Our huge collection of useful UK holiday, leisure, travel
& tourism website resources
We use the Internet to source information on the many tourist
attractions we visit, locate and book accommodation, check locations
and maps, prices, travel situations, view images and video and read
blogs. We would like our fellow tourists to benefit from our
research and so present our collection of UK tourism website resources
here, together with a few comments on their usefulness.
Links open in a new browser tab or window, just close by
clicking the red X top right corner. Latest additions at top.
286 UK tourist related and reviewed links. Tip: use Ctrl + F to
search this page. 
Please note that these sites are beyond our
control, therefore we cannot guarantee the content, our review
description is still valid or whether they still operate.
Although we run our link validator regularly, please advise us of any
deadlinks.
Page last updated October 2009.
QUICK LOCATE: Osborne House, IOW | Cotswold
holiday 09
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard | Gower holiday 08 | Imperial War
Museum
New Forest break | Tower Bridge | Tank Museum | Shropshire
holiday 07 | V&A Museum / Globe Theatre
Dover Castle | RAF Museum | Monkey
World | Thorpe Park | Somerset
holiday 06 | Roman Sand Sculptures | Arundel break
London visit | Rye break | Sand Sculptures | Longleat
| Dorset holiday 05 | Dr Who
Exhibition | Scotland holiday 04
Tower of London | Canterbury | Museum of Shops | Legoland
| Bognor Birdman | Eastbourne
Airshow | Devon holiday 03
James Bond / Museums / London | Chessington World
of Adventure | Eastbourne and Seaford | Lake District holiday 02
Cornwall holiday 02 | Lewes visit | London Eye / HMS Belfast | Scotland
holiday 01 | Wales holiday 01 | Beaulieu Motor Museum
Yorkshire holiday 00 | Peak
District holiday 99 | Cottage rental tourism
leisure | UK travel & mapping | Other useful sites
Osborne House,
IOW [ Osborne
House image gallery ]
www.english-heritage.org.uk
All the usual visitor info to this English Heritage property, together
with a little history, but no mention about the tiresome 'no
photography' policy inside the house. Grrrr...
http://flickr.com/groups/englishheritagedaysout
Check-out the Flickr pool for English Heritage visitors' photos (scroll
down to find the list of properties).
www.tourist-information-uk.com/osborne-house.htm
Concise visitor information and a location map on one page. Very
handy.
www.wightlink.co.uk
The ferry operator we sailed with from Portsmouth to Fishguard, with
sailing times, prices and facilities.
Cotswold Holiday
2009 [ Cotswolds
image gallery ]
www.visitcotswolds.co.uk
Easy to use site, we particularly like the Cotswold map and concise
town information. Little illustration though or much in the way
of visitor attractions featured, but this is the best of a mediocre
bunch of Cotswold info sites.
www.sheikhsofbroadway.co.uk
The Indian restaurant we enjoyed so much in Broadway. Basic site,
but the details are all there.
www.nationaltrail.co.uk/cotswold
All the details you could possibly require for planning a trip along
the 102 mile Cotswold Way. There's a sizeable image gallery, but
picture quality is very poor considering the large image files.
www.broadwaytower.co.uk
Excellent little site giving just the right amount of info complete
with a rotating picture gallery of quality images.
www.shakespeare.org.uk
Shakespeare Houses guide, artistic location map, ticketing info, what's
on and an in-depth study section for students. A serious lack of
illustration though, especially as photography isn't permitted in many
of the locations.
www.gwsr.com
Rather busy site of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, but none
the worse for that as there's simply oodles of information for the
visitor and steam enthusiast alike. There's a good image
gallery, but strangely it's tucked away in the enthusiasts section!
www.sudeleycastle.co.uk
Attractive and well illustrated with an interesting and easy to read
assortment of information on all aspects of the castle.
www.warwick-castle.co.uk
Visitor info and details on most castle areas, plus educational and
group visit details. Try the virtual tour, it's awesome!
www.bourtoninfo.com
Essentially the local chamber of commerce business directory with
little for the Bourton visitor. If this were a great tourist
resource too it would attract more business advertising. Doh!
www.cotswold-motor-museum.co.uk
Selective info (with quite small pics) on the museum's contents, but
strangely nothing on the garage or blacksmith's, the 60s & 70s
section or Windrush Alley.
www.theoldnewinn.co.uk/village.htm
Hmmm, just one page on the model village.
Other Bourton attractions include: Birdland, Model
Railway and the nearby Cotswold
Wildlife Park, Burford.
Portsmouth Historic
Dockyard [ Historic
Dockyard image gallery ]
www.historicdockyard.co.uk
Complete visitor guide to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard including an
interactive dockyard map, educational visits and upcoming events RSS
feed. Has a picture montage for each section and 360 degree
imagery.
www.hms-victory.com
Plenty of details about the warship, its history, the various decks,
weaponry, staffing and an insight into life aboard. A little
lacking in images and site navigation could be better, but an excellent
study resource nonetheless.
www.hmswarrior.org
Sketchy details, a lack of photos and poor site navigation greatly
spoils what deserves to be much better.
www.maryrose.org
Some fascinating stuff on the Mary Rose from its history, discovery and
raising to its subsequent public display. But little to no
illustration of it in the shiphall and, er, where's the details of
what's in the museum itself?
www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk
Searchable database of the National Register of Historic Vessels
providing a well illustrated and very comprehensive technical details
of many, er, historic ships.
www.royalnavalmuseum.org
Lots of information but not very engaging to read and a lack of photos
from inside the museum (yes, our old beef again!).
www.christmasfestival.co.uk
Visitor information, details and slideshow of the festival
entertainment, list of exhibitors and a video of a previous year's
event.
