England

From the wilds of Northumbria (Northumberland and Cumbria) to the north, to Kent in the southeast and Devon and Cornwall in the far southwest, England is the largest of the four countries of the United Kingdom. It is also home to the vast majority of the population with well over 51 million inhabitants, out of the 61 million grand total. 

In terms of the topography of England, the west tends to be more rugged and hilly than the east of the country. In the southwest, you will find several moorland areas (Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and Exmoor) and the most mountainous part of England can be found in Cumbria (in the northwest) in a beautiful area known as the Lake District.   For the most part, England is exceptionally urban. The main centres of population can be found in the southeast (London and The Home Counties), the West Midlands (where the UK’s second city, Birmingham, can be found) and in the northwest (Manchester and Liverpool). There are also some large cities in Yorkshire and these include Leeds and Sheffield which each have a population of well over half a million inhabitants.

If you get the chance to venture around England, you will soon realise how diverse the regional accents are. A few examples include ‘Geordie’ (which is prominent around Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the northeast); ‘Scouse’ is the name for the accent in and around the Merseyside area (e.g. Liverpool); the ‘Black Country’ accent is spoken in the West Midlands and most of us would have already heard of the ‘Cockney’ accent which is at its strongest in the East End of London.      

England is staunchly proud of its historic past and examples of this can be found strewn across the country. This ranges from the Roman Hadrian’s Wall (which is in the far north of England and marked the old border with Scotland); Stonehenge is one of the oldest historic tourist attractions in the world and these strategically placed stones, found in Wiltshire, date back many thousands of years.  

Some gorgeous and historic towns that should definitely be on any tourist’s itinerary include Stratford-upon-Avon (in Warwickshire) which is where William Shakespeare was born and lived; Bath (in Somerset) is an old Roman Town with thermal baths that date back thousands of years and the university cities of Oxford, Cambridge and York are definitely worth a visit. For the most historic and cultural attractions in one area, of course, the capital city of London will come out tops every time. This is the city that will provide you with a total insight into everything that England and The UK are proud of about their nation.  

Some other rural features that are well worth a tour are the Norfolk Broads which is a unique and low-lying area of wetlands in Norfolk. The nearest comparison to this threatened eco-system would be the Everglades in Florida. The Peak District (in Derbyshire), The Yorkshire Moors and The Lake District are the wildest parts of England that will enable you to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and lose yourself in memories of what this country would have been like just a couple of hundred years ago.