Location: Warwickshire, The Midlands
What’s the damage? Adult £15.95
Warwick is a real humdinger of a castle, with magnificent turrets, sprawling gardens and a remarkably well-preserved interior. It’s also a tourist honeypot of epic proportions, with long summer queues and a souvenir industry to rival the GDP of a small country. Run more as a medieval amusement park than a heritage site, its waxwork-inhabited rooms, torture chamber and “ghost tower” are little short of gaudy Madame Tussauds.
But you can’t argue with its mighty, don’t-mess-with-us construction or its stunning location on a cliff overlooking the River Avon. The castle’s oldest features were constructed in 1068, following the Norman invasion.
Location: Near Newcastle, north-east England
What’s the damage? Free
The Angel of the North (aka the Gateshead Flasher) is one of Britain’s most recognisable and talked-about works of art, despite being only 10 years old. The steel structure, the creation of the artist Antony Gormley, spreads its wings beside the A1(M) in Gateshead, near Newcastle in north-east England.
Britain’s largest sculpture, it has a wingspan wider than that of a Boeing 767 and weighs approximately 200 tonnes.
Location: Derbyshire, Central England
What’s the damage? Adult £29
Before Eurodisney, this was Europe’s premier theme park – and it’s still Britain’s No 1, drawing millions of visitors each year thanks to its sheer size and cutting-edge rides. Indeed it would be higher in our countdown, were it not for its skyrocketing prices and relative inaccessibility to those without their own wheels.
Still, few theme parks can compete when it comes to variety. Aside from the rides and play areas, there are an indoor waterpark and a spa for the grown-ups, as well as a hotel and extensive gardens for people needing time out.
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