Gower Holiday 2008 [ Gower image gallery
]
www.the-gower.com
Primarily an accommodation directory, but additionally this site has a
good deal of information on attractions, activities and locations with
plenty of lovely images. An excellent start for your Gower
research!
www.enjoygower.com
Family orientated Gower visitor guide with many feature pages on
popular locations, but the site navigation makes it difficult to return
(tip: open pages in new tabs) and we found some deadlink pages.
Plentiful and stunning photography, including 360º panoramic views.
www.welcometogower.co.uk
Absolutely plenty of stunning photography together with tons of details
on Gower areas.
www.visitwales.co.uk
Welsh Assembly tourism team guide to hotels, holidays and short breaks
in Wales, but it tries to be far too clever for its own good with the
result it takes many clicks to get where you want.
www.britainexpress.com/wales/swansea
The tin says: A guide to Swansea, Gower and the Vale of Neath,
highlighting attractions, history, and visitor information - but we
found it all far too sketchy and the images far too tiny.
www.touristnetuk.com/Wa/carmarthen/attractions/attractions.htm
Basic information on many locations in the Gower area.
www.gowerlive.co.uk
Useful site for surfers with current sea state reports, tide times,
temperatures and webcams.
www.mumbles.co.uk
Good information on the Mumbles and the wider area's facilities,
although somewhat poorly written. Some of the images look a
rather strange colour though!
www.gowerheritagecentre.co.uk
Gower Heritage Centre and rural life museum, strangely telling you
zilch about the main mill complex we visited but instead concentrating
on school and family visitors. Doh!
www.explore-gower.co.uk/coppermine.html
Photo galleries of many Gower areas and attractions. The main
site itself has comprehensive articles on Gower.
www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites/gower
BBC Wales's excellent Gower guide with some fantastic images taken by
the public.
www.walesdirectory.co.uk/Holiday_Places/Gower_Peninsula.htm
Interesting site following the personal travelblog of a couple visiting
some of Gower's scenic areas.
www.gowercoastadventures.co.uk
Boat trips around the south Gower coast. We attempted to book on
one but unfortunately the dodgy weather caused our trip's
cancellation. But we said we'd give them a link anyway!
Imperial War Museum [ Imperial
War Museum image gallery ]
http://london.iwm.org.uk
Details of the various permanent and temporary galleries in
the museum, a particularly good virtual tour of the Large Exhibits
Gallery plus museum opening times, special events, what's on, study,
and extensive categorised links section to other related resources.
New Forest [ New Forest image
gallery ]
www.thenewforest.co.uk
New Forest Tourism site containing plenty of well-constructed and
thought out info on the area, the vital details on attractions,
activities and latest news. Used by us to research our visit and
the accommodation directory provided our cottage. Details of the
Green Leaf Tourism Scheme.
www.newforest-online.co.uk
As it says on the site: everything you need to know and find in the New
Forest. Some of the images are rather poor quality.
www.newforestnpa.gov.uk
Lots of info about visiting the New Forest National Park, including
living in, looking after, learning about, news and planning. But
very poorly illustrated.
www.forestry.gov.uk/newforest
Forestry Commission site for the visitor, well illustrated and with
many downloadable leaflets and podcasts, including some intended for
loading onto your MP3 player to take with you touring.
www.forestholidays.co.uk
Camping, caravanning and cabin holidays in the UK with nine locations
in the New Forest.
www.newforestcider.co.uk
Traditional farmhouse cider in Burley where we visited and brought some.
www.burleyfudge.co.uk
The fudge shop we went to, but surely it's crying out for some photos
of the shop and fudge displays!
www.newforestmuseum.org.uk
The New Forest Centre in Lyndhurst with opening times, prices, special
events, learning, the library - but little about the displays
themselves. Arrggh!
www.hurst-castle.co.uk
Rather basic and sketchy information and little illustration.
What a shame.
www.bucklershard.co.uk
Very well planned with plenty of well written information about the
village and excellently illustrated too. This is how a tourist
website should be done!
www.ottersandowls.co.uk
Another well thought out and informative site containing all the
information needed on the wildlife park. Plenty of good pictures
of the animals.
www.brockenhurst.gov.uk
A lot of local information for the lovely village we stayed in.
www.thewwwsite.com/walks.htm
An amateur site, but nevertheless a series of six well explained and
photographed walks in the New Forest.
Tower Bridge [ Tower Bridge
image gallery ]
www.towerbridge.org.uk
Disappointing site, has all the usual visitor information plus the
bridge history, but few images and nothing on the engine rooms!!
www.panoramicearth.com/755/London/Tower_Bridge_2007
360° panorama from Tower Bridge.
www.explore-london.co.uk
Searchable panoramic photos of London attractions with maps and
information. Odd split frame design makes the site awkward to use
though.
Tank Museum [ Tank
Museum image gallery ]
www.tankmuseum.org
A bit of a mis-mash really with navigation all over the place, but the
info's all there - somewhere. Further let down by some poor
imagery and, incredibly considering it's all about tanks, the tank
images are really small. However the virtual museum tour is good!
www.militarymodelling.com/news/article.asp?UAN=132&v=1
Many pictures from The Wheatcroft Collection - a large privately owned
collection of military vehicles.
www.tiger-tank.com
The history of the Tiger Tank and restoration of Tiger 131. Well
illustrated, but poor site navigation.
