Chester Castle. A visit to Chester’s Castle will treat you to a twelfth century castle manor, complete with a watch tower, wall walk, and chapel. The chapel itself houses an awe-inspiring collection of wall paintings from the thirteenth century.

Castlerigg Stone Circle. This ancient circle of 33 impressively oversized stones, erected several thousand years ago, is the perfect place to go for a quiet meditation, countryside cow watching, and especially painting and photography. There really is no other place in the UK quite like it.

Castlerigg Stone Circle, The Lake District, UK by KatherineDavis

Staward Gorge and Allen Banks. If you are interested in the Victorian period, this 101 acre span of gorge and river scenery is perfect for you. Pack a lunch, brink a backpack, and walk along Allen Banks to view a reconstructed Victorian mansion, the remains of a medieval tower, a protected garden of ancient and rare plants, and a charming wildlife community.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. This free museum is well known for its diverse art collection, featuring everything from Renaissance artworks to Mid-Eastern relics dated from over 9,000 years ago. Additionally, BMAG (as it is known to locals) is a great place to learn about the history of the UK – namely the industrial revolution.

Beach life. You may not be aware of it, but the UK has some of the world’s best beaches, and quite a variety of them (Britain is an island, after all). Whether you are interested in taking a nature walk, surfing, photographing wildlife, or exploring dramatic landscapes, you can find what you are looking for on the UK beachfront. Where to head? That’s easy; the UK offers over 7,800 miles of beach and you are never more than two hours away, in whatever direction you want to head.

Bournemouth Beach, UK by Mac Adamarczuk

Eyam the Plague Village. If you desire a taste of history, and a bit of macabre, then you must check out this seventeenth century village, where the villagers discovered they were infested with the plague and voluntarily quarantined themselves to prevent its spread. By the time the wrath ended, only a quarter of the population remained. Be sure to visit the graveyard while you are there, to see where they buried their own dead.

UK Churches. The entire landscape of the UK is dotted with churches and churchyards as old as the twelfth century. Because many of these small landmarks were unimportant during the Reformation, they were untouched, and today remain intact, in almost exactly the same condition they were in yesterday. Check out St. Boltolph’s and St. John the Evangelist Church – prime examples of these charming historic landmarks.

UK is full of things to do for free. Be sure to put these great sites on your itinerary.

About the Author: Alvaro Klonoski loves to travel. He just returned from two Turkey tours and is planning 2 separate trips to the UK – one to see family, and one for pleasure!

The post 7 Amazing Things You Can Do in the UK for FREE appeared first on Europe Explored.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Grzegorz

According to an ancient legend, Błędów Desert was created by the devil, who tore the the bag of sand at the local church tower.

In fact, the sand is the remaining of melting glaciers. However it overgrown after some time. The present appearance of the countryside made people already in the thirteenth century, when they began to use land here, water and cut down forests. A narrow layer of the soil was destroyed and the sand appeared again. At the beginning of the 19th century, the desert had 80 km2. Now the sand is overgrowing again, and the desert is shrinking.

Since 2010, some projects have been initiated to save this unique area. Błędów Desert is often referred to as the Polish Sahara. This similarity is often used by the filmmakers. In the past, it was a training area for army. Today, you can find here the remains of fortifications however the part of the desert is still a military area.

Błędów Desert is best accessible from the village of Chechlo and Klucze, where you can follow the tourist trail. A popular way to see the beauty of this unique European piece of desert is from horseback.

View Błędów Desert – a unique desert area in central Europe Poland in a larger map

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