splendid plaster ceiling moldings. After admiring the extensive collections of Meissen and Asian porcelain, stroll around the lake and 45 acres of landscaped grounds (a designated English Heritage Grade I site), the work of Capability Brown. The house is less than a mile southeast of town.

Sir John (1753–1837), architect of the Bank of England, bequeathed his eccentric house to the nation on one condition: that nothing be changed. It's a house full of surprises. In the Picture Room, two of Hogarth's famous Rake's Progress paintings swing away to reveal secret gallery recesses where you can find works by Canaletto and Turner. Everywhere, mirrors play tricks with light and space, and split-level floors worthy of a fairground funhouse disorient you. Although entry to the house is free (with a suggested donation), you must book timed tickets at least a day in advance online or over the phone. There's a free 30-minute tour of Soane's lovingly restored private apartments every day at 2 pm and a 75-minute Highlights Tour that encompasses both the treasures of the museum and the private quarters (£16).

One of the most famous gardens in the world, unpretentiously beautiful and quintessentially English, Sissinghurst rests deep in the Kentish countryside. The gardens, with their many different themed "rooms," were laid out in the 1930s around the remains of part of a moated Tudor castle by writer Vita Sackville-West (one of the Sackvilles of Knole, her childhood home) and her husband, diplomat Harold Nicolson. The relationship was clearly loving but also complicated, as both had a string of extramarital same-sex affairs; Vita, famously, had a decade-long romance with Virginia Woolf.

Climb the tower for a wonderful overview of the gardens—as well as a peek inside Vita's study en route—then descend to see them up close. There's the stunning White Garden, filled with snow-color flowers and silver-gray foliage; the herb and cottage gardens, which showcase Sackville-West's encyclopedic knowledge of plants; and the Delos Garden, which brings a slice of the Mediterranean to the heart of Kent (as well as finally realizing a dream of Vita and Harold's following their visit to Greece in 1935). As well as the gardens, there are woodland and lake walks all around, making it easy to spend a half day or more here.

If you love it all so much you want to stay, you can—the National Trust rents the Priest's House on the property for a minimum stay of three nights; prices start at around £750 and rise to upwards of £1,800 in midsummer. See the National Trust website for details (but be warned, you'll need to book well ahead).

Sissinghurst Castle Garden is 22 miles south of Rochester on the A229, and 16 miles east of Tunbridge Wells on the A262.

Three miles south of Broadway and 13 miles northeast of Cheltenham, Snowshill is one of the most unspoiled of all Cotswold villages. Snuggled beneath Oat Hill, with little room for expansion, the hamlet is centered on an old burial ground, the 19th-century St. Barnabas Church, and Snowshill Manor, a splendid 17th-century house that brims with the collections of Charles Paget Wade, gathered between 1919 and 1956. Over the door of the house is Wade's family motto, Nequid pereat ("Let nothing perish"). The rooms are bursting with Tibetan scrolls, spinners' tools, ship models, Persian lamps, and bric-a-brac; the Green Room displays 26 suits of Japanese samurai armor. Outside, an imaginative terraced garden provides an exquisite frame for the house. Admission is by timed tickets, so in peak season be sure to pre-book online or arrive early.

This majestic former Renaissance-era royal palace—rebuilt by Sir William Chambers (1723-96) during the reign of George III to house offices of the Navy Board—has been transformed from fusty government offices into one of the capital's most buzzing centers of arts and culture, often hosting several fabulous exhibitions at once. The cobblestone Italianate Fountain Court, where Admiral Nelson used to walk, makes a fitting setting for 50-odd playful fountains and is transformed into an ice rink in winter; the grand space is also the venue for outdoor concerts and film screenings in the summer. The Courtauld Gallery and its world-class impressionist and postimpressionist art collection occupy most of the north building, facing the Strand.

Across the courtyard are the barrel-vaulted Embankment Galleries, with a lively program of fashion, design, architecture, and photography exhibitions. The East Wing has another small exhibition space, and events are also held in the atmospheric cellars below the Fountain Court. The Eat Ten café is a great spot for a low-emission plant-forward meal or snack, while the high-profile Spring restaurant is all wildflowers, zero waste, and biodynamic vegetables. In summer, eating and drinking spill out onto the large terrace overlooking the Thames.

