Time to Take Some Time

Article by: Amelia Thomas, December 2006

The temptation, when British people do finally manage to take time off, is to hop on a 99p flight to Venice, grab a package deal to the Canaries, or sling on a backpack and head to distant, exotic climes. But there's a wealth of treasures lying just beyond the average British doormat. The UK is rapidly developing an interest in adventure sports, active pursuits and unusual pastimes, and there's a host of ways to unwind without negotiating the Friday evening crush at Stansted Airport.

Recent surveys have revealed that as a nation, Brits are notorious for taking few holidays and working exceptionally long hours.

A Bank Holiday

Take an average Bank Holiday in London. While the motorways are packed with traffic heading to the seaside or countryside (a third of British Bank Holiday makers don't mind sitting in the car for three hours or longer to reach their destination), there are dozens of ways to get physical closer to home.

Start the morning by getting down to your bare essentials with a one-to-one striptease class at the London School of Striptease, from which you'll depart equipped with your own unique party piece. Next, contemplate matters of the spirit rather than the flesh: head to one of London's great crumbling necropolises. Wander between melodramatic monuments - allegedly haunted by creatures of the night - at Highgate Cemetery, eternal home to greats including Karl Marx and George Eliot. Alternatively, get lost in forgotten Nunhead Cemetery, where you can feast on wild blackberries grown huge and juicy from the particularly rich and plentiful supply of human fertiliser.

Leave the cares of the Big Smoke far behind with a spot of swimming at one of London's great open-air pools. Hampstead Mixed Pond on Hampstead Heath is a magnet for those who like dipping their toes in naturally icy waters, whilst Tooting Bec Lido is the place for 50s-style lounging between laps. Refreshed, you can then head for horsy hacking on Wimbledon Common or ride like the gentry did on Rotten Row in Hyde Park. End the day by testing out, Dita von Teese style, what you learned in the morning at one of London's increasingly popular, fabulously flamboyant burlesque bars, like Volupté in Holborn.

A Weekend

With a UK weekend free it's worthwhile remembering that mainland Britain is not the smallest island floating on the North Sea. Take a southern trip to romantic Sark or Herm, both tiny green gems in the Channel Islands, and stroll the gorgeous, sandy beaches. At the opposite end of this not-always-so-united of kingdoms, scale the five peaks of Foula in the Shetland Isles, or sail out to tiny Hebridean Staffa. The island's magnificent basalt Fingal's Cave was awe-inspiring enough to send Mendelssohn racing off to pen his famous Hebrides Overture.

A Week

If you've a week to spare, you could head next door into Ireland and spend seven nights behind the reins, meandering open roads in a horse-drawn carriage, stopping off for copious Guinness and craic at country pubs en route. Alternatively, dare a week on the stunning Pembrokeshire coastline in Wales, indulging in a combination of sea kayaking, kite surfing and the ultimate thrill-sport, coasteering (a cross between canyoning and cliff jumping). Bed down under canvas at Pembrokeshire Tipis; the tipis - well-padded with futons, cushions and sheepskins - provide a great place to rest weary, bruised bones.

A Fortnight

There's a wealth of treasures lying just beyond the average British doormat.

If you have a fortnight - or more - at your disposal in the British Isles, take off on one of the UK's long-distance walking paths, where you can indeed 'wander lonely as a cloud'. There's the 1013km-long South West Coast Path, hugging spectacular Cornwall cliffs; the Ulster Way in Northern Ireland, a circular route that takes about a month to complete; or the famous northern Pennine Way, which takes you tripping along the 'backbone of England'.

With 132 days each year to explore the nation's green and pleasant lands, Brits could just discover that it's better by far to spend at least some of that time burning sausages on a campfire beside a remote coastal path, or burning fat in a striptease workout, rather than simply burning the midnight oil on yet another all-nighter at the office.

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