Great Britain

Western EuropeIn terms of international tourist arrivals, Western Europe is the most visited region in the world.

France and Spain are the two most visited countries in the world, while Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and Russia are also in the top 10 most visited.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

• The British Isles comprise more than 6,000 islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe, including the countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

• England

• Great Britain

• Scotland

• UK

• Wales

• British Isles

London• London has long been a cosmopolitan city

with a rich built heritage. Many of the monuments to the empire and government buildings remain despite bombings during World War II. It is home to many museums and key historic sites.

London

• Some of the most visited attractions include• the reconstruction of The Globe Theatre of

William Shakespeare,• the Tower of London (which served as a royal

prison and is the home of the British Crown Jewels),

• the Tate Gallery, • the National Portrait Gallery • and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

London• More recently developed attractions

include the home grounds of English soccer clubs, such as Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, which are followed by supporters all around the world, and shopping. For example, Harrods in Knightsbridge is possibly the most famous department store in the world.

London

• Like the days of the British Empire, London is today a major European transport hub, although now it is aviation rather than passenger ships.

• Heathrow air- port is one of the world’s busiest airports

Сountryside

• Although cities are the focal point for tourism, the countryside is often a key factor in the attractiveness of the British Isles.

• he rural landscape developed from a combination of physical and human factors.

• Key physical factors include the Gulf Stream that passes the west coast of Ireland and Scotland and helps keep the climate warmer than equivalent latitudes in North America by several degrees.

Margate• Margate is an ancient coastal in Kent in south-east

England. Margate was an established fishing and trading port by 1300.

• Margate is recorded as being Britain’s first commercial sea bathing resort in 1736

Margate• The Royal Sea Bathing Hospital founded in

1791 was Britain’s first specialized hospital and advocated sea bathing and sea air in cases of consumption (tuberculosis) which was of epidemic proportions until well into the early 20th Century. Before the advent of the railways in the 1850s visitors would arrive by sea.

Margate• From the 1930s on sunbathing grew in

popularity as a result of the relatively high number of sunshine hours that Margate received as well as having a sandy beach, The Golden Sands, unlike many United Kingdom coastal resorts which have shingle beaches.

Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List (29)

•Cultural (24)•Natural (4)•Mixed (1)

St Kilda - volcanic archipelago (mixed)

Dorset and East Devon Coast

Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast(Northern Ireland)

Gough and Inaccessible Islands(south Atlantic)

Henderson Island(Eastern South Pacific)

Cultural (24)

1. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape2. Blenheim Palace3. Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey,

and St Martin's Church4. Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in

Gwynedd5. City of Bath

City of BathFounded by the Romans as a thermal spa

• Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape• Derwent Valley Mills• Durham Castle and Cathedral

• Frontiers of the Roman Empire• Heart of Neolithic Orkney• Historic Town of St George and Related

Fortifications, Bermuda

• Ironbridge Gorge• Liverpool – Maritime

Mercantile City• Maritime Greenwich• New Lanark• Old and New Towns of Edinburgh• Palace of Westminster and

Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret’s Church

• Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew• Saltaire• Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites

• Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey

• The Forth Bridge• Tower of London