Occupying a Victorian farmhouse and a 14th-century abbey tithe barn, this museum tells the story of life in Somerset throughout the ages. Exhibits in the six galleries illustrate farming practices and daily life in the 19th century using sound recordings and projections as well as an array of tools and domestic objects. The barn, more than 90 feet in length, once stored the one-tenth portion of the town's produce that was owed to the church and now holds exhibitions. Soups and crusty sandwiches are available at the Grain Store Café, which has tables in the yard. The grounds also contain an apple cider orchard. For a good walk, take the scenic footpath from the museum that leads up to the Tor, a half mile east.

The public has never really warmed to the Southbank Centre's hulking concrete buildings (beloved by architecture aficionados), products of the Brutalist style popular when the Centre was built in the 1950s and '60s, but all the same they flock to the concerts, recitals, festivals, and exhibitions held here at Europe's largest arts center. The Royal Festival Hall is truly a People's Palace, with seats for 2,900 and a schedule that ranges from major symphony orchestras to pop stars (catch the annual summer Meltdown Festival, where artists like Patti Smith or David Byrne put together a personal selection of concerts by favorite performers). The smaller Queen Elizabeth Hall is more strictly classically oriented. It contains the smaller Purcell Room, which hosts lectures and chamber performances. For art, head to the Hayward Gallery, which hosts shows on top contemporary artists such as Anthony Gormley and Cy Twombly. (The terrace here has some restaurants worth a visit.) Not officially part of the Southbank Centre but moments away on the east side of Waterloo Bridge, the National Theatre is home to some of the best productions in London (several, such as War Horse, have become movies) at prices well below those in the West End. You can hear leading actors, directors, and writers discuss their work at the National Theatre's Platforms, a series of inexpensive early evening and afternoon talks. Meanwhile, film buffs will appreciate the BFI Southbank (formerly the National Film Theatre), which has a schedule that true cinema connoisseurs will relish. The Centre's riverside street level has a terrific assortment of restaurants and bars. The BFI's Benugo bar and the Wahaca restaurant at Queen Elizabeth Hall are particularly attractive. Note that the Hayward Gallery, Purcell Room, and Queen Elizabeth Hall have been closed for renovations but are due to open in late 2017.

This is the area's most exciting cavern by far, with 105 slippery steps leading down to old lead-mine tunnels blasted out by 19th-century miners. Here you transfer to a small boat for the claustrophobic ¼-mile trip through an illuminated access tunnel to the cavern itself. At this point you're 600 feet underground, with views farther down to the so-called Bottomless Pit, a cavern entirely filled with water. An on-site shop sells items made of Blue John, a mineral found nowhere else in the world.

On view in the harbor is the first iron ship to cross the Atlantic. Built by the great English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1843, it remained in service until 1970, first as a transatlantic liner and ultimately as a coal storage hulk. Everything from the bakery to the officers' quarters comes complete with sounds and smells of the time, and there are even shadowy glimpses of rats in the galley. You can try on typical garments of the time, descend into the ship's dry dock for a view of the hull and propeller, and climb the ship's rigging (daily between Easter and October and during school vacations, or weekends at other times; £10). Your entry ticket also admits you to engrossing exhibits on the ship's history and to Being Brunel, a separate museum dedicated to the life of Isambard Brunel. A short walk east along the harborside from here will bring you to a replica of the Matthew, the tiny craft that carried John Cabot to North America in 1497, moored here when it is not cruising up and down the river or sailing on the high seas. Tickets are valid for one year.

Originally founded in 1123 as part of an Augustinian monastery, this is one of the oldest churches in London and one of the city's few surviving Norman buildings. Although much of the church has been destroyed or demolished over the centuries, with restoration only beginning in the mid-19th century (it even saw use as a stable and a factory in the interim), it nevertheless remains perhaps the best preserved example of Romanesque architecture in London. Most notable are the 13th-century arch with a half-timbered gatehouse at the entrance and the fine Romanesque chancel, apse, and triforium at the east end of the interior. The artist William Hogarth was baptized in the font, which dates back to 1404. The redolent atmosphere has made it a favorite filming location, and you can see it in The Other Boleyn Girl, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Shakespeare in Love, to name just a few.

