Food is an important ingredient in a holiday. So therefore, we’ve produced a guide with 20 reasons why Britain is a great place to visit for its food and drink!

The  UK boasts 145 Michelin starred restaurants and a further 117 Bibs Gourmands. There are good cafes, restaurants and pubs in virtually every village and town throughout Britain, many of them serving dishes made from locally grown finest ingredients. For example, did you know there are over 700 named British cheeses produced in the UK?

There are also 400 vineyards throughout the British countryside and  850 independent brewers and microbreweries which between them produce over 5,500 traditional ales (for example Bishop’s Finger, Doombar and Fursty Ferret)!

Top Twenty GREAT Food (and drink!) reasons to visit Britain:

1. Gastropubs –well, after all, we invented them!  They started in London and can now be found all over the country. Combining the best of the much-loved British pub, with good value, tasty food, using the best local produce, and in relaxed surroundings.

2. Fish and chips (and maybe mushy peas….).  Another  British institution -  try the Magpie in Whitby, Yorkshire;  Rick Stein’s in Padstow, Cornwall, or Aldeburgh Fish and Chips on the Suffolk coast, to name just three, but you can find them frying away in every town and city.

3. The world’s cuisines in one country – or even one city, London.  Indian food is a British favourite, from takeaways to Michelin starred restaurants, but you can alphabetically eat anything from A (Australian) to Z (Zulu, www.shaka-zulu.com) inspired food in London; or geographically from New Zealand cuisine to that of Peru – one of the latest trends in the capital. Try Ceviche in Soho (www.cevicheuk.com).

4. Stinking Bishop, Cornish Yarg, Stilton, and Cheddar produced in – the village of Cheddar, in Somerset. There are over 700 named British cheeses produced in the UK, with a cheese available for every occasion http://www.britishcheese.com/.   And as well as eating it, you can roll it down a hill, in one of Britain’s quirkier events, the Cheese Rolling Championships held in Gloucestershire http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/index1.htm

5. Afternoon tea: think of tea and the Ritz comes to mind, but there are literally hundreds of places to try this relaxing mix of sandwiches, cakes and other delicacies, from thatched cottages such as the Primrose Tea Rooms in Devon, to the grander surroundings of the Royal Deck of the Royal Yacht Britannia, in Edinburgh.   Betty’s Tea Rooms in Northallerton, Yorkshire has just won the top UK award, with The Athenaeum Hotel coming top in London.  All help to contribute to the 165 million cups of tea drunk daily by the British!

6. 145 Michelin starred restaurants.  The 2012 Michelin Guide awarded three stars to four restaurants; two stars to 16, and one star to 125 places. They range from the Isle of Skye in Scotland to St Helier on Jersey, from Rock in Cornwall to Blakeney in Norfolk. For the first time a pub, the Hand and Flowers in Buckinghamshire, won two stars (thehandandflowers.co.uk).

7. 117 Bibs Gourmands, not Michelin stars but awards given to establishments offering “good cooking but at moderate prices”.  If you can’t get into Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck or Dinner restaurants, why not try the Hind’s Head, a Bib Gourmand across the road from the Fat Duck in Bray.  

To read the full list, click here.

Bon Appetit!

-Helene-

Think you run fast? How about racing a train? On 21st of August, runners gather in the town of Tywyn on the west coast of Wales to try to beat the train to the finish line.

The race is 23 kilometers long and starts at Tywyn Railway Station. Both the train and the runners are started by the train whistle at 2pm. The course follows the old Talyllyn Railway and can be quite tricky as it passes through wide fields, streams, slippery slopes, rocks and steep hills. Good runners can beat the train in about 1 hour and 47 minutes, but many find it difficult.

If you feel you’re not up for the whole length of the race, but want to try beating the train anyway, there are shorter races starting earlier the same day. For the youngest runners there is also a Toddlers Trot starting at 1pm. Entry for all runners (except the Toddlers trot) is on 5^th of August.

For timetables, how to get there, further information about the different races and how to enter, visit http://www.racethetrain.com

For tourist information about Wales, please visit our website.

Find Tywyn Railway station on our map.

Have a great run!

- Towe

Almost every part of Great Britain will claim the right to the famous King Arthur and his knights. And no wonder, it is a fantastic story and a great piece of British history.

In Corris near Machynlleth and Dolgellav in Mid Wales, you will find King Arthur’s Labyrinth. I must admit that I do not really believe the King himself entered these dark caves, they’re a vast quarry, but it’s rather spectacular! The underground labyrinth is  reached from Corris Craft Centre in Corris. You can go by train to Machynlleth and then by local bus to Corris.

You enter the caves  by boat through a great waterfall. Well inside the caverns of the labyrinth you will hear stories about King Arthur and his men and other ancient Welsh legends. There are dragons and giants, battles and adventures. The hooded guide will lead you through the labyrinth and – hopefully – back out to daylight!

A great day out for the whole family that I highly recommend!

Cathrine

Finally Thomas has arrived to what he calls “the mysterious Wales”. Follow him on his journey through green hills, wooden valleys and a people rich of history. Part II (Link to Part 1 and Part III)

Johannes Karlsson & Thomas Hindersson