Page 571 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

England is a tiny country with a cultural footprint out of all proportion. The places in this list are
an inspiration to poets and painters, writers and filmmakers from Jane Austen to George Eliot,
William Wordsworth, John Constable and David Hockney.

These are the 10 essential places that everybody really ought to visit in order to see England at its
very best, and where to stay.

Yorkshire

It would be a cheap shot to say Yorkshire is England’s best county simply because it’s the largest.
The latter is obviously true but what makes it such a cracking place to spend a weekend is the
variety. Take the scenery; not one but two National Parks: the sheep-and-dry-stone-wall-dotted
Dales and the wild and horizon-stretching North York Moors. Plus, a swathe of beaches, breezy
clifftop walks, thrilling waterfalls (including England’s highest single-drop waterfall) and weirdly
wonderful rock formations that pop up out of nowhere. Not to mention the stately homes,
romantically ruined abbeys, steam railways and world-class art from Salts Mill’s collection of
David Hockney to the 500-acre Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Sunset over the Ribblehead viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle line in the Yorkshire Dales National
Park CREDIT: Getty

Lesser-known spots

It's easy to see why generations of painters have been drawn here: from John Atkinson Grimshaw’s
moonscapes and the Victorian artists of the Staithes Group to David Hockney’s Yorkshire Wolds.
It’s in this landscape that you can truly get lost. Get off the beaten path and try walking from
Malham on the Pennine Way or from Castleton in the Esk Valley.

Did you know?