Grand Tour UK - Ultimate British motorhome adventureUltimate British motorhome adventure

London immerses visitors in royal grandeur that is palpable in expansive Hyde Park. The blue and white Tower Bridge spans the Thames and regularly opens its roadway for ships. At Buckingham Palace, you can witness the ceremonial Changing of the Guard while Big Ben towers over the city. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Borough Market, you stroll past stalls with fresh oysters. In the West End, the lights of the Lyceum Theatre glow while red double-decker buses traverse the streets.

The spire of Salisbury Cathedral rises high above Salisbury's medieval rooftops. Inside the cathedral, you can view an original copy of the Magna Carta from 1215. Walking over the grassy hills of Old Sarum, you'll see the foundations of a castle and the old cathedral. The prehistoric stone circle of Stonehenge is a short distance away in the open field. The atmosphere is lively around the half-timbered houses on the market square, where the River Avon flows past the terraces.

Exeter is a city in Devon that originated as the Roman settlement Isca Dumnoniorum, of which the city wall from around 200 AD is still largely preserved. The twelfth-century Exeter Cathedral features the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in the world. You can explore the fourteenth-century Underground Passages beneath the city centre or stroll along the historic warehouses on the quay of the River Exe.

Granite cliffs of Cornwall drop vertically into the Atlantic Ocean, giving the coastline a rugged appearance. At Land's End, you see the surf crashing against the rocks deep below you. In the steep coastal wall above the sea lies the Minack Theatre, a theatre carved out of the rocks. Those who walk through St Ives see modern art in the Tate St Ives museum next to narrow streets and sandy beaches. Among the fishing boats, the scent of salty air hangs while seagulls circle above the quay.

Exmoor National Park in Southwest England encompasses a coastline with cliffs and reaches an altitude of 519 metres at Dunkery Beacon. Wild goats and Exmoor ponies graze among the rock formations of the Valley of Rocks. You can observe the starry sky in clear weather in this International Dark Sky Reserve.

Bristol has never its harbour: the docks extend into the city centre and are full of houseboats, cafés, and museum ships. There you'll also find Brunel's SS Great Britain, the first iron ocean liner with screw propulsion, in the dry dock where it was built. From the same engineer is the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which has spanned the Avon Gorge since 1864. In Stokes Croft, murals cover entire facades; it's the neighbourhood where Banksy began.

Oxford is not a campus but a city where almost forty independent colleges are situated among the regular streets, each with its own gate, garden, and dining hall. Christ Church is the largest, with a staircase and dining hall familiar from the Harry Potter films. The Radcliffe Camera stands as a round reading room in the middle of a square that is otherwise completely built up. On the Cherwell, you punt yourself past the back gardens of the colleges, which offers the nicest view of the city.

Peak District National Park surprises with a contrast between rugged gritstone plateaus and the rolling limestone valleys of the Derwent Valley. Those who climb the 636-metre-high Kinder Scout look out over moorlands and rugged rocks. Lower in the valley stands the sixteenth-century Chatsworth House with its stately gardens. Hikers follow the Monsal Trail over high viaducts that span deep limestone gorges. At the top of Mam Tor, a lively atmosphere prevails as you look out over the Hope Valley.

York showcases a layered English history in a labyrinth of medieval streets. The Gothic York Minster, with its stained-glass windows, towers high above the rooftops. In The Shambles, fourteenth-century half-timbered houses lean so far over that their gables almost touch. Those who walk along the thirteenth-century city walls look down upon the green gardens of the city centre. In the evenings, a mysterious atmosphere hangs in the alleys when groups participate in a ghost walk.

The Lake District is the most visited national park in England, and you'll notice that around Windermere; a valley further on, you'll be alone. Scafell Pike, at 978 meters, is the highest mountain in the country, but the most beautiful walks are lower down, around Buttermere and Ullswater. Old steamboats still sail on Windermere between the jetties. The villages are built of dark slate, which gives them a heavy and closed appearance even in the sun.

Galloway Forest Park is an International Dark Sky Park where the night sky is completely free from light pollution. At the tranquil Loch Trool, you can see galaxies that remain invisible elsewhere. Mountain bikers ride the 7stanes trails through the vast forests. Those who reach the summit of The Merrick at 843 meters high look out over the rolling Southern Uplands. At Clatteringshaws Loch, a serene silence prevails, with only the rippling water audible.

