Slow travel is all about quality rather than quantity. It is about taking the time to make deeper and more meaningful connections with the place, its people, and its culture. It is a mindset and a worldview that centers on both the journey and the destination. To travel slow is to do away with your bucket list. To some, it means traveling off-the-beaten paths in search of a hands-on travel experience.
To travel is to discover, to explore, to experience, to rejoice, and to learn. To reap these benefits, we have compiled for you a list of 5 amazing places for your slow travel experience in the UK.
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The Cotswolds was declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966. It tops our list for the authentic English rural taste that it offers to its visitors. The Cotswolds stretches over a vast area of rolling hills, green limitless meadows, homey villages, and towns dotted with lovely thatched-roof houses. Running through the Cotswolds is the Cotswolds Way, a 164-kilometer-long footpath. This makes a perfect hiking trail for slow travelers who seek to immerse in their travel experience and who can manage to do without wheels. However, horse rides are a great way of journeying through these rural English counties.
If you are planning to take a long walk, expect so much beauty on the way. Make a stop at the beautiful welcoming villages of Bibury and Burford for some time of rest, a warm English dinner, and some well-needed shut-eye.
The Cotswolds is home to several amazing gardens such as the Hidcote Manor Garden which features rare trees, shrubs, and herbaceous border plants. To the north of the Cotswolds is the Lake District National Park that has 12 of the UK’s largest and most beautiful lakes.
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A slow travel around the UK is very likely to take you to Stonehenge! Located on Salisbury Plain, it is one of the most iconic prehistoric monuments in the world. The first stones were set up 5,000 years ago. Stonehenge now comprises over 83 giant sarsens and bluestones that weigh hundreds of tons.
For a long, historians and archaeologists have puzzled over the role and methods of emplacement of these giant stones. Speculations are that they were either a place of religious worship, a ceremonial burial ground or a tool of marking the changing of seasons according to lunar and solar activities.
Make your own speculations as you discover the legacy of an ancient civilization.
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The Windsor Great Park is an outstanding travel destination in the UK with a history spanning over 1000 years. It is home to enchanting royal castles and monuments, woodlands, forest trails, rare wildlife, and plants from around the globe. A major attraction here is the spectacular Windsor Castle, the most famous of the kingdom’s royal castles. Promenade along the Long Walk through the great park or along the River Thames so you won’t miss out on any of the amazing sights in this place.
Head out to the historic Windsor town to make deeper connections with the English vibe as you socialize with the locals and learn about their ways.
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Loch Ness is a large freshwater loch in the Highlands of Scotland. Scotland’s Highlands is a unique off-the-beaten-track travel destination, with an amazing wild landscape, ancient castles, and lakes. Loch Ness is famous for the locals’ tales of a large monster that inhabits the lake. There are boat cruises here that offer visitors the chance to look for the monster!
The ruins of Urquhart Castle are the most popular attraction here. Spend some quality time near the ruins and the lake to evoke a pictorial medieval sensation!
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Northern Ireland is doubtlessly a place of unique and abundant beauty. The Giant's Causeway, known among the Irish as the world’s 8th wonder, is a true wonder of nature. A few millions of years ago, an enormous flow of lava forged these amazingly packed hexangular rocks that almost seem too perfect to be a true creation of nature.
Legend speaks of a mythical Irish giant that built this causeway to reach Scotland and battle a rival giant. Be the giant and battle your curiosity and thirst for exploration!
Remember that on slow travel, the best things you want to check off of your wish list are the emotional stimulation and knowledge of the world, its peoples, and their cultures.
