Family
This bank holiday is the last chance to catch some of summer 2015’s pop-up family attractions. These include the Boxsmall family festival in Edinburgh, and the special Sweets and Treats exhibition at Warner Brothers Studios, revealing the secrets behind the mystic candy featured in the Harry Potter films (and books!).
Of course, it’s also a good time to drop by some of the UK’s favourites; we’ve got the lowdown on the Eden Project, HMS Victory and the magical Bluebell Railway, as well as newcomers Kidzania and the Helix Park in Falkirk, with its horse-head sculptures and fantastic adventure park.
Outdoor
It may not be a scorcher this weekend, but don’t let that stop you from exploring the great British countryside, or even staying at one of the nation’s best campsites. Or you could embark on your own wilderness adventures, from building your own shelter on a Devon beach to sleeping in a cave in the Peak District. Of course, rain doesn’t matter if you’re underground, making Zip World Caverns – a zipline course in an old slate mine in Wales – an appealing proposition. If you don’t mind getting wet, now could be the time to try sea-kayaking in the Highlands, or, curiously, learning to surf at the UK’s first inland surf lake, in Snowdonia.
Coast
The seaside has always been a classic bank holiday excursion, and with coastal towns across the UK enjoying a resurgence, now is a good time to check them out. Margate’s painstakingly renovated Dreamland amusement park takes the prize for one of the biggest tourist openings of the year (though Banksy’s Dismaland is a close second), but there’s plenty of other vintage seaside attractions around the country. We’ve also rounded up some of the best secret bays and walks along the coast. And no one can sum up why you should go on one better than punk poet John Cooper Clarke, who we spoke to about his love for the seaside earlier this year. As he says: “A pointless walk along the coast, that’s what floats my boat the most.”
Food
If you’re partial to some bank holiday grazing, we’ve checked in at some of the best places to grab some grub around the country. Recently this includes roundups of the best seafood restaurants on the Northumberland coast and the top budget restaurants in Newquay, Birmingham, Newcastle and beyond. Wash this down with a crisp craft beer at one of the UK’s ever-growing number of artisan ale establishments – in London, Edinburgh or York.
Walks
Having stuffed yourself full of roast dinner – let’s face it, it’s bound to happen at some point this weekend – it’s time to (gently) get back into gear. We’ve picked out some of the best walks across the country to get you moving, with how-to guides for hiking along Hadrian’s Wall, wandering along the Norfolk Coast Path and through the Brimham Rocks in Yorkshire. City dwellers should take a look at our 20 great urban walks, which are just as inspiring, if, perhaps, a little less bracing.
