What are the best things to do in Britain in winter?
Replies: 44 - Last Post: Sep 25, 2008 3:58 AM Last Post By: Maestro
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What are the best things to do in Britain in winter?
Bit of an odd question I guess, but what are your favourite things to do in winter in Britain?eg. What pub has the best log fire or sunday roast? Where's the best place to go for a long winter walk? Are there any nice winter beaches? What about in the cities, are there any urban spaces, buildings or monuments which look spectacular in winter?
I quite fancy exploring the UK a bit this winter, and I want to know the hot cold spots, if you get what i mean...
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Winter beaches??!!You're obviously nuts, but there are group of diehards down on Brighton beach who go swimming every day of the year, whatever the weather.
In fact most places alnong the south coast have such groups/people.
As for scenery, Scotland is nice.
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ooh lovely thread.Lots of nice walks followed by boozy lunches imho. You can watch seals on St Cyrus beach in Scotland.
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So section by section....1. Best log (and coal) fires in a bar (and the finest real ales - if you understand what they are. I can explain more if you wish) are to be found in the north of England - especially in Lancashire, Cumbria (for the Lake District), West and North Yorkshire and Northumberland. I'm sure I'm gonna be bombarded with a million "NO's" for that one.
2. Sunday roasts.... Honestly, try and find a country bed & breakfast that offers lunch. I doubt there's finer. I stayed at a family farmhouse in North Wales a few years back and we all joined in with the Sunday lunch. Just a bottomless pit of the finest.
3. A great place to be for winter beaches is the SouthWest of England. In North Cornwall it's quite pleasant to swim in the sea in November and collect fossils from the cliffs on the brisk windy walk to the local pub.
4. A wonderful winter town is Aberdeen (Scotland). It's on the North Sea coast and quite often windy with many a stormy beach. It's great fun to walk along the coastal paths on the way to a fine lunch and a hot toddy (look that one up). You are likely to get snow and the accommodation out of season is a good price. Forget the sea though. It's skin biting.
5. Hotspots.... Um!!
Happy travelling.... Kriss - Manchester.
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Places I've visited in mid-winter and had a great time:North Wales is spectacular in winter - the reds and greens of the landscape.
Castles are great to visit - the stone is so solid, and cold and bleak - it gives a great, realistic feel to the places. I've been to York, Lincoln, Edinburgh, Warwick, Caernarvon, Harlech - all in winter, all great. Ditto Abbeys like Jedburgh, Tintern. Ditto cathedrals.
The Dorset coast is splendid at any time, and on clear winter days, quite wonderful.
Avebury stone circle with frost on the ground and a weak winter sun - lovely.
The theatre in London.
Poking around bookshops in Soho. The British Museum - fabulous, free and weather-proof. Ditto the National Gallery. And National Portrait Gallery.
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Agree with castles, indeed anything made out of stone or granite (see Aberdeen above). You could visit St Cyrus beach on the way up to Aberdeen and take in The Maerns for walking. You do really need a car though imho.London - walking along the canal on a really frosty morning or really early when it's all steamy and icy. REALLY nice.
Paddy, my mum lives near aberdeen and knows an 80 year old woman who SWIMS IN THE SEA EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR. She's got skin like a baby's!
Some right nutcases up there!
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#7My response was to idea of all those lovely pubs in Cornwall out of season. Maybe Fri Sat Sun they are open but rest of the week why bother.
As to idea that pubs don't shut due to lack of custom well the Beer and Pub association are saying that in 2008 36 pubs on average shut every week and this info only published 3 days ago.
Opening a pub Mon - Thursday where no customers around is a great idea. Assumming that owners is doing all the work they would need to cover £100 in energy costs at an estimate and hope they can break even from that. Employ any staff and it gets even worse.
Many pub owners in the rural areas of Cornwall have other jobs off season as simply the pub doesn't provide a year round living.
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There are many wonderful pubs, most of which are open all day, although if you want to find lunch in, say, Cornwall in the winter, you need to make sure you get to them by about 1.30pm at the latest, or they tend to stop serving. Some in very small villages may close during the afternoon, but there will still be plenty around. Failing that, you can find a little place for a proper clotted cream tea instead which should tide you over until the next pub...
