England: along the Great West Way

Bristol blends a maritime past with creative fervour, a south-west English port city that has become an icon of independent culture and street art. Its centre revolves around the Floating Harbour, an old port turned into a lively area of museums, restaurants and boats, where the SS Great Britain is moored, the steamship designed by the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel also designed the iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge, a daring span across the Avon Gorge and the city's emblem. Bristol is the home of the artist Banksy, whose murals dot the city's walls in an open-air gallery. Districts like Stokes Croft and Clifton offer cafés, markets and bohemian atmospheres, while the cathedral and medieval quarter tell the older story. Each year the city brightens with the spectacular hot-air Balloon Fiesta. A short way off await Bath, the Cheddar Gorge and the Somerset coast. Bristol is a young, rebellious city where tradition and innovation dance together.

Bath wins you over at first sight with its honey-coloured limestone façades, the only English city inscribed in its entirety as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its name reveals the secret: here the Romans built baths fed by Britain's only natural hot springs, and the beautifully preserved Roman Baths remain the chief attraction. Beside them rises the imposing Gothic abbey, and a little further on Georgian elegance reaches its peak in the Royal Crescent, a crescent of thirty Palladian houses, and the Circus, a perfect ring of façades. The city is bound to Jane Austen, who lived here and set her novels in it, celebrated in a centre devoted to her. Pulteney Bridge, lined with shops like the Ponte Vecchio, crosses the River Avon. For those seeking relaxation, the modern Thermae Bath Spa lets you bathe in the same waters as the Romans with views over the rooftops. A short way off await the Cotswold villages and the prehistoric site of Stonehenge. Bath is a city of rare harmony, where Roman history, Georgian refinement and spa wellbeing live in perfect balance.

Chippenham rises on the banks of the River Avon, a historic Wiltshire market town with Saxon roots. The centre keeps medieval and Georgian buildings, among them the old timber-framed Yelde Hall. Conveniently placed for exploring the county's treasures, it is close to the National Trust village of Lacock, famous as a film location and home to the abbey where photography was born. Within easy reach lie Bath, the UNESCO spa city, and the mysterious stone circles of Avebury. Markets, pubs and rolling countryside complete the picture. Chippenham is a practical, authentic base in the heart of Wiltshire.

Salisbury gathers around its cathedral one of England's most harmonious sights, an elegant Wiltshire city famed for its Gothic jewel. Salisbury Cathedral boasts the country's tallest spire, soaring skyward, and holds one of the four surviving originals of Magna Carta, as well as the world's oldest working mechanical clock. All around, the vast Cathedral Close, the largest green precinct in England, is ringed by elegant historic houses. The medieval centre keeps lively market squares, centuries-old inns and picturesque streets. But Salisbury's fame is tied above all to the nearby plain, where Stonehenge stands, the world-famous prehistoric stone circle and World Heritage Site, a monument wrapped in mystery. Close by are the ancient site of Old Sarum and the gardens of splendid country houses. Salisbury is a city of rare grace, keeper of treasures spanning millennia of history.

London is one of those metropolises that defies summary: a millennia-old capital of the United Kingdom, it spreads along both banks of the Thames and changes character with every district. Its monumental heart turns around Westminster, where the Palace of Westminster and the Big Ben clock tower face the Gothic Westminster Abbey, setting for royal coronations. A little further on lies St James's Park and, at the end of the Mall, Buckingham Palace with its famous Changing of the Guard. Heading east you reach Christopher Wren's domed St Paul's Cathedral and, on the river, the medieval Tower of London guarding the Crown Jewels, flanked by the iconic Tower Bridge. On the opposite bank, the South Bank lines up the London Eye, the Tate Modern set in a former power station and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The great museums are free and astonishing: the British Museum with the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon marbles, the National Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square, the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert in South Kensington. Shopping has its temples along Oxford Street and at Harrods and Liberty, while Covent Garden, Soho and Camden Market reveal a younger, more creative London. The West End lights up its musicals each evening and Notting Hill smells of vintage stalls along Portobello Road. The food is an atlas of the whole world, from the curries of Brick Lane to pubs serving fish and chips and a pint of ale, not forgetting the ritual of afternoon tea. Getting around is easy thanks to the Underground and the red double-decker buses. Within easy reach await unforgettable excursions: the royal gardens of Kew, Windsor Castle, Greenwich with its zero meridian. London is a city forever reinventing itself, suspended between royal tradition and contemporary energy.