See also: Historic
military vehicles forum Military images
forum National Army Museum
Shropshire Holiday
2007 [ Shropshire
image gallery ]
www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk
Excellent Shropshire tourist information and leisure guide with
brochure downloads. Has an extensive image gallery and an RSS
tourism news facility.
www.visitsouthshropshire.co.uk
Good site concentrating on south Shropshire and Ludlow area tourist
information. We ordered a brochure from here.
www.shropshiretourism.info
Well illustrated site with plenty of well written info.
www.shropshirewalking.co.uk
Site dedicated to finding your own walking route using an advanced
search plus guided walks and walking holidays in Shropshire.
www.nationaltrail.co.uk/OffasDyke/index.asp?PageId=1
Details on planning an Offa's Dyke path walk, with news, a small image
gallery and publications available.
www.ironbridge.org.uk
Opening times, tickets, how to find, events, learning experiences plus
the Museum's collections and, of course, details and photos of all the
attractions.
www.dinewithus.co.uk/craven-arms
Details on the Craven Arms Carvery we visited three times during our
break!
www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.16793
Sketchy details and few images of the castle with opening times,
prices, location (but no map or GPS) and facilities. Surely
English Heritage can do better than this!
www.ludlow.org.uk
A tourist guide to Ludlow with its history, accommodation, food and
drink, what's on. Shame about the rather small and often poor
imagery.
www.ludlowcastle.com
Plenty of details and images on this site of the castle, we
particularly liked the image map that popped up details on the various
castle sections. Not perfect, but English Heritage should take
note of the sort of information to provide (see above)!
www.shropshirehillsdiscoverycentre.co.uk [deadlink suspended
sept 09]
Slow to load site giving details on this visitor info centre and Secret
Hills exhibition, group visits, activities, the art gallery and
adjacent meadows. But why no photos?
Try this instead: www.shropshire.gov.uk/arts.nsf/open/cf38a8b19cba05018025753d0042918f
www.wllr.org.uk
Well illustrated site of the Welshpool & Llanfair railway with
details on how to find, fares, timetable, the route, news, events and
driver courses. See also Welshpool
narrow gauge and Great
little trains of wales.
www.arbortreeday.co.uk
Aston on Clun's annual Arbor day tree dressing festival, the history
and report plus photos.
www.lolc.org.uk
Awful site with only sketchy info and no photos of the Land of Lost
Content collection itself.
www.shropshire.gov.uk/museums.nsf
Details of Acton Scott working farm with just the one page and one
picture. What a pity this attraction hasn't its own website.
www.farmcider.co.uk
Mahorall cider farm, how to find, how it's made and where to buy.
V&A Museum (Kylie
Exhibition) & Globe Theatre [ V&M / Globe image gallery ]
www.kylie.com
Lots of stuff surrounding Kylie, her music, albums, latest news, her
shop, downloads and, of course, her exhibition. Odd website
aesthetics though.
www.kylie.co.uk
Gets straight to the info you seek with no messing, eg latest on the
1st page and good nav. to all the rest. The Kylie WebChart lists
and reviews other Kylie sites.
www.kyliesplace.com
Australian site built entirely in Flash. The stuffs all there,
but frustrating to use.
www.vam.ac.uk
All the fundamental info plus details on the exhibitions, collections
and displays at the V&A museum. Online shop and bookings.
www.southbanklondon.com
About, what's on, travel, etc, and an interactive map to find the key
attractions. A handy 'Plan your visit' search facility.
www.urban75.org/london/millennium.html
Excellent e-zine featuring large, well prepared photo sections and
creatively well written information, here on the Millennium
Bridge. Somewhat narrow pages for modern screens though.
www.shakespeares-globe.org/tourexhibition/theatretours
Information on the theatre tour and exhibition we went on, the main
site has the theatre plays timetable, ticket purchase, events, catering
and the Globe shop.
Dover Castle [ Dover Castle
image gallery ]
www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=conProperty.182
Castle history, opening times, prices, access, facilities and
events. No site plan and not many pictures or encouragement to
visit the castle and no mention that photography isn't allowed in the
secret tunnels.
www.dover-kent.co.uk/defence/castle_index.htm
Much more information and images than the English Heritage site, but
some of the images are of very poor quality. Has a diagram,
although small, of the underground tunnels.
www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/dover/dover.php
Historical and vital visitor info plus some reasonable images.
RAF Museum [ RAF Museum image
gallery ]
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london
Comprehensive info on location, opening times, prices,
facilities, upcoming events and good details and images of all the
exhibits plus a site plan download. Some pictures inside the
exhibition halls would be welcome. The online shop wasn't
operational yet.
Monkey World [ Monkey World
image gallery ]
www.monkeyworld.org
Plenty of information on the centre, the primates and their
care, the staff and ape rescue info by country plus an online
shop. Many of the images could do with some enhancement.
Sadly, a lot of the site content seems neglected and dated.
Thorpe Park visit [ Thorpe Park image
gallery ]
www.thorpepark.co.uk
Ticket prices, opening times, park facilities etc, plus
information on many (but not all) of the rides. Some of the
information is rather sketchy, eg Thorpe Farm, but some great pictures
and video clips of the rides plus guest reviews!
Somerset Holiday
2006 [ Somerset
image gallery ]
www.clarksvillage.co.uk
Location, opening times, events, news and jobs. Has a
shops map - roll mouse over map and it tells you what the shop is, but
it's all a bit small.
www.glastonbury.co.uk
Excellent guide to Glastonbury for visitors with a listing of shops
plus local information on attractions, leisure and transport,
accommodation, what's on, spirituality and healing.
www.isleofavalon.co.uk
Masses of information about the Glastonbury area, the Tor
plus the history, traditions, mysteries and sacred sites of this area
of Somerset. The interesting pictorial montage of the areas in
the out and about section is well worth visiting. A really
fascinating website.
www.fleetairarm.com
Information on all the exhibits (some a bit sketchy), opening times,
prices, education visits, news and events. Poor link resources.
www.burnham-on-sea.com/breandown.shtml
Excellent details about the natural history and geology of Brean Down
and the history of the fort with a great 360 degree panorama.
www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk
Train times, fares, connections, events etc. The photo gallery
has some great shots once you find them, but no images on the main
pages. A map of the stations along the line would be useful.