On a hilltop west of the town center, this church designed by George Steuart, the architect of Attingham Park, is one of England’s most distinctive ecclesiastical buildings. Completed in 1792, the round Georgian church is surmounted by a tower that is in turn square, octagonal, and circular, as well as topped by a dome. When built, it provoked riots among townsfolk averse to its radical style. The interior has a fine Venetian east window and a brass Arts and Crafts pulpit.

There is a story that, many years ago, a royal once inquired of a courtier how much it would cost to close St. James's Park to the public. "Only your crown, ma'am," came the reply. Bordered by three palaces—Buckingham, St. James's, and the governmental complex of the Palace of Westminster—this is one of London's loveliest green spaces. It's also the oldest; the former marshland was acquired by Henry VIII in 1532 as a nursery for his deer. Later, James I drained the land and installed an aviary, which gave Birdcage Walk its name, and a zoo (complete with crocodiles, camels, and an elephant). When Charles II returned from exile in France, where he had been hugely impressed by the splendor of the gardens at the Palace of Versailles, he transformed the park into formal gardens, with avenues, fruit orchards, and a canal. Lawns were grazed by goats, sheep, and deer, and, in the 18th century, the park became a different kind of hunting ground, for wealthy lotharios looking to pick up nighttime escorts. A century later, John Nash redesigned the landscape in a more naturalistic, romantic style, and if you gaze down the lake toward Buckingham Palace, you could easily believe yourself to be on a country estate.

A large population of waterfowl—including pelicans, geese, ducks, and swans (which belong to the King)—breed on and around Duck Island at the east end of the lake. From March to October, the deck chairs (charge levied) come out, crammed with office workers at midday, eating lunch while being serenaded by music from the bandstands. One of the best times to stroll the leafy walkways is after dark, with Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament rising above the floodlit lake.

One of the most remarkable churches in the region, St. Mary-the-Virgin was started just before the Reformation. The doors underneath the ruined archways outside (remnants of a much older church) contain a series of mysterious symbols—actually a coded message left by Catholic sympathizers of the time. The striking interior contains a mini-museum of treasures, including an ancient wall painting of the Virgin Mary in one of the rear chapels, a 14th-century chest, and an extraordinary series of florid memorial stones on the nave wall opposite the main entrance. A unique feature of the church is that its bells are rung from a cage in the graveyard; this was erected as a temporary measure, pending the construction of a tower in 1531 that was never completed.

Just across the road from Arundel Cathedral is another equally impressive—and equally oversized—religious building. This 14th-century parish church, built on the site of a far older priory, was almost certainly the work of Henry Yeveley and William Wynford, who also contributed to Canterbury and Winchester cathedrals. Interestingly, the church is today divided into two separate parts according to denomination: the main part, the nave, is Protestant, while the chancel is Catholic. The latter, seized during the Reformation, is where the dukes of Norfolk are buried. Wander around to see some of the decorative highlights, including the remarkable stone pulpit, the unusually large Royal Coat of Arms, and some surviving fragments of medieval wall paintings.

For centuries, this iconic building has represented London's spirit of survival and renewal, and it remains breathtaking, inside and out. Sir Christopher Wren started planning the current cathedral in 1666, immediately after the previous medieval building, founded in 1087, was destroyed in the Great Fire, hence the word resurgam ("I shall rise again") inscribed on the pediment of the south door. St. Paul's again became a symbol of the city's resilience during the Blitz, when local volunteers risked death to put out a blaze on the dome (despite these efforts, much of the cathedral's east end and its high altar were destroyed). It has often been the scene of great state occasions, such as Winston Churchill's funeral and the wedding of King Charles III and Princess Diana.

Construction started in 1675 and took 35 years to finish. It was actually Wren's third design: the first was rejected for being too modern; the second for being too modern and too Italian, that is, Catholic (you can see the 20-foot "Great Model" of this design in the crypt). Despite mollifying the Anglican clergy with the promise of a traditional English spire, Wren installed a neoclassical triple-layered dome, the second-largest cathedral dome in the world after St. Peter's in Rome.

