6 Best Sights in England

For the best lake views, take a wooden-launch cruise around Derwentwater. Between late March and November, circular cruises set off every half hour in alternate directions from a dock; there's a more limited (roughly hourly) winter timetable. You can also rent a rowboat here in summer. Buy a hop-on, hop-off Around the Lake day ticket and take advantage of the seven landing stages around the lake that provide access to hiking trails, such as the two-hour climb up and down Catbells, a celebrated lookout point on the western shore of Derwentwater. You can buy slightly discounted tickets at the Moot Hall information office in the center of town.

These antique vessels, including a 19th-century steamer that is said to be the oldest working passenger ship in the world, run the length of Ullswater between Glenridding in the south and Pooley Bridge in the north, via Howtown on the eastern shore. It's a pleasant tour, especially if you combine it with a lakeside walk.

It may not have become the essential commuter route its makers envisioned, but this cable car, which connects Greenwich Peninsula with the Docklands across the Thames, offers spectacular views from nearly 300 feet up. The journey takes about 10 minutes each way and cable cars arrive every 30 seconds.

A chain-drawn car ferry, the King Harry runs to the scenically splendid Roseland Peninsula each day three times an hour. From its decks you can see up and down the Fal, a deep, narrow river with steep, wooded banks. The river's great depth provides mooring for old ships waiting to be sold; these mammoth shapes often lend a surreal touch to the riverscape. On very rare occasions, you may even spot deer swimming across.

Water and a cable system power the 862-foot cliff railway that connects these two towns. As it ascends a rocky cliff, you are treated to fine views over the harbor. Inaugurated in 1890, it was the gift of publisher George Newnes, who also donated Lynton's imposing town hall, near the top station on Lee Road.

Hop on a 50-minute River Explorer Cruise along the River Mersey for fine views of the city—a journey celebrated in "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey," Gerry and the Pacemakers' 1964 hit song. It was from Pier Head that 9 million British, Irish, and other European emigrants set sail between 1830 and 1930 for new lives in North America, Australia, and Africa.