See also Visit
Dunster.
www.cheddarcaves.co.uk
Poor site for such a major tourist attraction, c**p site navigation,
few images and sketchy details of the areas at Cheddar Gorge. No
"how to find us" details or map either!
www.glastonburytor.org.uk
Very comprehensive details of Glastonbury Tor, the myths and legends
and some fantastic images including a great panorama view from the top.
www.chalicewell.org.uk
Well thought out site about this place of beauty, peace and
healing. The virtual tour contains all the info with some good
photos of the gardens.
www.glastonburyabbey.com
How to find the Abbey, prices, news, events, education programmes, etc
and, of course, the history of the Abbey plus a great photo gallery.
www.sheppyscider.com
Sheppy's traditional farm cider history, location map, farm tours, the
rural life museum and details of all the cider products together with
an online shop. Good images. Nothing about how cider is
made though.
See also Rich's
cider site.
www.langport.org.uk
The location, history and amenities of the Somerset town we
stayed in plus a business directory which makes no mention of the
excellent Indian restaurant in the town we ate in or the pubs we had a
drink in!
www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset
Somerset County Council website all about Somerset for the
tourist. Rather slow loading pages.
www.visitsomerset.co.uk/site/eating-out/cider-producers
A list of Somerset cider producers together with a Cider Lover's Guide
on this informative tourism site. Also ukcider.co.uk has a list of Somerset cider
producers.
www.somersetbythesea.co.uk (link suspended pending
re-checking - failed validation Oct 08)
Sedgemoor area Somerset attractions.
www.westcountrywalks.co.uk
Useful site for those looking for organised walking holidays in the
West Country.
Roman Sand Sculptures [ Roman
Sand Sculptures image gallery ]
www.sandsculpturefestival.com
Well constructed site with not only the details of location,
times and prices, but also the background to the Sand Sculptures and
how they were created.
Arundel [ Arundel image gallery
]
www.wealddown.co.uk
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum site with a great
virtual 360 degree tour of many of the attractions plus all the usual
info on opening times, prices, events, etc.
www.arundelcastle.org
The Arundel castle site has plenty of info on the castle and
gardens, admission, news, events, travel and archives.
www.wwt.org.uk/visit/arundel
The Arundel Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre site, severe
lack of images of the wildlife is very disappointing, the very
thing it's all about really!
London [ London image gallery
]
www.coventgardenlife.com
Plenty of info but little in the way of photos of the
area! The same is true of other Covent Garden sites we checked.
www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Buy tickets online for West End and UK wide theatre, cinema,
concerts, sport and other events.
www.londontrocadero.com
Comprehensive details on all the shops, bars, entertainment
and events but no pictures of any of it!
www.carnaby.co.uk
Great site with an explore facility to locate your venue of
interest, small image of each shop/bar/restaurant or whatever alongside
with the details.
www.tubeplanner.com
Site to help you plan your journey on the London
Underground. Finds the nearest station to popular London
attractions.
www.royalparks.gov.uk
All about Hyde Park, its history, upcoming events, recreation
and sports facilities. Our usual grip applies regarding a lack of
pictures to illustrate. Don't these places want to attract
visitors then?
Rye and Romney Marsh [ Rye image gallery ]
www.oldemoathouse.co.uk
Full details of the 3 rooms with images and prices,
directions, map and details of local towns and attractions and a
contact form.
www.rye-tourism.co.uk
Well illustrated site about the town, local events, where to
eat. Not much on Rye history though. Excellent
accommodation index with price guide, can make enquiry direct from site.
www.ryeheritage.co.uk
Straightforward Rye Heritage Centre site with details on the
town model, audio tour, the new penny slot exhibition and Rye Tourist
Office for booking accommodation. Links page to other relevant
sites.
www.visitrye.co.uk
Rather slow to load official Rye town website. Good
info on history, usual eating, accommodation and what to visit.
www.rhdr.org.uk
Excellent, well illustrated site on the Romney, Hythe and
Dymchurch Railway with details of the locomotives, stations, timetable,
educational visits, an online shop, in fact everything a visitor could
need. Links page has links to many other preserved railway
sites. Info pages in French and Dutch too.
www.kentattractions.co.uk
Does what it says on the tin - all about Kent attractions
with several ways to locate attractions, the neatest via an image
map. Listing and links to Tourist Info Centres links out of date
as three we tried were dead links.
www.mermaidinn.com
Uninspiring site for such a respected establishment, just the
usual expected details on accommodation, bar, restaurant, conferences
and weddings, nothing at all on the history of this historic inn!
Egyptian Sand
Sculptures [ Egyptian Sand Sculptures image
gallery ]
www.sandsculpturefestival.com
Well constructed site with not only the details of location,
times and prices, but also the background to the Sand Sculptures and
how they were created.
Longleat visit [ Longleat image
gallery ]
www.longleat.co.uk
Excellent site on Longleat, with very comprehensive info on
all the various attractions, news, prices, shops, education plus much
more and some excellent imagery.
Dorset Holiday 2005 [ Dorset image gallery
]
www.dorsetforyou.com
Dorset council site - usual council stuff, click on great
outdoors link for coast and countryside factual info, eg useful list of
public rights of way.
www.dorsetattractions.co.uk
Good site with lots of info on many places to visit including
links to other websites of the local attractions.
www.visitingdorset.co.uk
Good info on places, accommodation and the area plus a search
facility. Unfortunately the site is spoilt by missing page links,
poor navigation, grammar and image quality.
www.westdorset.com
Attractions, accommodation, etc but all info rather brief and
sketchy.
www.monkeyworld.org
Opening times, prices, the staff, kids section, details of
rescued monkeys, images are rather poor unfortunately.
www.swanagerailway.co.uk
Timetable, fares, news, excellent photo galleries, railway
history, in fact everything about all aspects of the railway.