The interior is a superb example of the English baroque. Climb 257 steps up the Geometric Staircase, a perfectly engineered stone spiral, to the Whispering Gallery, so named because a whisper against one wall can be heard on the wall 112 feet opposite. Another 119 steps up is the Stone Gallery, which encircles the exterior of the dome and provides panoramic views over London. If you have a head for heights, tackle another 152 steps to the small Golden Gallery, an observation platform at the dome's highest point. At 278 feet above the cathedral floor, it offers even more spectacular vistas. Back on the ground, in the south choir aisle, you'll find the grave of John Donne, the poet who was dean of St. Paul's from 1621 until his death in 1631. His marble effigy is the oldest memorial in the cathedral and one of the few to survive the Great Fire. The intricate lively figures on the choir stall nearby are the work of master carver Grinling Gibbons, who also embellished the Wren-designed great organ. Behind the high altar is the American Memorial Chapel, dedicated to the 28,000 American GIs stationed in the United Kingdom during World War II. Among the notables buried in the crypt are the Duke of Wellington, Admiral Lord Nelson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Henry Moore, and Wren himself. The Latin epitaph above his tomb fittingly reads, "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you."

Free, introductory, 20-minute talks are offered regularly throughout the day. Free, 60-minute, guided tours take place Monday through Saturday at 10, 11, 1, and 2; reserve a place at the welcome desk when you arrive. Save £3 per admission ticket and get fast-track entry by booking online.

If you want to commune with the spirits of legendary actors like Vivien Leigh, Noël Coward, Gracie Fields, and Charlie Chaplin, this is the place. Memorials to them and myriad other theater and movie greats are found in this 1633 work of the renowned Inigo Jones, who, as Surveyor of the King's Works, designed the whole of Covent Garden Piazza. St. Paul's Church has been known as "the Actors' Church" since the Restoration, thanks to the bawdy neighboring theater district and St. Paul's prominent parishioners (well-known actors often read the lessons at services, and the church still hosts concerts and small-scale productions.) Fittingly, the opening scene of Shaw's Pygmalion takes place under its Tuscan portico. Today, the western end of the Piazza is a prime pitch for street entertainers, but if they're not to your liking, you can repair to the serenity of the walled garden, entered from King or Bedford streets. Enchanting open-air performances of Shakespeare plays and other works are staged here in summertime.

Mysterious and ancient, Stonehenge has baffled archaeologists, not to mention the general public, for centuries. One of England's most visited monuments (attracting more than a million visitors a year) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the circle of giant stones standing starkly against the wide sweep of Salisbury Plain still has the capacity to fascinate and move those who view it. Unattractive visitor facilities have been removed to better establish the stones in their original context of grass fields, other nearby monuments, and their original processional approach, the Avenue. Although general visitors can no longer enter the stone circle itself (except by special arrangement; call for further information), you can roam free over the surrounding landscape with its Neolithic earthworks, some of which predate the stones. To best experience the awe and mystery of Stonehenge, visit the circle in the early morning or in the evening, when the crowds have dispersed.

Stonehenge was begun as early as 3000 BC with the construction of a circular earthwork enclosure. The nearby Cursus, long rectangular earthwork banks, were also created around this time. The stone circle itself was completed in stages, beginning around 2500 BC with the inner circle of bluestones, and continued to be changed and in use until around 1600 BC. The early inner circle was later surrounded by an outer circle of 30 sarsen stones, huge sandstone blocks weighing up to 25 tons, which are believed to have originated from the Marlborough Downs. Within these two circles was a horseshoe-shape group of sarsen trilithons (two large vertical stones supporting a third stone laid horizontally across it) and within that another horseshoe-shape grouping of bluestones. The sarsens used in the trilithons averaged 45 tons. Many of the huge stones were brought here from great distances before the invention of the wheel, and it's not certain what ancient form of transportation was used to move them. Every time a reconstruction of the journey has been attempted, it has failed. The labor involved in quarrying, transporting, and carving these stones is astonishing, all the more so when you realize that it was accomplished about the same time as the construction of Egypt's major pyramids.

Stonehenge (the name derives from the Saxon term for "hanging stones") has been excavated several times over the centuries, but the primary reason for its erection remains unknown. It's fairly certain that it was a religious site, and that worship here involved the cycles of the sun; the alignment of the stones on the axis of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset makes this clear. Viewed from the center of the stone circle, the sun rises adjacent to the Heel Stone at midsummer and sets between the stones of the tallest trilithon at midwinter. The Druids certainly had nothing to do with the construction: the monument had already been in existence for nearly 2,000 years by the time they appeared. Some historians have maintained that Stonehenge was a kind of Neolithic computer, with a sophisticated astronomical purpose—an observatory of sorts—though evidence from excavations in the early 20th century shows that it had once been used as a burial ground. Another possibility is that this Neolithic village was home to those who performed the religious rites at Stonehenge, where people gathered from far and wide to feast and worship.

