Sightseeing

Britain's top sights, attractions, and sightseeing hints, tips, and resources

Odds are, no matter what other reasons you have for visiting the U.K., seeing the sights is somewhere near the top of the list.

The U.K. has more royal castles, Renaissance art, medieval towns, Celtic ruins, literary sights, adorable villages, amazing museums, and art-spangled churches and cathedrals than you could hope to see in a lifetime.

Doesn't mean you can't have fun trying.

The tips and resources in this section (and its sister "Itineraries" section) can help with everything from devising a plan of attack for each day to tips on getting the most out of museums.

You'll learn how daytripping can make a trip to just two cities feel like a Grand Tour of ten top destinations, and get a list of tricks and insider advice that can help save money on sightseeing.

There are Top 12 lists of the best sights and, crucially, a cheat sheet describing which major sights you should book ahead of time (and how to do so) to avoid hours of standing in line.

Also in this section you can find advice on using microtours (guided museum visits, city bus tours, city walking and bike tours, private guides, oddball experiences) to help you get to know a place better, and advice on how to deal with cultural overload after a whirlwind week of Old Masters and Gothic architecture and world-class theatre.

And since sightseeing brings out the shutterbug in all of us, there's also a section on tips for shooting better photos and video footage so that you bring home interesting images to stimulate your memories in years to come, and not just snapshots of the family planted in front of famous monuments.