British wonders: 4 Lake District

Location: Cumbria, north-east England
What’s the damage? Free
This is the closest thing England has to the breathtaking landscapes of the Alps – a sweeping panorama of bulging mountains, razor-sharp crags, scree-covered slopes and huge, glassy lakes. Few places in England can rival it for sheer scenic charm. It is also home to rare wildlife including England’s only golden eagles and the endangered red squirrel.
Little surprise, then, that the Lake District is one of Britain’s favourite spots to enjoy the great outdoors, but there are also plenty of historical and cultural attractions for rainy days - from slate mines and a ruined abbey to the homes of the famous scribblers William Wordworth and Beatrix Potter.

British wonders: 5 British Museum

Location: central London
What’s the damage? Free
Nowhere in Britain can rival the British Museum for sheer cultural clout. One of the nation’s top free attractions, it is also Britain’s biggest museum and one of the world’s oldest collections, boasting immense Egyptian, Greek, Oriental and Roman galleries among other booty. Such wonders as the Rosetta stone, the Parthenon sculptures and treasures of the Sutton Hoo burial ship reside here.
But before you even reach the exhibitions, prepare to be awestruck by the luminescent Great Court, revamped in a spectacle of glass and steel by Norman Foster for the new millennium. In its heart is the Central Reading Room, in which Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto.

British wonders: 6 Tower Hill

Location: Central London
What’s the damage? Tower of London admission £16.50
There is simply no more storied building in Britain than the infamous Tower of London. This World Heritage site has never been far from the bloody heart of English history since William the Conqueror laid its first stones in 1078. A former royal residence, treasury, mint, prison and arsenal, it is quite simply saturated by national history.
The site of many a royal decapitation, murder and imprisonment – it’s also home to the Crown Jewels, London’s oldest church, the famous ravens and a small army of Tudor-costumed Beefeaters. And of course, the tower’s famous neighbour is the suitably pompous but comparatively modern Tower Bridge, built in 1894.