Discover Five More Great Ideas For Springtime Travel To Britain | Travel Research Online

With news of the long hoped for COVID-19 vaccine lifting our spirits, here are some more profit-generating ideas for those of you with April/May travel to the UK on your radar. They come to you with my warmest good wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving.

A Really Good Read in Shakespeare’s England Between 8th-16th May, Stratford upon Avon aka Shakespeare’s England pulsates with a vibrant and exciting mixture of debate, ideas, acclaimed author events, and workshops making it one of the most significant literary festivals in the UK. With some customised planning, I can design 4-5 night itineraries which blend together chosen aspects of the festival programme with side trips to the five Shakespeare Houses. Each house has endless stories to tell, a back stage tour and performance at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, jaw-dropping, living history at Warwick Castle, the spectacular ruins at Kenilworth Castle, and the priceless art collections at Compton Verney. Your clients will enjoy rubbing shoulders with new friends from all over the world who all share one passion: a love of books, writing, and reading.

Coventry is The 2021 UK City of Culture One of next year’s cultural highlights will be the 12-month Coventry, City of Culture celebrations. Taking place every four years, this major arts initiative spotlights an historic city with a proud international reputation, and welcomes visitors with new public artworks and a huge investment in its cultural institutions. Coventry is renowned as a city of welcome, a city of pioneers and activists, a city of peace and reconciliation, a city of innovation and invention, and now a City of Culture. The 2021 programme will include major artistic events, world premieres plus commissions and collaborations across theatre, music, dance, literature, comedy, and the visual arts. Launching on 15th May, why not combine it with the last two days of the nearby Stratford Literary Festival – see story above.

Fish and Ships, and a Gothic Novel People travel from around the world to sample Whitby’s famous Fish ‘n’ Chips – 22 Chippies (Fish and Chip shops) at the latest count – and a good time to visit would be during the North Yorkshire coastal town’s annual Fish and Ships Festival (provisional dates 15th-16th May). Whitby is one of the few places left in the UK where you can fully experience the seafarer’s way of life and all things maritime from ship to shore, all served with generous helpings of fish and chips, a side of mushy peas and a great big smile! While you’re there, you’ll also want to discover the dramatic ruins of the 11th century Benedictine monastery on its windswept headland and experience its significance in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula…

The Return Of The World’s Greatest Flower Show Arguably the world’s finest flower show, Chelsea returns in 2021 but with reduced numbers, social distancing measures and an increase in the number of days from 5 to 6. Next year’s dates are 18th-23rd May. If the Chelsea is on your radar, use this link to go to the Virtual Flower Show and let’s talk very soon to avoid disappointment because you left it too late. I recommend you park your jet lag with 3-4 nights in the Sussex/Kent countryside, where there are dozens of stunning, colour-filled gardens to enjoy. With a few hours at the RHS flagship Wisley Garden, your clients will arrive in London fully adjusted to GMT, able to cope with a day at the flower show and an evening at the theatre, without falling asleep!

Be Inspired By The Hay Literary Festival Taking place between 27th May-6th June, 2021, one of the world’s biggest and best literary festivals happens every summer in the little town of Hay on Wye on the England-Wales border. 30 years since its inception, it attracts 100,000-plus visitors over 11-days to engage with the world’s great writers, poets, philosophers, historians, scientists, comedians, and musicians. It takes place in a large, tented village on the outskirts of town with 10 venues, pop-up cafes, shops, and restaurants. Between sessions, you can browse the myriad stalls and visit a festival bookshop which stocks 55,000 titles by visiting speakers. Evenings are devoted to music, comedy, and film. Precede it with a couple of nights in the Cotswolds, and then pause in Bath on the final run into London.

Paull Tickner, owner of U.K-based Custom GB, is known for his expertise in creating and operating imaginative, value-added tours of Great Britain and Ireland. Visit his website at www.customgb.co.uk or email him at ptickner@customgb.co.uk.