Terrible navigation though, have to use browser back button all the
time!
www.corfecastlemodelvillage.co.uk
Very sketchy info on the model village, gardens and
cafe. A good example of how NOT to do a tourist attraction
website really!
www.dorset-ramblers.co.uk
Jubilee Trail guide, book and maps, facts about Dorset and
links page to other Dorset websites.
www.lymeregistourism.com
Tourist Information, accommodation, events and
activities. Good info on area, but excepting events page it's not
updated frequently. Disconcerting lack of consistency between
pages.
www.swcp.org.uk
Great site with all the info and details on the South West
Coastal Path you could possibly need and many photos, spoilt by high
compression.
www.jurassiccoast.com
Dorset council site with tons of info dedicated to exploring
all areas of Dorset's Jurassic coast.
www.lulworthonline.co.uk
We didn't get to Lulworth Cove as we ran out of week, but see
this great site all about the area, with news, where to stay and eat
and a good photo album section.
www.imagesofdorset.org.uk
Excellent site by local photographer with1200+ photographs of
Dorset. Well indexed from a map or gallery index pages.
Search facility plus lots of info and links. We got our Fleet
walk from here. Links to tourism and other image sites.
Others sites of interest include:
Corfe Castle Cerne Abbas Giant Hardy's Monument Tutankhamun
Exhibition Dinosaur Museum
Dr Who Exhibition [ Dr Who image gallery
]
www.doctorwhoexhibitions.co.uk
Details of other Dr Who exhibitions, prices, pictures from
the series, BBC press releases, details on the latest series and links
to Dr Who related websites.
www.brightonpier.co.uk
Rather poor site about the Pier, large file flash intro with
repeating music and no means of skipping, slow loading flash pages in
frames with no images of the pier attractions and only sketchy details.
Scotland Holiday
2004 [ Scotland
image gallery ]
www.welcome-scotland.com
Excellent site with all the tourist information you'll ever
need to plan a Scottish holiday. Searchable database by category,
ie castles and excellent use of Flash for area selection.
www.visitscotland.com
Scotland's National Tourism Board site designed to attract
the visitor to Scotland, with info on travel, accommodation, eating
out, events and attractions, etc. Site search facility.
Written in a rather 'everything is wonderful' way.
www.sailingwild.com (Company now disbanded)
Very informative site on wildlife watching cruises aboard
'Dolphinicity' - sailing from Lossiemouth. Yacht details, how to
get there, news, wildlife info, what to wear and local tourist
info. Sailingwild commissioned micbinks
web development to re-design the site for the 2006 season!
www.wdcs.org
Excellent site from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation
Society. How to find the Moray Firth Wildlife Centre at Spey Bay
and plenty of information about it and the wider work of WDCS.
www.cairngormmountain.com
Lots of details about the Cairm Gorm Mountain with a high
quality image gallery and webcam section, but not much on the funicular
railway we went on. Spoilt by poor site navigation.
www.loch-ness-scotland.com
The Loch Ness 2000 attraction we went to in
Drumnadrochit. The site has plenty of 'aren't we great' drum
banging, but doesn't really tell you anything about the exhibition
(apart from the technical details) plus there's nothing about the
Monster! Messy site layout, some pages not working.
www.highlandslochness.com
Another disappointing site, more of a marketing
vehicle. Nothing here about the monster legend, but it does have
some useful Highlands tourist info.
www.strathspeyrailway.co.uk
Basic info on the railway, its history, maps to find it,
prices, image gallery. Timetable page not working! Odd site
frame structure and poor image quality, good use of railway graphics
though.
www.visitaviemore.com
An excellent site with all the info you require on Aviemore
and the area, accommodation, activities, events, attractions and so
on. Excellent image quality, could be more of them to illustrate
the area.
www.cawdorcastle.com
Another excellent site with plenty of information on the
castle and grounds. Well illustrated with well prepared
images.
www.maltwhiskytrail.com
Yet another excellent site, well illustrated with quality
images, maps and info on all the distilleries on the trail. Not
sure about the lower frame with navigation along the bottom though.
Tower of London [ Tower of London image
gallery ]
www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon
All the info needed such as opening times, prices, history,
together with info on all the various areas within such as the Bloody
Tower. Some of the pages are rather sparse and there's little by
way of illustration.
www.visitlondon.com
Very good site, all the required and expected info to hand
and a searchable or browseable directory of some 193,000 attractions,
services, facilities, etc within this vibrant and exciting city. See here for other London sites on this page.
Canterbury [ Canterbury image
gallery ]
www.canterbury.co.uk
Canterbury city council site with comprehensive information
on all you need to know about the city, attractions, accommodation,
what's on, travel.
www.canterburytales.org.uk
Details on The Canterbury Tales attraction with location,
opening times, group visits, FAQs and more.
www.hillside.co.uk/tour/map.html
Interesting site that takes you on a pictorial tour of the
city.
www.canterbury-cathedral.org
All the information you would ever need to know on Canterbury
Cathedral.
Eastbourne Museum of
Shops [ Museum
of Shops image gallery ]
www.sussexmuseums.co.uk/how_we_lived_then.htm
Some basic details about the attraction plus opening times and prices.
www.sussextourism.org.uk/attraction-how-we-lived-then.php
Very sketchy info on the attraction, but useful for the many links to
other attractions in the area. More Eastbourne sites here.
www.britishresorts.co.uk
The BRA site giving the lowdown on, er, British Resorts.
