Britain's Best Views
 

visitbritain.com: Britain's Best Views

Like many of my fellow travelers, I'm a big fan of a great view! :) I've climbed steps, hills, towers, etc. to try and get that wonderful view and pics!

While Stonehenge may be a disappointment to some, I still thought it was cool to see.

On a clear day, the Eye can provide some great views and I know we've already seen nice pics from the Shard!

:)

The list:
Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England
The London Eye, London
Seven Sisters, Sussex, England
Ardnamurchan, West Coast of Scotland
Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland
Glencoe, Highlands, Scotland
Wastwater, Lake District, England
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, Wales
The Shard, London

Scott's View in the Scottish Borders just east of Melrose and a few miles from Dryburgh abbey. It was a favorite stopping place for Sir Walter Scott as he drove his team of horses in the evenings. As the horses pulled Scott's funeral cortege from Abbotsford to his burial place at Dryburgh they stopped when they reached what is now called Scott's View.

Some of my favourite views in Great Britain:

• the view from Waterloo Bridge (both directions - upstream and downstream)
• the view from the train as it crosses the River Tyne (with the view from the train as it passes through Durham not far behind)
• the views as one travels between Fort William and Mallaig (the "Road to the Isles")
• various views from northern Skye back towards the Cuillins and the mainland
• the view from Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris
• the view from the waterfront at Ullapool

Of course the view of the White Cliffs as one approaches Dover on a cross-Channel ferry can be very moving if one is "returning home"...

Maybe it's just me, but anyone making a special trip to Newcastle just to view the cityscape is likely to be underwhelmed.

Well, this is one of those Tourist Board lists, so I guess they're obliged to include sites from a variety of regions. For the Northeast, I would have thought the view of Durham Cathedral would have been a more obvious contender, but I wager that the Tourist Board is trying to help promote "regenerated" Newcastle's tourism. I actually find the Tyne bridges to be a pretty impressive view, though not worth a special trip unless you really love that sort of thing.

Also, notice that the listed views generally don't require much climbing? Surely some of the most amazing views would be from mountaintops, but the Tourist Board would rather push more easily accessible views.

Just another example of why I don't particularly like these top-10 lists.

I agree about the pre-packaged Top Ten Lists. They always represent someone's agenda. However, I've found some pretty cool places by paying attention to the responses to those lists.

good point. And 'accessible' as well as from the POV of being mainland. What no Skye or Shetland?

I suspect the other issue is, it's virtually impossible just to find 10 views in the UK.

Ah well, I may as well add a handful of my own.

• Along the River Deben through Woodbridge, on one of those still days where the water reflects the clouds, boats and mill like a mirror.
• Across the bay at St Ives (Cornwall) back towards Porthminster, through the mix of sunbathers and fishing boats, all with the immense quality of light that the town is famous for.
• The view from the railway line between Dawlish and Newton Abbot. First the sea wall, then the estuary towards Teignmouth. Always the herald of a wonderful holiday in Cornwall!
• If I'm allowed the Channel Islands, then the Coupée in Sark. Can't even imagine crossing this before theconcrete walls were built (under, er, dubious circumstances).
• The view across the Kyles of Bute from Great Cumbrae. There are probably better views in Scotland, but this sums up the area for me, and brings back fond memories of childhood holidays on the island.
• Roseberry Topping. An odd-shaped hill on the edge of the North York Moors and on the edge of Teesside. Again, fond memories, as I used to get the train down and walk here. The contrast of the unspoilt moors and (at the time) very industrial Teesside sums up the area nicely.
• Vindolanda. Come for the roman remains, stay for the views. I grew up on Tyneside and spent a lot of time out walking along the Tyne Valley and up into the hills. I love the scenery here, even if it can be quite bleak at times!

I went to Vindolanda once - we walked part of Hadrians' Wall. The entire weekend, it was so foggy we could see 20 m in front of us - the postcards of the area looked nice though! ;)

Heh, I had the same experience going over the Øresund Bridge. The annoying thing was, I could see the Sound clearly from the Copenhagen office all morning - it was just as I emerged from Kastrup that the sea fog rolled in!

Also had the same experience taking some friends to Edinburgh for the first time. I'd told them how wonderful the view of the castle was when you walk up Waverley steps, turn round and bang! it hits you. We came up on the seated sleeper (I was younger and poorer...), arrived, walked up Waverley steps, turned round and bang! A great big wall of fog. Oh well.

Ah, happened to me at Mont St Michel too, now I come to think of it.

fog following you around...never good! ;)

You should see the little stormcloud over my head...

I recently went by train from Newcastle to Kirkcaldy, Scotland (changing in Edinburgh Waverley going north, direct train coming back). If you were going to go on a 2 hour train ride anywhere in the world, this one would be really competitive. Views out the right hand side of the train worth noting are: Alnmouth harbor; Holy Island and Lindisfarne; Berwick upon Tweed, where the train crosses a classic viaduct over the river Tweed similar to the viaduct over the river Wear in Durham; signage marking the modern border between Scotland and England; the North Sea and Firth of Forth coastline; central Edinburgh; the crossing the Forth on the world's most famous rail bridge (the suspension road bridge is out the left hand side); and the Fife coastline. Raith Rovers FC's stadium, Stark's Park, greets you as you enter Kirkcaldy (I was there to watch the Scottish Cup match between RRFC and Celtic, with Glasgow's Green and White running out 3-0 winners).

Another view in the UK would be from the top of Glastonbury Tor; I've done it and it is worth the trudge up the hill. Another is from the visitor center in the town of Battle overlooking the Hastings battlefield.

I happen to like Newcastle. Sort of a quirky place, but the downtown is relatively easy to navigate, and, if you like looking at bridges, you are in your element. One thing that surprised me was the gigantic birds nests within the iron work on the classic Tyne Bridge (the prototype for the Sydney Harbor Bridge). I think also of the Baltic Flour Mill building on the Gateshead side of the river Tyne, and remember that when Americans refer to "Arctic" conditions, people in the UK use the word "Baltic".

I also did the Segudunum museum tour out in Wallsend, which provides the story of the Roman garrison of 2 millennia ago and Hadrian's wall.

I thought that the Royal Wedding proved that there was a certain view of Pippa Middleton that made many men's top ten list!