The Isle Of Wight ( videos )

The diamond shaped Isle of Wight measures 23 miles wide by 13 miles deep, and lies a short sea or air crossing away from the South Coast of England.

The Isle of Wight has stunning unspoilt scenery, breathtaking sea views, fantastic award-winning sandy beaches, and a rich historical heritage, with attractions, activities and adventures to suit visitors of all ages, abilities and nationalities.

More than half the Island is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with picturesque villages, spectacular cliffs, downland, sandy beaches, rich farmlands, creeks, marshland, river valleys, and a rich diversity of wildlife, flora and fauna.

The Isle of Wight is a beach lover's paradise with over 60 miles of beach varying from quiet secluded bays, fossil rich coves and miles of award winning clean sandy beaches.

The island is home to some of the most diverse countryside in the UK, and has over 500 miles of award-winning public signed footpaths and bridleways taking in historic farms, pretty lanes, thatched villages, coastal trails and woodlands.

The island is also a place of simple but rewarding pleasures such as; rock pooling, crab fishing, jumping off breakwaters and building sandcastles.

The Isle of Wight has a wide variety of attractions and activities. These are available for all age groups, all abilities, and for all tastes. They range from educational to fun, from passive to interactive, and from sedate to extreme.

Attractions include; historic houses / villas / castles / windmill / lighthouse, landscaped gardens, art centres, steam railway, boat / bus / military / shipwreck and dinosaur museums, Blackgang chine, Shanklin chine, the Needles and pleasure park, adventure and animal parks, seaside zoo, llama trekking, butterfly and fountain world, water light show, ten-pin bowling, and music festivals.

Activities include; golf, walking, cycling, mountain biking, horse riding, power boating, sailing, kayaking, scuba diving, body boarding, stand-up paddle boarding, surfing, windsurfing, kite surfing, hang-gliding, paragliding, and tree climbing.

Holiday accommodation on the Isle of Wight is plentiful and varied, both catered and self-catering, including hotels, guest houses, holiday homes, cottages, apartments, static caravan sites, touring caravan parks, and camping. You can even hire a Volkswagen Camper Van to tour the island, or 'go green' and stay in a yurt.

The Isle of Wight is one of the UK's sunniest and warmest places, with Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor regularly topping the sunshine league table. With relatively mild winters, a below average annual rainfall, and high light intensity, the local climate borders on sub-tropical, allowing many Mediterranean-type plants, trees, and vineyards to flourish.

The Isle of Wight was home to many prehistoric monsters, over fifteen types of dinosaur are known to have inhabited the Island, and the commonest and best known was a plant-eater called Iguanodon. This creature stood about 5 metres high and was 10 metres long thanks to a large tail.

The Isle of Wight is one of the richest locations for dinosaur finds in the whole of Europe, a combination of location and geology has made it the perfect place to find fossils. As many as three hundred Iguanodon skeletons have been discovered on the Island since records began.

The Isle of Wight really is an island for all ages, all tastes, and all seasons.

Stephen Davies has spent many years holidaying in the Isle of Wight, both as a child and a parent. For everything you need to know about the Isle of Wight visit: http://www.the-isle-of-wight.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_R_Davies

H.M.S. Victory Portsmouth VIDEO...

Enjoy a Day Trip From London to Canterbury ( videos )

Canterbury is perhaps most famous for its Cathedral which is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England. The Archbishops of Canterbury have been the head of the Church in England (Roman Catholic from 602 to the 16th century and Anglican ever since the Reformation) from the time Canterbury was founded by Saint Augustine. The Cathedral is also the burial place of King Henry IV and Edward the Black Prince, and was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

You can visit the Cathedral and marvel at its wondrous architecture. It's easily found in the middle of the city atop a small hill.

Something else the city is famous for is the Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. The story tells of the tales told by a group of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

Today you can visit the Canterbury Tales museum located in the centre of town on St Margaret's Street, just off the main High Street. In the museum you can take a step back some 500 years to the 14th century and meet all the characters as they each tell their tale.

The rest of Canterbury has an interesting mix of architectural styles. Some were lost forever as a result of the bombings during WW2. Other landmark buildings include St Martin's Church, the oldest parish church still in use, and there's even evidence of the original Roman walls; St Augustine's Abbey, formerly a Benedictine Abbey; and Canterbury Castle, ruins of a Norman castle built in the 11th Century.

There are a number of other museums and attractions to visit within the city such as:
The West Gate Tower used to guard the road coming in from London. You can climb to the top of the tower and see the Cathedral towering over the rest of the town. The inside of the tower houses a museum.

The Roman Museum which is located underground at the level of the old Roman town. Inside you will see some of the preserved remains and reconstructions of what life was like when the Romans ruled most of the known world.

The Canterbury Royal Museum and Art Gallery is found on High Street and gives you an excellent example of Victorian Architecture. The gallery includes works from T.S. Cooper, one of England's more famous artists.

There's also the Buffs Regimental Museum, which is a branch of the National Army Museum, and tells the story of one of England's oldest infantry regiments The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).

The Sidney Cooper Gallery displays local art and is connected to the University Building.

The Canterbury Computer Gallery of Art is located on the High Street and displays a small selection of digital art.

