Famous Places in Britain

1. Bath A town not far from Bristol, this is one of England's most attractive cities. It contains some of the finest Roman buildings in Britain, including the famous baths which were built in 60AD. In the 18th century it became the most fashionable spa town in Britain. Today you can still see many streets of elegant terraced houses. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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2. Canterbury A historic city in southeast England. In 597AD it was the place where St. Augustine introduced Christianity to England. The current cathedral was started in 1070. Canterbury is the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Church. In the 13th and 14th centuries thousands of pilgrims came to the town every year. This inspired Geoffrey Chaucer to write twenty-four stories about pilgrims travelling to Canterbury from London, one of the first masterpieces of English literature. Although Canterbury was damaged during World War Two, it still has many attractive medieval buildings and narrow streets.

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3. Edinburgh The capital of Scotland. The centre of the city is full of historic medieval buildings, churches, palaces and museums. It is especially famous for its castle (12th century) which stands high over the city on a granite rock. It is an important university centre and is a centre for the arts. The arts festival which takes place here in August is the largest in Europe.

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4. Oxford A city about fifty miles northwest of London. Its world-famous university was started in the 12th century - one of the first in Europe. The university has over thirty colleges but perhaps the most famous include Merton, Balliol and University College. In the 20th century it also became England's main centre for making cars. However, education still dominates Oxford - in fact eight percent of the population are teachers!

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5. Stonehenge A world-famous stone circle about 130 miles southwest of London. It was begun in about 3000BC and finished in about 1 500BC. Some of the huge stones were brought from the Welsh mountains, hundreds of miles away. Nobody really knows exactly why it was built. One theory says that it was a kind of temple; another theory is that it was built to observe the stars.

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6. Stratford-on-Avon Stratford is a market town a little to the south of Birmingham. It is most famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Every year Stratford is visited by over two million tourists. Today it is an important cultural centre (the town is the home of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre).

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