Travel Book for March 2009

England 5th Edition from Lonely Planet

Destination England

Guide to England by Lonely Planet

Throughout its long history, it’s been a green and pleasant land, a sceptred isle and a nation of shopkeepers. It’s stood as a beacon of democracy and a bastion of ideological freedom, as well as a crucible of empire and a cradle of class oppression. The Magna Carta, the King James Bible and the welfare state were all dreamt up here, but then again so were beer bellies, Bovril and Mr Bean. It’s a nation of tea‐tippling eccentrics and train spotters, of dog lovers and footy fanatics, of punk rockers, gardeners, gnome collectors, celebrity wannabees, superstar chefs, free‐wheeling city traders, pigeon fanciers, cricket bores and part‐time Morris Dancers. To some it’s Albion. To others it’s Blighty. To many it’s the most eccentric, extraordinary and downright incomprehensible place on earth. Welcome to England.

Few places can boast such a muddle of conflicting characters as this tiny country. It’s a place where contradiction is soaked into the fabric of the landscape. For every green field and rolling dale, there’s a flat fen or windbattered stretch of coastline, and for every faded seaside resort, historic castle and thatch‐topped village there’s a gleaming new skyscraper, concrete office block or carbuncular car park to match. It’s a nation in thrall to its history but also addicted to a constant process of reinvention. Shiny new cappuccino bars, chain pubs and out‐of‐town shopping centres have plugged the gap left behind by closing post offices, country inns and village shops. Rural villages are filling up with second‐homers and urban refugees, while the old smog‐blackened cities of England’s northern heartland are finding new leases of life as centres of cultural adventure and artistic innovation. But while change is rampant in some corners, others remain stubbornly resistant to progress: despite huge investment, the trains haven’t improved that much, the National Health Service still doesn’t work and England still can’t string a few wins together at cricket (or football, or rugby, or tennis). Even the old North‐South divide is still alive and well: ask any northerner what they think about having to foot the multi‐million‐pound bill for London to host the 2012 Olympics, and chances are the answer won’t be all that complimentary.

FAST FACTS

Population: 51 million
Size: 50,000 sq miles (130,000 sq km)
Inflation: 5.2%
Unemployment: 5.7%
Average number of cups of tea drunk per person per day: 3
Hours spent commuting per year: 139
Number of divorces granted per year: 132,500
Number of Jedis in official census: 390,000
Total number of televisions: 30,500,000
Average number of days when it rains: 1 in 3

London

Everyone comes to London with a preconception of the metropolis shaped by a multitude of books, movies, TV shows and songs. Whatever yours is, prepare to have it shattered by this endlessly fascinating, amorphous city. Don’t believe anyone who claims to know London ‐ you could spend a lifetime exploring it and find that the slippery thing’s gone and changed on you. One thing is constant: that great serpent of a river enfolding the city in its sinuous loops, linking London both to the green heart of England and the world. The Empire may be long gone but the engines of global capital continue to be stoked by the side of the Thames. This only adds to London’s vibrant, finger‐on‐the‐pulse persona. It’s also what makes it the third‐most expensive city in the world.

Those who call London grey are only telling part of the story. It’s also surprisingly green and even a little wild. Deer still wander some of its parks, foxes roam the streets at night and the tenacity of the foliage leaves you in little doubt that a few years without human intervention would transform the whole place into Sleeping Beauty’s castle. But London’s in no danger of slumbering anytime soon. From Roman times the worldhas come to London, put down roots and whinged about the weather. There is no place on earth that is more multicultural; any given street yields a rich harvest of languages. Those narrow streets are also steeped in history, art, architecture and popular culture. With endless reserves of cool, London is one of the world’s great cities, if not the greatest.

TELEPHONE CODE: 020
POPULATION: 7.51 MILLION
AREA: 609 SQ MILES
HIGHLIGHTS: Watching the world pass by on a sunny day in Regent’s Park or any of London’s other green oases.
Admiring the booty of an empire at the British Museum.
Losing your head in history at the Tower of London.
Meeting the dead famous in Westminster Abbey.
Discovering the next cool thing in skinny jeans in the city’s live‐music venues.
Seeing the locals through beer goggles in the capital’s numerous pubs.
Getting closer to God at the top of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
St Paul’s Cathedral
British Museum
Regent’s Park

England Travel Guide from Lonely Planet is published by Lonely Planet (paperback; £15.99). It is also available through www.lonelyplanet.com and all good booksellers.

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