Most people arrive in Britain with a picture already in their minds. Kiwis have a connection through heritage or history. Perhaps it is the world of Downton Abbey, with its grand estates and quiet country villages. For many New Zealanders it may be memories of an OE years earlier, catching the Tube for the first time or wandering through London streets. It all just feels quite familiar.
London is usually where the journey begins. Even if you have visited before, there is something about the city that draws you back in. The great landmarks are familiar, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament. The city never feels frozen, and buzzing with history sitting comfortably beside the energy of modern life.
Leaving the city behind, the countryside begins to unfold. The road west into Devon and Cornwall feels like stepping into the England many people imagine. Rolling farmland, coastal villages and places like St Ives and Land’s End where the Atlantic shapes everything. Further inland the Cotswolds bring honey-coloured villages and gentle hills that could easily belong in a period drama.
Across the water in Ireland, the atmosphere shifts again. There is a warmth and humour that runs through daily life. Music drifts from pub doorways, conversations linger a little longer, and folklore and history blend together in a way that feels uniquely Irish, and a sense of humour that feels close very close to our Kiwi sensibilities.
Further north the landscapes become more dramatic. Scotland’s Highlands open out into wide valleys, rugged coastlines and castles that seem perfectly placed against the hills. Cities like Edinburgh carry their own sense of character, proud, historic and quietly impressive.
Travelling around the British Isles reveals how varied these islands really are. Within a relatively small distance you move between different landscapes, cultures and histories. Many of the places you encounter are part of a remarkable shared heritage that stretches back centuries. The castles and cathedrals are certainly there. But so too are lively cities, coastal villages and landscapes that feel both familiar and quietly surprising.
For many travellers there is also a sense of revisiting something from earlier in life, in our heritage, or places once explored on an OE, now experienced again with fresh eyes and a little more time to enjoy them.
Explore England and coastlines via Majestic Princess British Isles cruise on our UK Tour.
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