Legoland [ Legoland image
gallery ]
www.legoland.co.uk
The site gives all the usual info on the park, but only
sketchy 'how to get there' details. There was also a problem when
the site failed to recognise we already had the Flash 6 plug-in and
kept telling us we didn't - on every page - so we didn't venture too
far into the site.
Bognor Birdman [ Bognor Birdman image
gallery ]
www.birdman.org.uk
Brilliant site with details on this increasingly popular
annual event with some excellent pictures and sound clips. Has
the event history and background on the competitors too. Font
somewhat small and no results table.
www.arun.gov.uk
Typical local authority site with usual 'a place to
work/live' links across the top. Contains the Birdman flight
results though here.
www.bognor-regis.org
Site with information on the local amenities.
www.bognor-local-history.co.uk
Site produced by a local historian and good if you're
interested in Bognor history.
Eastbourne Airbourne
[ Airbourne
image gallery ]
www.eastbourneairshow.com
Excellent site with information on the annual airshow.
Lots of details and pictures about the planes and static
displays. See here also.
www.raf.mod.uk/reds
Very informative site with display calendar, team and
aircraft details, manoeuvres and history. There's also an image
gallery, screensaver and software for Flight Simulator 2002 to fly with
the team! No videos though, a missed opportunity here perhaps?
Devon Holiday [ Devon image gallery
]
www.somewhere-special.co.uk
Site of South Hams District Council with details of the towns
and attractions in the South Hams area (where we stayed) in Devon.
www.goodbeachguide.co.uk
Excellent site dedicated to giving all the information on UK
beaches like access, facilities, pollution, beach safety,
etc. Searchable.
www.southdevon.org.uk
Where to stay, local events, good info on attractions with
links to them, town and village guide, links to sites for travel and
weather info.
www.westcountrynow.com
Accommodation, activities, events, walking in the area,
eating, very comprehensive site with plenty of ideas.
www.lotstodo.co.uk
Excellent guide to Devon's top attractions with loads of
information and website links. Travel, weather, beaches, what's
on. The only thing it doesn't cover is accommodation.
www.southdevonrailway.org
Website of the South Devon Railway that we went on that runs
from Buckfastleigh to Totnes and connects with river cruises on the
River Dart.
www.riverlink.co.uk
Although we didn't get around to a cruise, this site gives
all the info you need.
James
Bond/Museums/London [ Bond
& museum image gallery ]
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Plenty of information for the potential visitor, times,
special events, online exhibitions, research, shop, IMAX® cinema,
search facility.
www.nhm.ac.uk
Another excellent museum site with similar information
carried to the Science Museum, more visually appealing though and
downloadable info in various languages.
www.jamesbond.com
A flash intro that takes a while to load and then comes up
with an error. Once you're in, the site seems to be all about the
movie Die Another Day and little else. We expected better than
this.
www.007.com
Little better unfortunately, sometimes these big budget sites
just try to be too clever for their own good. This one sent you
to areas and then gave no explanations on how to use - the comms room,
for example, seemed to require a name and password, but it didn't even
say so!
www.londontouristboard.com
All the information the visitor to London could need with
links to the attractions.
www.londontown.com
Tourist info, hotels, box office, travel, eating, business,
articles, search facility, excellent site.
www.londontourist.org
The full guidebook text online, rather tortuous to read as it
uses full screen width text and little in the way of illustration, but
all the info London visitors will ever need is here.
Chessington World of
Adventures [ Chessington image gallery ]
www.chessington.co.uk
An excellent site with a good accomplishment of Flash and
sound, info, times, prices, eating, thrillometer and online booking
discounts.
Eastbourne and
Seaford [ Eastbourne image gallery ]
www.eastbourne.gov.uk
Very good Eastbourne Borough Council website with many
interesting pages full of local information and services, including a
great section on the local meteorology service.
www.eastbourneairshow.com
Excellent site with information on the annual airshow.
Lots of details and pictures about the planes and static displays.
www.eastbournepier.com
Rather neglected site about Eastbourne Pier. The
Birdman details given are of the event last year!
www.seaford.co.uk
Rather basic local site for Seaford with simple information
on local walks, places to visit and tourist info. Plain and no
images.
Lake District Holiday
[ Lake
District image gallery ]
www.golakes.co.uk
All about the area, accommodation, activities, transport, web
cam and a lovely image gallery, lots of information for the visitor
here with a helpful search facility.
www.lake-district.gov.uk
Lake District National Parks Authority site, well worth a
look, useful search facility to find what you're looking for.
www.thecumbriadirectory.com
Tourist attractions and information, the lakes, mountains,
waterfalls, forests etc, search facility for towns and villages, travel
news, links page.
www.lakedistrictoutdoors.co.uk
Everything you need to know about enjoying the area, walking,
cycling, water sports, transport, weather, safety, books ordering.
www.kendaltown.org
Kendal Town Council site with tourist info, maps, etc.
The site is rather too wide and not suited to 800x600 sized displays.
www.kvillageoutletcentre.co.uk
The K Village Outlet shopping centre in Kendal site. The shops,
special offers, centre info, tourist info, coach driver info.
www.kendal.mintcake.co.uk
Romney's rather unimaginative but functional (framed) site of
its products and history.
www.conistonlaunch.co.uk
The boat service on Coniston Water, details and timetable of
sailings, special cruises, lakeshore walks, where to eat, online
booking.
www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk
Cruise information and timetable, the vessels, private
charter, news and info on the lakeside towns on the route.
www.lakedistrictwalks.com
John Dawson's Lake District site with over 40 walks plus
associated info and hundreds of photos. Nice to see what the
area's like when the sun shines! Excellent site for the walker.
www.watermillinn.co.uk
The pub we dined at in Ings, between Kendal and Windermere
with accommodation, food and beer details plus an interesting section
on South Lakeland story telling. Too wide for 800x600 screens.