Located just a little outside Canterbury is the Sarre Windmill which is still grinding corn. There's also the town of Dover, and its famous white chalk cliffs, just 25 kms away along the A2.

How to get to Canterbury?

Canterbury is located in Kent, to the east of London City, some 150 kms drive from Heathrow Airport so the journey shouldn't take much more than an hour and a half.

When driving out of the airport head for the M25. Once you're on the M25 you will want to travel south in an anti-clockwise direction. Stay on the M25 for about 70kms until you can turn off onto the M26 which joins up with the M20. After 13 kms on the M20 you will be going around Maidstone and you will have to option of turning off at Junction 7 onto the A279 which will get you onto the M2. This road eventually becomes the A2 and will take you the rest of the way to Canterbury.

If you are driving out of London City then you will simply need to get onto the A2, which starts close to Greenwich, and this will take you all the way to Canterbury.

Enjoy your trip to London and remember if you need to book car hire, check out our Car hire Heathrow Airport page.

Mairead Foley writes for http://www.Novacarhire.com/ where you can book car hire at airports, ferry ports, rail stations, cities and towns all over the world.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mairead_Foley

A Quick Guide to London

Planning for vacations in London? Then let me shortly and briefly tell more about London so that you can plan accordingly and enjoy it to its maximum!
London is one of the worlds most sought after city for vacations as it is a beautiful amalgamation of historic buildings, well-known museums and galleries and of course one of the best USP is its dining, clubbing, entertainment and now a new range of boutique hotels. Location
London being the capital of UK is located beside river Thames. Connected by several airports, including London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Stanstead, and with direct train links to the continent via the Channel Tunnel, and to the rest of the UK via domestic operators, the capital is comfortable to approach.
Staying options
New boutique hotels are these days hot favorite among tourists and there are also expensive hotels alongside smaller guesthouses. These hotels have immaculate service which are stylish and also have a real atmosphere rather than one manufactured by the marketing department of a large hotel chain, staying in one of these hotels can only make your trip to London more pleasurable and unforgotten experience.
Hot spots
You should indeed plan your itinerary well in advance so that you can enjoy maximum in limited time that you have and also don’t miss on anything. There’s so much going on in London that even the residents don't see it all. You can see historical Tower of London or St. Paul's Cathedral for example; some of the treasures and paintings in the museums and galleries; a show in the West End and some great drinking and dining. You can also take assistance of the reception staff to help you in planning and also they can help you buy tickets. And yes, to capture those delightful moments of your stay make sure that you have your camera with you while making a long list of the things you want to do the next time you visit.
How to navigate
London has a up to date public transport system.
A widespread underground network takes you to all parts of the city, and you will be priced on a "zone" basis, that makes much easier to calculate which tickets to buy and the total amount that would be spend. Also ask about the saver tickets if they come out to be cheap then go for them.
If you are comfortable traveling in London's famous red buses, then they are pretty cheap options approximately £1 for central London journeys.
Otherwise traditional "black cab" is the other option that you can think of! These hackney cabs are easily available anywhere and everywhere and the driver is skillful at avoiding traffic jams, good to talk to and honest with fare meters, a journey with a hackney cab driver is a real London experience.
So keep above things in mind for planning your vacations in London.
To find additional information like this or about cities and holidays visit – [http://outdoorandtravel.com] [http://outdoorandtravel.com] was founded Jakob Culver. Jakob has a background and large knowledge in and about tourism.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jakob_Culver

London

Are you going to travel to London soon and still don't know what to do there the whole time?
This article will help you to find out more about the famous tourist attractions, how to get to the centre and move around and will tell you what you cannot miss in the British capital.
Let´s start with public transport: This is really easy in London. If you take the tube the only thing you have to know is the direction in which you are travelling. It is North-, South-, West- or Eastbound. Print out a little tube map before you get to London or make sure to have one in you tourist guide and then it´s absolutely easy to travel within the city. Also the buses are really nice to use, although the red is a bit more complicated but you get the chance to see something of the city.
Travelling to the city after you´ve landed is also no problem, because wherever it is there is either access to the tube or there will be trains taking you to the city centre. In Gatwick or Stansted for instance operate trains every 30 minutes and you need only about the same amount of time to get to the centre. From Heathrow you can use the tube or the Express train and reach the centre within 20 minutes or 45 minutes by tube.
Once you are in the centre and got to your accommodation you can start your trip and the city is all yours. As there is so much to do in London you should better read some guides and information before your holidays. Almost every attraction has its own website in different languages available and the official English Tourism Board also provides good information on its website.
In case you have never been to London before you should definitely go and visit all the main attractions like the Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and all the rest. Don´t miss Madame Tussauds, that´s really great fun to "meet" all your idols and VIPs.
If you have been to London before you can go see the less known attractions. People who like to go shopping should go to Camden Market, it´s every Saturday from ten and you´ll find loads of shops from shoes and clothes to furniture and books. It is said that also designers come here to get inspired.
A really nice restaurant recommendation is the "Fifteen" that is run by Jamie Oliver, the famous British chef.
Have a great holiday in London and enjoy your time!
In case you are still looking for an accommodation here is a recommendation: London Apartments. There are some beautiful apartments in the city centre and I've only made positive experiences.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Melanie_Menuhr