Without direct access to the stones, it is not possible to closely examine their prehistoric carvings, some of which show axes and daggers, so bring a pair of binoculars to help make out the details on the monoliths. To fully engage your imagination or to get that magical photo, it's worth exploring all aspects of the site, both near and far. An informative visitor center is located 1½ miles away (access to the stone circle is via a frequent shuttle), with parking, audio guide rental, a café, loads of branded merchandise, and an exhibition of prehistoric objects found at the site. There's also a dramatic display using time-lapse photography that puts you (virtually) in the center of the circle as the seasons change. Next to the visitor center are some re-created Neolithic huts that show how the people who built and used Stonehenge might have lived. Visits are by 30-minute timed admission slots only.

Close to the village of Stourton lies one of Wiltshire's most breathtaking sights—Stourhead, a Palladian mansion whose gardens are the most celebrated example of the English 18th-century taste for "natural" landscaping. Both house and grounds have few parallels for beauty anywhere in Europe. Stourhead was built between 1721 and 1725 by wealthy banker Henry Hoare, popularly known as "Good Henry" (he died the same year as the mansion's completion), with his descendants adding the portico and wings (a fire gutted the building in 1902 shortly after restoration, but it was able to be largely reconstructed unaltered). Henry's grandson added a wing for the elegant Regency library and a picture gallery built to house his collections of paintings and books. There are also significant collections of Chippendale furniture and Chinese and French porcelain collected by the early Hoares on their Grand Tours, comprising some 8,000 objects in total. Still, Stourhead's greatest masterpiece is its gardens, designed by Henry Hoare II and open to visitors since the 1740s. Influenced by the neoclassical dream landscapes of 17th-century painters Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, Henry "the Magnificent" used hills, water (notably the central lake), and a remarkable collection of trees and shrubs—interspersed with classically inspired temples, grottoes, follies, and bridges—to create the effect of a three-dimensional oil painting. Discover the changing vistas on a walk around the artificial lake (1½ miles; walk counterclockwise for the best views).

The best times to visit are early summer when the massive banks of rhododendrons are in full bloom or mid-October for autumn color, but the gardens are beautiful at any time of year. You can get a fine view of the surrounding area from King Alfred's Tower, a 1772 folly (a structure built for picturesque effect).

This exquisite example of a Georgian garden was created for the Temple family by the most famous gardeners of the 18th century. Capability Brown, Charles Bridgeman, and William Kent all worked on the land to create 980 acres of trees, valleys, and meadows. More than 40 striking monuments, follies, and temples dot the landscape of lakes, rivers, and pleasant vistas. This is a historically important place, but it's not for those who want primarily a flower garden. Allow at least half a day to explore the grounds. Stowe House, at the center, is now a fancy school with some magnificently restored rooms. It's open for tours some afternoons, but the actual schedule is notoriously changeable, so do call ahead or check for more information. The gardens are about 3 miles northwest of Buckingham, which is 14 miles northwest of Aylesbury. You enter through the New Inn visitor center, where there are period parlor rooms to explore.

From the outside, this rococo mishmash of towers, crenellations, and white stucco is dazzling in its faux-medieval splendor. Its architect and owner, Sir Horace Walpole (1717–97), knew a thing or two about imaginative flights of fancy; the flamboyant son of the first British prime minister, Robert Walpole, he all but single-handedly invented the Gothic novel with The Castle of Otranto (1764).

Once you pass through Strawberry Hill's forbidding exterior, you'll experience an explosion of color and light, for Walpole boldly decided to take elements from the exteriors of Gothic cathedrals and move them inside. The detail is phenomenal, from the cavernous entrance hall with its vast Gothic trompe-l'oeil decorations, to the Great Parlour with its Renaissance stained glass, to the Gallery, where extraordinary fan vaulting is a replica of the vaults found in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey. The gardens have been meticulously returned to their original 18th-century design, right down to a white marble loveseat sculpted into the shape of a shell. Opening days can vary, so call ahead to check times.

