BookCottages.com Blog August 2011

Straddling the Welsh/English border, Shropshire is a great choice for your UK holidays. You'll find acres of unspoilt countryside to stomp round, historic towns aplenty to potter about in and a whole host of visitor attractions to appeal to all the family. So, what's there to do on your Shropshire holidays? We're glad you asked - read on for our top days out when you're renting one of our Shropshire cottages.

Ironbridge Gorge and museums - nr Telford
You can't fail to be impress... Read More ->

Leicestershire's not just about cheese and pork pies - there's tons to do on your UK holidays in the county. Those of you renting one of our UK cottages won't be disappointed; there are family-friendly days out bursting from Leicestershire's seams. We've picked our favourites below, so once you've finished with the unpacking, get cracking! Looking for that lovely holiday home in Leicester?

Foxton Locks - Foxton, nr Market Hanborough
If waterside walks float... Read More ->

Buckets and spades at the ready! Beach bunnies taking their UK holidays in Wales are spoilt for choice. Whether you're an adrenaline junkie in search of action, or more at home on the beach towel, our rundown of the best beaches Wales has to offer should be part of your holiday reading. If you're thinking of heading to Wales, cottages are a great, wallet-friendly accommodation option. All together now...oh we do like to be beside the seaside.

Rhossili Bay - The Gower Peninsula
Not only one of the best beaches in Wales, Rhossili Bay was voted the best beach in the UK in 2010! A fav... Read More ->

Engulfed by mile upon mile of rolling rural landscapes, the largely countrified county of Cheshire is a gentle, unassuming place with a moderate pace and a multitude of hidden historic manor houses. Chester, the county's municipal capital and former Roman settlement sits upon the banks of the River Dee, just a few miles from the Welsh border. With a low-lying moorland landscape punctuated by the Mersey and Dee Rivers, the industrial Victorians saw prime opportunity in Cheshire for a number of linked canal systems - easing the burden of goods transportation to the South of England. Built in 1826, the Shropshire Union Canal was the first to connect Birmingham up to Ellsmere Port, and paved the way for an eventual canal 'ring' around Cheshire to connect the flourishing industrial powerhouses of Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. Today, these waterways have transformed from vital goods trafficking routes, to weekend holiday attractions for all the family - yet that's not al... Read More ->

Meandering coniferous woodland paths, flanked on either side by carpets of rhododendrons and the dappled effect of rosy sunshine upon seemingly uncultivated gangs of shrubs. A backdrop of misty Welsh mountains, adding a slate-grey contrast to the lush greenness of vegetation. It sounds like the breath-taking views attributed to an Alpine forest, yet this is actually far closer to home. Bodnant Gardens are a conservationist's dream, comprising some 80 acres afoot the Snowdonia mountain range and slightly elevated above the River Conwy. The gardens belong to Bodnant Hall, the former home of green-fingered Lord Aberconwy and his like-minded ancestors, but they are also one of the best kept secrets in Wales.

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