Navigation:
From the weird and wonderful to the downright bizarre
Ever snorkelled through a bog, ate raw stinging nettles or dodged flaming tar barrels? Come to Britain and you can do all 3! Tie in your travels with one of our quirky customs or bizarre events and see a different side of Britain.
Each contestant is required to ‘swim’ 2 lengths (120 yards) of a murky peat bog using a non-recognised swimming stroke in a bid to finish first. Now famous worldwide, this wacky race has spawned mountain bike and triathlon versions.
Every year on 5 November brave souls carry flaming tar barrels through the streets of this Devon village. Opinion differs as to the origin of this festival of fire, but the most widely accepted version is that it began as a pagan ritual that cleanses the streets of evil spirits.
If you’re in Devon over the Spring Bank Holiday in May head to the village of Combe Martin and one of the region’s oldest and oddest customs. Over 4 days, allegorical characters search for the Earl of Rone, finally finding him on the Monday night. He is then paraded through the streets sitting backwards on a donkey, ‘shot’, knocked off his mount and finally thrown into the sea.
Each year human ‘birdmen’ fling themselves off a pier at this seaside resort to see who can ‘fly’ the furthest. Expect crazy costumes, complex man-powered flying machines and plenty of silly fun. A prize of £30,000 is offered for the furthest flight over 100 metres.
Every June a pub-ful of brave contestants race to see who can eat the most stinging nettles in an hour. The contest was born when 2 farmers argued over who had the longest stingers. A third man produced a longer nettle and rashly offered to eat it if longer could be found. When the inevitable happened he kept his word and history was made. Stinging nettles have been used in British cookery for hundreds of years, but here they are ingested raw with their stings in tact.
Join 250 competitors in this mad scramble through the stinking, ink-black mud of the Blackwater Estuary in Essex. Entrants are advised to get a tetanus jab and tape their shoes to their feet and, in January, when the race takes place, temperatures are freezing. Not for the faint-hearted, then, but lots of fun for anyone watching.
Pooh Sticks, the game in which contestants drop sticks from a bridge and rush to the other side to see whose stick emerges first, is a quintessentially British pastime. Invented by Winnie the Pooh, as written by A A Milne, it’s beloved by thousands across Britain and now a world championship honours the phenomenon.
The ‘sport’ of pulling the most hideous face imaginable has been recognised in this part of Britain since 1266 when Gurners first framed their most gruesome efforts in a horse collar. This proud tradition continues today. While not limited to toothless old men, old timers with elastic faces tend to make up the majority of the entrants.
Head to Northamptonshire on the second Sunday in October for the World Conker Championship and see veritable Olympians fight for glory armed only with a nut on a piece of string. Fallen autumn conkers (horse chestnuts) are threaded onto a string and swung at an opponent’s conker in an effort to smash it. Play alternates between players until one conker breaks and the winner’s remains.
The wife carrying competition is the climax of the racecourse’s November Beer and Cider Raceday. The game is thought to have originated as a joke based on a practice where young men publicly carried off the women they wanted to marry. These days the victors receive their own weight in beer.
For stress-free and economical train travel around Britain.
北爱尔兰的首府地理位置优越，是城市休闲的理想去处，同时还是前往北爱尔兰其他地区的门户。
Known as Scotland's style capital with its art deco brasseries, stylish shops and cultural centres, Glasgow boasts more than 30 museums and...
加地夫，充满活力的威尔士首府，拥有一流的购物场所、精彩的夜生活、朝气蓬勃的艺术与文化场所和可追溯至罗马时期的历史，令游客流连忘返。
利物浦正迅速成为欧洲最具受欢迎的都市度假目的地之一。 它荣获“2008 欧洲文化之都”的称号，除伦敦之外，其剧院、博物馆和艺术馆比英国任何城市的都要多。
伦敦不仅仅是一座首都城市，它还是一座生机勃勃的大都市。象征性的地标、数百年的历史、世界级的购物消费，还有酷到极致的时尚、艺术和美食体验，这一切都赋予了伦敦独一无二的特性。
奥克尼群岛是探索史前历史、野生动植物和海景的理想去处，同时还能享受奥克尼人恬淡的生活节奏与古道热肠。
康沃尔有着 320 多英里世界最美的海岸线、美妙绝伦的田园风光、引人入胜的花园以及世界级旅游景点。
布赖顿有英格兰最受欢迎的海滨城市之称，历史悠久、环境典雅、不落俗套， 是休闲度假的理想去处。
斯诺多尼亚是威尔士最著名的地区之一，以陡峭的高山、令人神往的自然景观、崎岖的海岸线和威尔士与英格兰最高峰－斯诺敦山而闻名。
科茨沃尔德是一片绵延的山丘地区，位于美丽的埃文河畔斯特拉特福德（Stratford-upon-Avon）、巴斯（Bath）和牛津之间。
Bath, an exquisite Georgian spa city boasting the Royal Crescent, Roman Baths, and Thermae Bath Spa. 由罗马人建造，现为世界遗产。
Stratford-upon-Avon is William Shakespeare's home town with glorious river setting, five houses associated with Shakespeare, The RSC Courtyard...
古老、活力、传统、令人激动，切斯特是英国最佳度假胜地之一。 切斯特拥有古老的建筑、世界一流的足、咖啡文化以及丰富的娱乐设施。
温莎，拥有悠久历史、高档购物用餐佳所、运动、休闲活动和众多盛事的旅游胜地。 拥有 13 个景点，包括温莎城堡、伊顿公学和乐高城（Legoland）。
约克的历史就是英格兰的历史。 There are 2000 years worth of history in this beautiful North Yorkshire city.