You can easily spend a day at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, an 822-acre complex made up of an 18th-century water garden plus a deer park, an elegant Jacobean mansion, and Fountains Abbey, the largest set of monastic ruins in Britain. The landscape's neoclassical vision of an ordered universe—with spectacular terraces, classical temples, and a grotto—blends with the majestic Gothic abbey founded in 1132 and completed in the early 1500s. It housed Cistercian monks, known as "White Monks" after the color of their robes, who devoted their lives to silence, prayer, and work. Of the surviving buildings, the lay brothers' echoing refectory and dormitory are the most complete. Fountains Mill, built by the monks in the 12th century to grind grain for the monastery and one of the oldest buildings on the estate, was in operation until 1927. The mansion, Fountains Hall, is partially built with stones taken from the abbey, and there are two apartments in the Hall available for short stays. The water garden and Fountains Abbey are 9 miles northwest of Knaresborough, 4 miles southwest of Ripon.

One of the grand showpieces of the Cotswolds, Sudeley Castle was the home and burial place of Catherine Parr (1512–48), Henry VIII's sixth and last wife, who outlived him by one year. Here Catherine undertook, in her later years, the education of the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey and the future queen, Princess Elizabeth. Sudeley, for good reason, has been called a woman's castle. The term "castle" is misleading, though, for it looks more like a Tudor-era palace, with a peaceful air that belies its turbulent history. In the 17th century Charles I took refuge here, causing Oliver Cromwell's army to besiege the castle. It remained in ruins until the Dent-Brocklehurst family stepped in with a 19th-century renovation.

The 14 acres of gardens, which include the roses of the Queen's Garden (best seen in June) and a Tudor knot garden, are the setting for Tudor fun days in summer. Inside the castle, visitors see the West Wing, with the Long Room where exhibitions illustrate the castle's history, and the East Wing, which contains the private apartments of Lord and Lady Ashcombe, where you can see paintings by van Dyck, Rubens, Turner, and Reynolds. Art tours can also be booked in advance. Rare and exotically colored birds strut in the pheasantry. The 11 cottages and apartments on the grounds are booked for a minimum of three-night stays. The castle is a mile southeast of Winchcombe.

The visitor center at Sutton Hoo tells the story of one of Britain's most significant Anglo-Saxon archaeological sites. In 1938, a local archaeologist excavated a series of earth mounds and discovered a 7th-century burial ship, probably that of King Raedwald of East Anglia. A complete replica of the 90-foot-long ship stands in the visitor center, which has artifacts and displays about Anglo-Saxon society. Nothing can quite make up for the fact that the best finds have been moved to the British Museum in London, but it is, nonetheless, all quite fascinating. Trails around the 245-acre site explore the area along the River Deben.

Six miles south of Ross-on-Wye, outside the village of Symonds Yat (a local dialect word for "gate"), the 473-foot-high Yat Rock commands superb views of the River Wye as it winds through a narrow gorge in a great five-mile loop. It's best approached from the south on B4432, and from there, it's a short walk. A small, hand-pulled ferry takes passengers across the river from the Saracens Head pub (£1.20). About a mile northeast of Symonds Yat is King Arthur’s Cave, although any link to the legendary monarch is, well, just a legend. Several important Paleolithic finds have been made in the cave, including flint tools and the bones of a woolly mammoth and a saber-toothed cat. Today, it is home to a colony of bats. To find the cave, take the exit marked Symonds Yat West from the A40. Park at the rest area just before Downard Park campsite, and follow the path a short way into the woods.

The residence of the duke and duchess of Northumberland, this is one of England's most lavish stately homes. Set in a 200-acre park landscaped by the great gardener "Capability" Brown (1716–83), the core of the house is Tudor—it was one of the last stopping places for Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, and the extremely short-lived monarch Lady Jane Grey before they were sent to the Tower. It was remodeled in the Georgian style in 1762 by famed decorator Robert Adam. He had just returned from studying the sights of classical antiquity in Italy and created two rooms sumptuous enough to wow any Grand Tourist: the entryway is an amazing study in black and white, pairing neoclassical marbles with antique bronzes, and the Ante Room contains 12 enormous verd-antique columns surmounted by statues of gold—and this was just a waiting room for the duke's servants and retainers. The Red Drawing Room is covered with crimson Spitalfields silk, and the Long Gallery is one of Adam's noblest creations.

