Introducing our Britain Map

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On our blog you can read our hints & tips, find inspiration, information and news about Britain. We now introduce our Britain Map, so you can find the things we blog about in Google Maps.

Personally, I love maps as it makes me see how the different sites of interests lie and how to get between them. So I think a Google Map full of “pins of recommendation” is a great way to plan a trip to Britain. The map is also a great way to browse through our blog in a more graphical way. Every pin is linked back to a relevant post in our blog, so if you are going to London, just zoom in on London in our Britain Map and click the pins to read about our tips in the area.

From now on you will see a link to the location of the site in most of our new posts. We will also add more and more of our previous posts to the map and hopefully the map will be full of pins soon!

You can find our map in the top menu or by clicking here.

Enjoy, and please let us know what you think!

/Carl

Nightlife Guide – Bars in London

Put on your boogie shoes and dance your way through the streets of London. This big city offers plenty of bars, pubs and nightclubs for everyone.

The nightlife guide is divided into three parts and I’ve picked five venues that I’ve been to or want to visit. Look out for the next blog post about pubs in London.

5 Bars in London
Long Bar
The name says it all, it’s a long bar – 80 feet long to be exact. This trendy bar is a part of Sanderson Hotel where the cocktails are made of only the best spirits and ingredients.
> Find it on our Britain Map

Roadhouse
If you’re looking for a laid-back watering hole, this is the place. Enjoy live performances, tickle your taste buds with exciting flavours and watch the bar staff execute some serious flairing.
> Find it on our Britain Map

Coq D’Argent
A rooftop bar and restaurant with a great view over the city. Quench your thirst with some fine wine.
> Find it on our Britain Map

Jewel Piccadilly
A beautiful bar and club with stunning décor and four rooms in different themes.
> Find it on our Britain Map

Vertigo 42
Champagne bar with a fantastic panoramic view.
> Find it on our Britain Map

If you know about other great bars in London, please share it with us in the comment field.

Useful links:
> Bars – on a budget
> Late-night London

/Siska

Blog Winner – Asbjørn goes Aberdeen

Last year, VisitScotland held a competition for Norwegian bloggers where the prize was a 3 night trip to Aberdeen City and Shire with Eastern Airways. We pulled two winners who each got to bring a friend. The lucky winners were Asbjørn Wille and Liv Brekkenes. Congratulations!

Asbjørn took his wife with him, and this is about their experience from Aberdeen City and Shire.

“My wife and I visited Aberdeen during the Easter holiday and we discovered that Aberdeen is an exciting city. We also got to travel around and see its beautiful green landscape. We stayed at Jurys Inn, which is a top modern hotel in the heart of the city and it’s a part of Union Square – a huge shopping centre.

At the airport we were met by a friendly and service minded lady from Avis and we prepared ourselves to start driving on the wrong side of the road for the very first time. We were a bit nervous, but after great success in the first roundabout we felt fine. Driving in Scotland was in fact a pleasant experience.

On Saturday, after a good Scottish breakfast, we were ready to explore the city. We took a taxi to the lovely Seaton Park and walked from there. There were many charming streets, small beautiful cottages and great architecture. Aberdeen is also a city where you can really shop till you drop! You’ll find everything from the big fashion boutiques, shopping centres, charity shops, small designer houses to local street markets.

While in Aberdeen, we made sure to try some haggis and it was much better than we had expected. But we had the best dinner at the restaurant at the Jurys Inn hotel. The meal was fantastic and deserves a star.

Sunday was our big day on the road. In our Avis car we started early in the morning and our first stop was at the beautiful Stonehaven – this is a must-visit town. It’s difficult to describe by words – you just have to see it for yourselves. After Stonehaven we drove to Dunnottar Castle. What a location and what a view.

Next stop was at Crathes Castle and Garden. A couple of lovely ladies from the National Trust for Scotland (NST) took us on a guided tour and told us interesting stories about the castle and its items. We also visited the famous Glendfiddich distillery in Dufftown.

Our trip to Aberdeen and Shire was a great success. It was great to explore, taste and see this part of Britain. We fell in love with Scotland and its people. Hopefully we will be back soon. You just have to visit Aberdeen.”

Below you can see which places Asbjørn and his wife visited in Aberdeen. (Click on the names to find it on the map.)
- Jurys Inn Hotel
- Union Square Shopping Centre
- Seaton Park
- Stonehaven
- Glenfiddich Distillery
- Dunnottar Castle
- Crathes Castle and Garden

Liv Brekkenes, the other winner, will soon share her experience from Aberdeen City and Shire. So keep checking the blog.

/Siska

Quirky Event of the Week – World Gravy Wrestling Championships

If you’re in Britain today and like food festivals and wrestling, the Pennine Lancashire Festival of Food & Culture might be the perfect place for you.

Since the festival started 5 years ago, the Pennine Lancashire Festival of Food & Culture has become one of Britain’s most popular food festivals with over 50,000 visitors. The festival offers gourmet food from all over the world. At the festival people can try pony trekking picnics, culinary canal cruises, champagne balloon flights, ale trails, see local singers, comedians, traditional Lancashire dancers and and watch the Knights of the kitchen Charity Cricket Match. But that’s not all. The festival is also home to the World Gravy Wrestling Championships where people dress up in funny clothing and wrestle each other of a pool filled with Lancashire Gravy. This year’s dress code is ‘Fancy’ and ‘Entertaining’ and Everyone can apply on a first come first served basis.