Cornwall Holiday [ Cornwall
image gallery ]
www.cata.co.uk
Lots of information on many attractions in Cornwall.
Well illustrated.
www.cornishlight.co.uk
Masses of information on places and towns in Cornwall.
Also a good section on walking and hiking.
www.cornwall-calling.co.uk
Another good site on Cornish attractions.
www.cornwall-online.co.uk
Much the same, lots of information and images, plus where to
stay locally.
www.chycor.co.uk
Again another great site of Cornwall attractions for visitors.
www.edenproject.com
This is the excellent Eden Project site with all the
information about this fascinating attraction near St. Austell,
Cornwall. The virtual tour is particularly impressive, available
in Java, Flash or QuickTime.
www.lappavalley.co.uk
Lappa Valley narrow gauge steam railway site. Location map and
details, attractions and so forth all here.
www.thecornishcyderfarm.co.uk
Cornish Cyder Farm, Newquay, Cornwall. Location, map
opening times, online shop and details of tours with great dissolving
images.
www.fowey.co.uk
Fowey town site, local map, transport, places of interest, walks,
beaches, accommodation, events, etc.
www.destination-cornwall.co.uk
Camel Trail site, geared to the cyclist but equally useful
for the walker, tons of text to read through.
www.bodminandwenford.co.uk
The Bodmin & Wenford Railway site. Timetable,
location, photos, special events, etc. Rather too wide pages even
for 1024x768!
http://truro.cornwall.net
City of Truro site, somewhat incomplete but with all the
details and history on it and a directory of businesses plus links.
www.theborougharms.com
The Borough Arms site, at Dunmere near Bodmin.
Pictures, the menu, opening times.
www.newquay.org.uk
Accommodation, beaches, surfing, the town. Very
attractive site but the photos are grossly over-enhanced.
Lewes visit &
Sussex [ Lewes
image gallery ]
www.sussexpast.co.uk/lewescastle
Comprehensive site all about Lewes Castle, admission times
and prices, special events, education service download.
www.sussextourism.org.uk/attraction-lewes-castle.php
Basic details about Lewes Castle in several languages and
many links to other attractions in Sussex.
London Eye & HMS
Belfast [ London
image gallery ]
www.londoneye.com
How to book, how to get to it, the procedure when you arrive,
flight times and admission prices and downloadable information pack.
www.iwm.org.uk/belfast
All areas of the ship are explored here with lots of
information and pictures, admission prices and so on. Also links
to other Imperial War Museum attractions.
Scotland Holiday [ Scotland
image gallery ]
www.edinburgh.org
Tons of information for the visitor, maps, attractions,
events, shopping, eating and accommodation plus corporate facilities.
www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk
All the information you need about the famous Tattoo, book
tickets and souvenirs online, press releases, other Edinburgh
attractions.
www.beamish.org.uk
Excellent site that guides you round the museum via an image
map, all the details the visitor could wish for here.
Wales Holiday [ Wales image gallery
]
www.valleyconnection.co.uk
Directory of Wales, containing everything you need to find
out about the area.
www.visitwales.com
Lots of information and ideas here for visitors, attractions
and activities, local history.
www.nwt.co.uk
North Wales Tourism site with attractions to visit and
accommodation details.
www.northwalesindex.co.uk
Accommodation and an index of local facilities, somewhat out
of date unfortunately.
www.star-attractions.co.uk
Very useful site of the attractions of Snowdonia, with an
image map to click on those of interest, links to other sites, image
gallery.
www.greatlittletrainsofwales.co.uk
For narrow-gauge steam railway buffs.
www.betws-y-coed.co.uk
See what the popular town of Betws-y-Coed in N. Wales has to
offer the visitor. Tourist advice, what to do, where to eat and
stay. Photo gallery.
www.hightrek.co.uk
Outdoor courses and activity holidays in Snowdonia.
www.snowdonia-adventures.co.uk
Adventure holidays in North Wales.
Beaulieu visit [ Beaulieu image
gallery ]
www.beaulieu.co.uk
Visit the Beaulieu website for details of what the museum has
to offer, its history and current special exhibitions. Corporate
hire details.
Yorkshire
Holiday [ Yorkshire
image gallery ]
www.yorkshirevisitor.com
Official Yorkshire Tourist Board website with all the expected details
on the area plus accommodation booking and brochure ordering.
www.mothershiptonscave.com
A rather scary flash intro (scarier still after you click 'enter')
welcomes visitors to this excellent, well illustrated site carrying
full info on the Mother Shipton legend and The Petrifying Well in
Knaresborough.
www.harrogate.gov.uk/immediacy-996
Well thought out local council site giving details on opening times,
prices and a glimpse at what you can explore at Knaresborough Castle.
www.nymr.co.uk
All the information needed to enjoy a visit to North Yorkshire Moors
Railway. Photo gallery is a little frustrating to use
though. Downloadable timetable.
www.dave-ford.co.uk/goathland.htm
Another excellent personal site (just like this one!), but covering
only Yorkshire. Good details on Goathland (Aidensfield in the TV
series 'Heartbeat'). You'll notice from the fine images that the
sun does sometimes shine here!
www.visityork.org
York Tourism site with a useful 'what to do' venue guide. Some
pages got chopped in our browser (Firefox 2) and the few images on
pages were rather too small for modern screen resolutions.
www.robin-hoods-bay.co.uk
Visitor information on the village, what's on calendar, accommodation
and a good photo gallery.
www.nymcam.co.uk/080201.htm
Some excellent images on another personal site along the walking route
between Robin Hoods Bay and Ravenscar, plus the background behind the
'town that never was'.
www.nationaltrail.co.uk/clevelandway
Comprehensive details for those planning to walk The Cleveland
Way. Has a search facility and some wonderful images. See
also North
Sea Trail for other walks in N. Yorkshire.
www.yorkdesigneroutlet.com
York McArthur Glen factory outlet site. Has a downloadable store
guide, but this should be on the site and where are images of the
complex? Some technical issues too - the text was huge in Firefox
and pages slow to load in IE despite fast ADSL.