Loch Lomond marks the transition to the Scottish Highlands with its vast expanse of water and thirty wooded islands. Those who climb the 974-meter-high Ben Lomond, the southernmost Munro, will see the rugged mountain peaks of the West Highlands reflected in the deep loch. In the village of Luss, historic stone cottages with flowery gardens stand directly on the shore. The atmosphere at Luss pier is lively due to the ferries sailing along the wooded shores to the coves.

Five of Scotland's six highest mountains define the horizon of the vast wilderness in Cairngorms National Park. At Loch Morlich, canoeists paddle along a sandy beach at three hundred meters altitude between the mountain peaks. The grey towers of Balmoral Castle appear among the forests as a royal residence. In Speyside, you can smell the malt at Glenlivet where copper stills gleam. The ancient Caledonian forests feel quiet as you walk along the needle paths between the pines.

Inverness is located at the mouth of the River Ness and houses the nineteenth-century red sandstone Inverness Castle. Here you can walk along the wooded Ness Islands or visit the Gothic St Andrew's Cathedral and the Victorian market halls. The nearby Loch Ness is known for the thirteenth-century ruins of Urquhart Castle. The city serves as a hub of main roads where you can replenish your motorhome's supplies.

John O’Groats marks the furthest point of the British mainland where the expansive coastline and the rugged sea meet. The white John O’Groats Signpost indicates the great distance to southern Cornwall. From the harbour, the ferry departs for the Orkney Islands across the turbulent Pentland Firth. At Duncansby Head, the pointed Duncansby Stacks rise sixty metres high from the surf. Although it is often lively by the signpost, you will only see seabirds soaring above the waves on the rock formations.

Aberdeen shines with its grey granite architecture that gives the city a silver gleam in the sunshine. In the Old Aberdeen district, the fifteenth-century King's College stands with its striking stone crown. At the harbor mouth, the nineteenth-century houses of the fishing village Footdee are nestled by small squares. You can walk along the wide sandy beaches of Aberdeen Beach as large ships sail into the harbor. The atmosphere is stately when sunlight activates the shimmer in the facades of Union Street.

Edinburgh is the Scottish capital and consists of the medieval Old Town and the neoclassical New Town. Edinburgh Castle stands atop the 120-meter-high Castle Rock, an extinct volcano that towers over the city. In Holyrood Park, climb the 251-meter-high Arthur's Seat for views over the city and the Firth of Forth. The narrow cobblestone streets and alleys form the historic heart of the Lothian region.

The eleventh-century Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle tower high above the River Wear on a rock. Walking across Palace Green, you can see how these UNESCO monuments define the skyline. Narrow streets lead past Durham Market Hall, where traders offer their goods under stone arches. On the riverbank, you overlook Framwellgate Bridge. The atmosphere here is stately when the evening sun casts a warm glow on the sandstone walls of the cathedral.

York showcases a layered English history in a labyrinth of medieval streets. The Gothic York Minster, with its stained-glass windows, towers high above the rooftops. In The Shambles, fourteenth-century half-timbered houses lean so far over that their gables almost touch. Those who walk along the thirteenth-century city walls look down upon the green gardens of the city centre. In the evenings, a mysterious atmosphere hangs in the alleys when groups participate in a ghost walk.

The Gothic King's College Chapel is the shining centerpiece of Cambridge, a city steeped in academic history. You admire the fifteenth-century architecture of this imposing structure. A punt trip on the River Cam takes you under the wooden Mathematical Bridge from 1749 and the stone Bridge of Sighs. The university also has an extensive botanical garden. A lively student atmosphere blends with the serene tranquility of the colleges, visible in the hustle and bustle around the market squares.

London immerses visitors in royal grandeur that is palpable in expansive Hyde Park. The blue and white Tower Bridge spans the Thames and regularly opens its roadway for ships. At Buckingham Palace, you can witness the ceremonial Changing of the Guard while Big Ben towers over the city. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Borough Market, you stroll past stalls with fresh oysters. In the West End, the lights of the Lyceum Theatre glow while red double-decker buses traverse the streets.