Tickets £2.00 for adults and £1.00 for children (£6 for family of 4) and can be bought at the entrance. So if you don’t have anything better to do today, head down to the Rose N Bowl in Rossendale, Lancashire for a full day of family fun. Click here to find the place on a map. But hurry, the games begin at 12 noon!

For further information, please visit their website: www.worldgravywrestling.com

- Towe

Extreme sports, part III – Motorsports

In the previous episodes of Extreme sports in Britain we’ve been up in the air, and below sea level. Now it’s finally time for my own favourite extreme sport, and we’ll start off with my favourite vehicle – the dirt bike.

Motocross & Enduro
Britain’s shifting terrain is perfect for those who like to get an exhilarating experience in the dirt. There are a lot of MX tracks to practice your skills on throughout the UK like the 30 year old motocross circuit in Chippenham.

If you want to see Britain’s beautiful landscape and still feel the exhilarating speed on the back of a two-wheeled monster, Ride Adventure offers great off road tours in Wales.

To find more enduro tracks in Britain, click here.

Quadbikes
Quadbike is much like a motorcycle but with four wheels instead of two. It’s much easier to manoeuvre and you only need a normal drivers licence to drive it. Try driving through tough terrain in Scotland’s wild-back country or in South West England.

4×4 – Offroad vehicles
Another great activity for off road enthusiast in Britain is 4×4 vehicles like jeeps and land rovers. There are many places around Britain where you can rent a Land Rover or jeep to go on organized tours with guides and different difficulty levels.

Read my first two parts of this guide, by clicking on the links below
Part I – Britain by Air
Part II – Down by the Riverside

Next week, I’ll be guiding you through the British mountains in my final episode of Extreme Sports in Britain so stay tuned!

- Towe

We proudly present our new blog name!

Earlier this Summer, we asked for your help to come up with a new name for our blog. The verdict is now – finally – in. This has been a long and difficult decision. We’ve received 276 suggestions and it has not been an easy task to just pick one name – we’ve read them several times. There were many great suggestions but as always, there can only be one winner. We are proud to announce that Christina’s submission Britain by Heart will be our new blog name!

The jury found the name to reflect our core values, which is to be inspiring, inviting, friendly and warm. It also covers all of Britain in a way that Mind the Gap, a very London related expression, did not. Finally, the name also connects well with our Facebook group “LoveUK”. And we do of course know Britain by heart!

In addition to all the honour and glory received for giving us our new blog name, Christina has also won a £100 gift certificate from Amazon.com. Congratulations!

We will now work on giving our blog a new look to go with the new name, so please check back here soon again! To all of you who have submitted a blog name suggestion, thank you for participating and of course your patience!

/Siska

Jimi Hendrix Fan?

On 25 August to 7 November the Handel House Museum presents the Hendrix in Britain exhibition in the rock legend’s former home at 23 Brook Street in central London.

It’s been 40 years since Jimi Hendrix died and in honour of his music contribution the museum will showcase his life and success in the UK. There will also be displayed film clips, images and clothes. For tickets, please click  here

Find Handel House Museum on our map.

/Siska

Hindersson does Quirky London

Thank you for voting in our poll regarding what our friend Thomas Hindersson should do in London. As a result Thomas did London on a budget and Quirky London plus an extra feature on food.

Here’s the first film (in Swedish) and this time Thomas goes quirky. Watch him ride a Mini Cooper through London, fall in love with Camden, get a proper meal near Brick Lane and explore the narrowest house in town.

We’d love it if you ‘d share your quirky experiences in London with us. But now – watch the film and stay tuned for another one soon!

First episode here.

//Johannes

The Scary London Dungeons

London Dungeons is an interactive museum situated in the heart of London. With live actors, shows, scary rides and special effects the museum takes the visitor back to the darkest moments of the capital’s history deep down in the dungeons of London. The attractions are not for the faint hearted!

When I was 17 I went to London for the first time with my family and I was sooo exited. I had decided to visit so many places. I wrote them down, checked prices and addresses and started preparing my mom for the London Dungeons (she hates scary stuff). But when I arrived in London and we went to visit the dungeons, it was closed for reconstruction. So the closest I came was when the sightseeing bus stopped outside the entrance for a while. Well, you can imagine the disappointment…

So when I got an email about a summer offer on entrance tickets to London Dungeons, I thought to myself – “This time I have to go!” And maybe, after 12 years, I’ll finally get to it.

The normal prices for London Dungeons is £23.00 (Adults +16 years) and £17.00 (Children 4-15 years).  But until the 31st of August you can visit London Dungeons for only £12.00. Check out the offer here.

How to get there
The London Dungeons is situated in London Bridge, just seconds from the station and tube. Take the Northern or Jubilee lines to London Bridge station and walk about 100 metres and Bob’s your uncle!

For more information about opening hours, events and attractions at London Dungeons, please visit their website.

So if you’re not scared out of your wits, maybe I’ll see you deep down in the London dungeons! Moahahaaa…

- Towe

Find your way to London Dungeon with our Britain map:

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