First opened in 1897, and funded by the sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate, this stately neoclassical institution may not be as ambitious as its Bankside sibling, Tate Modern, but its bright galleries lure only a fraction of the Modern's overwhelming crowds and are a great place to explore British art from 1500 to the present. The museum includes a couple of galleries staging temporary exhibitions, and a permanent collection on the upper floors. And what a collection it is—with classic works by John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough, Francis Bacon, and an outstanding display from J. M. W. Turner in the Clore Gallery. Sumptuous Pre-Raphaelite pieces are a major draw, while more recent art historical periods are represented with works by artists such as Rachel Whiteread, L. S. Lowry, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Barbara Hepworth, and David Hockney. Tate Britain also sometimes hosts the Turner Prize exhibition, with its accompanying furor over the state of contemporary art. When taking place in London, as opposed to other cities around the U.K., you'll find it here from about October to January.

The café is a good spot for a reviving cup of tea and a cake. Look out for semiregular Late at Tate Friday evening events, when the gallery is open late for talks or performances; check the website for details.

Craving more art? Head down the river on the Tate Boat ( £9.10 one-way) to Tate Modern; it runs between the two museums every 20 to 40 minutes.

This offshoot of the London-based art galleries of the same name occupies a handsome conversion of Albert Dock warehouses by the late James Stirling, one of Britain's leading 20th-century architects. There is no permanent collection; challenging exhibitions of modern and contemporary art change every couple of months. There are children's activities, an excellent gift shop, and a dockside café-restaurant.

This spectacular renovation of a mid-20th-century power station is one of the most-visited museums of modern art in the world. Its great permanent collection, which starts in 1900 and ranges from modernist masters like Matisse to the most cutting-edge contemporary artists, is arranged in eight areas by theme (for example, "Media Networks," about artists' responses to mass media) rather than by chronology. Its blockbuster temporary exhibitions have showcased the work of individual artists like Gauguin, Rauschenberg, Cezanne, Picasso, and O'Keefe, among others. Other major temporary exhibitions have a conceptual focus, like works created in response to the American Black Power movement or by Soviet and Russian artists between the Revolution and the death of Stalin.

The vast Turbine Hall is a dramatic entrance point used to showcase big audacious installations that tend to generate a lot of publicity. Past highlights include Olafur Eliasson's massive glowing sun, Ai Weiwei's porcelain "sunflower seeds," and Carsten Holler's huge metal slides.

On the ground floor of a 10-story addition, you'll find The Tanks, galleries devoted to various types of new art, including moving image, performance, soundscapes, and interactive works, while at the top is a roof terrace offering spectacular views of the London skyline. In between are three exhibition floors offering more room for large-scale installations, for art from outside Europe and North America, and for digital and interactive projects. The Start Display (Level 2) provides an introduction to the collection, highlighting art from various countries, cultures, and periods, all linked by color.

Not to be missed in the original building are displays devoted to Gerhard Richter (both on Level 2), Antony Gormley, Jenny Holzer, the Guerrilla Girls, and video pioneer Nam June Paik (Level 4); and a room-size installation by Yinka Shonibare (Level 2).

Head to the restaurant on Level 9, the café on Level 1, or the Espresso Bar on Level 3 for stunning vistas of the Thames. The view of St. Paul's from the Espresso Bar's balcony is one of the best in London. Near the café you'll find the Drawing Bar, which lets you create work on one of several digital sketch pads and then project your result on the gallery wall.

You can join free 45-minute guided tours starting at noon, 1, and 2. If you plan to visit Tate Britain, take advantage of the Tate Boat, which takes visitors back and forth between the two Tates every 20 to 30 minutes.

The most spectacular branch of the renowned London gallery displays the work of artists who lived and worked in St. Ives, mostly from 1925 to 1975. The collection occupies a modernist building—a fantasia of seaside art deco–period architecture with panoramic views of the rippling ocean. Works of other international artists who influenced the St. Ives school—Picasso, Braque, and Mondrian among them—are exhibited alongside the local figures, and there are frequent exhibitions of contemporary art connected to West Cornwall. A four-story extension has significantly increased the exhibition space, and the rooftop café provides excellent food and views.