The Great Outdoors

Chester Zoo

A great attraction all year around but with longer days and fairer weather, summer is the perfect time to take in some of the 8000 amazing animals. With the holidays also come some extra exhibitions. This summer the dinosaurs have returned and 19 life sized robot replicas of the terrible lizards will take visitors back 200 million years.

Jaguars at Chester Zoo, Manchester, UK by Mark Morleo

Canal Festival

Late August sees the Manchester Canal festival with plenty of outdoor activities near the water for all of the family to enjoy. With nature trails, arts workshops horse boat tours and the spectacle of a Float-In movie it’s a great excuse to take a trip down the Rochdale Canal.

The Manchester Picnic

While some food festivals are purely for the connoisseurs, this one invites all the family to enjoy the tasty treats on offer over a long August weekend. 16 gourmet street food traders from all around the world gather at Piccadilly Gardens to share their native cuisines that will inspire you to try some of the wonderful restaurants in Manchester. As well as the fantastic food there are also activities for children and live music on offer.

Rainy day outings

Manchester Museum

With an amazing array of exhibits from around the world over its four floors and 15 galleries, there is so much to explore. The special Unearthed: Ancient Egypt exhibition is perfect for children and they can gain and archaeology certificate by helping Professor Digby catalogue all of his finds in the Egyptologist’s storeroom.

National Football Museum

Football looms large in Manchester with the great rival between United and City. This museum explores the relationship football has with people through past and present. The museum features a series of exhibitions with displays on the world’s greatest players, the laws of the game, managers and stadiums there will be something to entertain any football fan.

Museum of Science and Industry

Located on the site of the world’s oldest remaining passenger railway station this museum tells the incredible story of Manchester’s industrial past. There is so much to learn about this city and its innovations in the past, present and future from the age of steam with locomotives to the space age in the planetarium.

Catherine Halsey writes for a digital marketing agency on a range of subjects. This article was written on behalf of Malmaison.

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Kew Gardens, London by Herry Lawford

The magic of the gardens

Ok, so spring doesn’t always mean endless days of sunshine and there are no guarantees that you’ll stay dry when you’re out and about in London. But if you do want to enjoy the fresh air with the added security of an undercover bolt-hole then some of London’s finest gardens offer the best of both worlds, with spectacular landscaped gardens outside as well as excellent collections of plant and wildlife inside the greenhouses and conservatories. Kew Gardens are among the very best and rightly famed across the world. Spring is the perfect time to admire the millions of flowers spread out across 300 acres making the gardens a joy to behold, while there are also activities and play areas for children to enjoy and the renowned glasshouses offer year-round safety from the rain in a tropical atmosphere.

Picnic in the park

Parks are a big part of life for many Londoners with many beautiful examples preserving some much needed green space amongst the urban sprawl of the huge city. As soon as the sun comes out there are few better ways to spend the day then grabbing a blanket, a frisbee and some sandwiches and nabbing a spot in a nearby park. Hyde Park is one of the most famous and for added serenity you can always grab a rowing boat and head out onto the Serpentine Lake.

Head for the river

The River Thames is the heartbeat of London and offers some of the best ways to experiences days of relaxation in the fresh, spring air. A simple stroll along the banks of the Thames gives you the chance to see the many different sides to the city or if you want to take to the water then you can admire the sights from the top of a cruise boat or enjoy a cheeky glass of al fresco champagne in the sunshine while escaping the crowds yet sampling enviable views of tourist magnets such as the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.

Lose yourself in the bluebells

Plenty of picturesque flowers spring up at this time of year but the bluebell delivers some of the most vivid displays of colour that really capture the magic of the season. Richmond Park boasts its own woodland garden which becomes a carpet of bluebells in late spring, while Wilderness Wood in Hadlow Down is another place transformed into a sea of blue during April and May.

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Photo by Gidzy

That’s why it’s such a good idea to get out there and enjoy your weekends this summer by seeing more of what the UK has to offer. A lot of visitors from abroad are drawn to Britain because of its gorgeous green countryside, rolling hills and quaint rural villages – something that many Brits themselves have barely scratched the surface of in terms of travel and discovery!

It’s worth taking the example of the biker community in Britain when it comes to seeing more of the unique spectacles of wild Britain. Bikers tend to be really active at the weekends and in holiday periods during the summer when they can get their bikes out and go roaming the countryside, enjoying the nice weather and taking in whatever sights they can find.

The journey

The key is to take pleasure in the journey. The fact is that holidaying in Britain is only partly about the destination and your trip may just take you through some of the most stunning parts of the country. Bikers always plan their routes with the scenery in mind and they often throw in a few stops along the way so that every journey is a little more rewarding and a little more of an experience.

Fit more in

Trips, holidays and weekends away are always more memorable when you fit more into them. The great thing about travelling around Britain is that you have a fantastic opportunity to explore from the moment you step out your front door – there is no taxi to the airport, no long wait in the departure lounge, no tiresome flight and transfer, there is only the open road and the promise of bucolic spectacle whatever the weather.

If the British climate can sustain a community of bikers committed to a fuller experience of the country in which they live, then anyone can enjoy the rivers, lakes, forests, moors, hills, valleys, cliffs and plateaus that Britain is famous for. It only takes a little research to throw up a whole host of possibilities whichever part of the country you live in, so next time you get the urge to travel and see new things, channel the spirit of the Great British biker!

Iain Rimmer is a keen biker, often writing on behalf of Club Promoto

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