Peak
District Holiday [ Peak District image gallery ]
www.cressbrook.co.uk
Excellent, well illustrated, easy to navigate Peak District tourist
site with tons of info on accommodation, places, attractions,
activities, maps, food and drink.
www.visitbuxton.co.uk
All the information you'll ever need about Buxton with plenty of
excellent images.
www.bluejohn-cavern.co.uk
Website for the Blue John Cavern. Not a lot of information or
images of the attraction and vital info like location/opening
times/prices is hidden within the site.
www.corrie.net
Fanzine site, a little haphazard but none-the-less a fun and
comprehensive guide to Corrie! See also: www.corrieblog.tv
www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/littonwalk.htm
A similar walk to the Litton based walk we did but also taking in some
parts of our Monsal Dale walk along the River Wye. Also click the
Litton Feature for village details. Some terrific photos.
www.altontowers.com
Part of the Tussauds Group, the Alton Towers website has all the gen
and the usual thrilling Flash presentations to excite.
www.peakwalk.org.uk/baslowedges.asp
A walk that takes in the Three Ships and Nelson's Monument landmarks
above Baslow. Other Peak District walks too.
www.derbyshireuk.net/monsal_trail.html
Basic info about Monsal Trail walk with some images.
www.snapthepeaks.co.uk
More Peak District walk ideas together with some great images.
www.derbyshire-photographs.co.uk
Would you believe it - Derbyshire photos!
Cottage
rental, tourism & leisure
www.welcomecottages.com
Many UK, Ireland and European cottages to rent, view them
inside and out, check details and location, prices and
availability. Search facility and online booking. As used
by us for our holidays in the Peak
District in 1999, Yorkshire
2000, Lake District 2002, Devon 2003, Scotland 2004 Dorset 2005, Somerset 2006 and Shropshire 2007.
www.sts-holidays.com
Lots of holiday cottages in Wales to rent, with pictures
inside and out, search utility. Books and maps for sale. As
used for our Wales holiday in 2001.
www.gps4touring.com
Accommodations listings with GPS coordinates.
www.picturesofengland.com
Exploring the most beautiful towns, villages and countryside of England
with loads and loads of high quality images.
www.information-britain.co.uk
Long established site with a huge amount of information on towns and
areas across the UK and places to stay.
www.totaltravel.co.uk
UK travel and visitor guide by UK area with attractions and
accommodation directories.
www.enjoyengland.com
Tourism in England. A list of tourist information
centres, accommodation, places to visit, events, etc.
www.visitbritain.com
Touring guide to the UK.
www.britainexpress.com
Travel and visitor guide to many UK regions, with a hotel accommodation
search.
www.naturalengland.org.uk
Aims to conserve and enhance the natural environment through
conservation, leisure, planning and management.
www.english-heritage.org.uk
Protect and promotes England's spectacular historic environment.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
National Trust owned places to see plus a learning resource.
www.walkingworld.com
Search a database for walks in your chosen area, buy gear on
line.
www.walkingbritain.co.uk
Comprehensive walk detail, maps and plenty of images, online
ordering of books and maps.
www.britishwalks.org
A walking enthusiasts' website of UK walks.
www.beerintheevening.com
Searchable database of pubs with locations maps, pub facilities and
user ratings. We contribute to this social network via our name -
micbinks (what else).
UK Travel & mapping
www.nationalrail.co.uk
National Rail Enquiries, rail information, UK train times and
timetables.
www.nationalexpress.com
UK travel by National Express coach throughout the UK and Europe, book
online.
www.traveline.org.uk
Impartial information on planning your journey, by bus, coach or train
or a combination.
www.tfl.gov.uk
Transport for London - underground (tube, metro), buses, road, river -
journey planner, maps, timetables, service status.
www.trafficeye.co.uk
Check out those roadworks on a zoomable map, also aerial views.
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
Ordnance Survey - the UK map producer.
www.sewhgpgc.co.uk/os.php
How to understand the British Grid Reference System.
http://maps.google.co.uk
Maps with satellite imagery plus photos related to the area
viewed. Use to search out and view on map tourist attractions,
restaurants, get directions between places, plus much more.
www.multimap.com
Key in a postcode and view a map of the area. Get a
grid reference for your GPS Sat Nav receiver. Let multimap work
out a route for you, giving estimated driving times too. Aerial
and historic photos.
www.gpsinformation.net
Huge information resource on the Global Positioning System - the
technology, systems and receivers.
See also our own GRP Sat Nav review.
www.geocaching.com
[ See our geocaching
page ]
International Geocaching website listing locations of caches with
finders' logs and photos. We contribute to this social network
via our name - micbinks (what else).
Other useful sites for UK
tourists
www.upmystreet.com
Enter a postcode or town and check out the facilities of the
area. Check the type of neighbourhood, crime stats, local
authority, etc, etc.
www.metoffice.gov.uk
Look at the weather forecast of an area you are going to
visit, check weather stats and fascinating weather information.
Web cams and satellite imagery.
www.directmobilephones.com/coverage.htm
Check out the expected mobile phone coverage from most UK mobile
networks.
Please let us know of any
problems you may encounter with these links.
You can email us from here >>>
You may be interested in our
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