TOP 5 U.K. NATURAL TREASURES
When we think about the U.K. shopping, trendy city neighbourhoods or business quarters may come to mind, but there is so much more than that. It’s actually surprisingly green with a deeply indented coastline of almost 20,000 miles. Within its boundaries, the UK is a sort of world in miniature — with canyons, mountains, river valleys, deep, beautiful lakes and amazing beaches. These are among the best of its natural treasures.
SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK, Gwynedd, WALES
Mount Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales and the highest British mountain south of Scotland. The Snowdon massif rises from the centre of Snowdonia National Park and the views across North Wales from its slopes and summit are spectacular.
On a clear day, you can see Ireland, Scotland, and England as well as a Welsh landscape dotted with castles and lakes (called Llyn in Welsh). There are a eight official paths to the top. The Llanberis path, known as the "tourist path" because it is considered the easiest, is also the longest — at 9 miles.
But, in fact, there is a much easier way to enjoy the views. The Snowdon Mountain Railway takes visitors up from late March to early November and its route reveals ever changing and dramatic vistas.
If, on the other hand, you'd rather look up at the mountain than down from it, there are good views of Snowdon from the Janus Path, a 500 yard, accessible board walk around Llyn Cwellyn, a lake to the west of the summit near the Mt. Snowdon base camp. It's reached from the Snowdon Ranger Station parking.
DURDLE DOOR, DORSET, ENGLAND
If you have a vivid imagination, Durdle Door, a natural stone arch near Lulworth Cove on the Dorset Coast, looks like a serpent, or a dinosaur rising from the sea. The idea seems less far fetched when you consider that this is part of England's Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site where tectonic forces have pushed some of the oldest rocks on earth to the surface.
Some of England's first dinosaur fossils were found here and fossil finds from as long ago as the Triassic Era (250 to 200 million years ago) can still be seen in the rock face or picked up on the beach. At Lulworth, most finds are from the Jurassic Era, 200 to 140 million years ago.
You don't have to be into very ancient bones to enjoy the way the sun and sea create a changing play of colours on Durdle Door. It's beside a small shingle beach. But a short walk over the headlands (or from the car park above) will take you to the gentle waters of horseshoe-shaped Lulworth Bay and the soft, white pebble beach at Lulworth Cove — all the makings for a fine day out.
SEVEN SISTERS COUNTRY PARK, EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND
The Seven Sisters Country Park is an exceptional place for walks, bird watching, canoeing or just unforgettable memories.
Located in the South Downs National Park, its name comes from the 7 chalk cliffs that make up one of the natural wonders in England.
Accessible trails for all types of travellers, sporty or not, are available and the site is accessible to people with reduced mobility. A nice trail (a 4km round trip) will allow you to enjoy the beautiful landscapes of Seven Sisters Country Park.
LOCH LOMOND, Stirlingshire, SCOTLAND
It's hard to find a view of Loch Lomond that isn't totally lovely. At more than 27 square miles, it is Britain's largest lake (by surface area) with a great variety of bankside views, overlooked by mountains covered in woodlands and heather. The most memorable way to enjoy a view of Loch Lomond is when its banks and the lower slopes of Ben Lomond are clothed in their autumn colours.
GIANT CAUSEWAY, COUNTY ANGTRIM, NORTHERN IRELAND
The Giant's Causeway, near Bushmills on the North coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, isn't man made. It's not even upgraded or maintained by rock gardeners who come out when everyone is gone to tidy things up. The causeway, looking like a roadway into North Atlantic, is made of about 40,000 interlocking, hexagonal basalt columns, some more than 12 metres high. They are the remnants of an ancient volcanic lava glow, frozen in time. The tops of the columns form stepping stones, mostly hexagonal (six-sided) but also with four, five, seven and eight sides, leading from the foot of a cliff into the sea.
The Giant's Causeway was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987. Today it is owned and managed by the National Trust.
If you plan to visit, do keep in mind that reasonable mobility and fitness is required to walk on the causeway. There is, however, a new and accessible National Trust visitors' centre. In 2013 it was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize in architecture. The visitor centre is one kilometre from the Causeway, It's not visible from the site so its wild aspect, like a harsh backdrop for some moody Game of Thrones scenes, is maintained. Interestingly, a lot of the area around the Giant's Causeway - caves, beaches, forests - was used in the television saga but the causeway itself has never made the cut.