Hidden tourist gems in the UK

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Thwaite, North Yorkshire

The United Kingdom is hardly the largest country in the world, but surprisingly enough there are still many places that haven’t been explored by tourists. Perhaps the locals are too polite to advertise these hidden gems, or maybe they just want to keep them to themselves, who knows?

Fact is that there are dozens of amazing places in the UK which are either off the beaten path, or simply not mentioned at all in tourist brochures. So when you get tired of London and the other major attractions of the UK, check out these wonderful secret places.

The Yorkshire Wolds

The mysteriously named Yorkshire Wolds are a group of low hills in the north-east of England, which cover quite a large area, so maybe hidden is not the best word to describe them. They are simply not considered to be popular tourist destinations, and the fact that they are neglected is not necessarily bad.

After all, the windswept hills of the north would not look very good if they were swarming with tourists. Wharram Percy is a very interesting excavated medieval village in the Wolds, and the ruined abbey of Kirkham.

Norfolk

Norfolk is full of secret places that very few people know about. There are medieval churches, castles, abbeys and stately country manors. The ruins of Creake Abbey look like the perfect setting for a Gothic novel, on the backdrop of the lovely English countryside.

The town of Thetford is simply filled with history: there’s a priory, museums, a castle and a prehistoric mine. And let’s not forget about Binham Priory, ones of the oldest Norman abbeys in England, which has an exquisite parish church.

Cotswolds

The Cotswolds is a lovely place, where beautiful lanscapes are combined with a rich historic atmosphere. You can spend hours and hours exploring the Cotswolds countryside without getting bored, but if you want something different, visit Sezincote Castle, a unique palace built in an Oriental style.

Lower Oddington is a picturesque little town, and one of its two churches is a medieval wonder filled with Tudor paintings. There’s a particularly interesting piece called ‘Doom’, and there’s a curious painting of Cardinal Wolsey, who held the living at Oddington centuries ago.

Dorset

Dorset has quite a few very popular tourist attractions, for example Kingston Lacy or Corfe Castle, but there are many more places that are unfortunately somewhat neglected by visitors. One such place is Wolfeton House, near Dorchester, an Elizabethan country manor with two mismatched medieval gates in front of it.

The interior of the house is decorated with beautiful wood carvings, plasters and furniture, and the centerpiece of the house is an exquisitely carved fireplace. The petrified forest at Mupe Bay is also a fascinating place.

North York Moors

There are not many inhabited areas in the North York Moors National Park, but there are some very interesting ones on the fringes of the park. When you’ve finished admiring the scenery in the moors, pop over to Lastingham Church, an amazing Saxon building, or to Pickering Church, to see the wall paintings.

When you feel like taking a walk again, take the Wheeldale Roman Road,  a very old cobbled road (local legends say that it was built by a giant!) leading through a deserted stretch of moorlands.

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