Fairytales aren’t limited to storybooks, though our own personal fairytales are often inspired by them! Whether your favorite childhood stories involved princesses and queens, knights and their swords, or castles and moats, you don’t have to leave the stories behind. A vacation besting even your wildest dreams is only a hop, skip and a jump across the pond – or a much more convenient airplane ride away – to Britain!
In Britain, you can take the stories from your bookshelves and uncover their history in person. You can travel with your children and visit mighty fortresses, or stick to the romantic ruins and the sandy beaches with your loved one. A river tour can also be fun for the entire family! You can tour Windsor Castle and experience the Changing of the Guard, or investigate haunted castles if you’re brave enough. It could be the architecture that catches your attention, or maybe it’s Celtic history…but what about Alnwick Castle of Harry Potter fame? Had you thought about experiencing Highclere Castle, made popular because of Downton Abbey?
While I know Downton Abbey and Harry Potter inspire so many to visit Britain, for me, it’s the stories by my favorite authors, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, that make me long for the lush and rolling hills of England.
Photo courtesy VisitBritain Media Centre
You storybook adventure is only limited by your imagination (and your budget). Expedia teamed up with VisitBritain, the national tourist board for England, Scotland and Wales, created this amazing video to inspire us to visit the U.K.to find our own storybook. What do you think?
Wherever your journey begins and ends, you will overflow your personal storybook with magical experiences – which make for amazing memories.
Find your storybook in Britain!
Going to England is definitley on my bucket list. Not necessarily in my top 5 places to visit, but it’s definitley on my list.
I would love to visit Britain, it does indeed look like a fairy tale. My husband is an architecture buff and would enjoy that very much.
Going to England is on my bucket list too, but not my husband’s. I’d go on a girl’s trip for sure. I want to see the world!
This is so cool. I have always wanted to visit Britain, it’s on my Bucket List. So much history to discover!
I’ve always wanted to go to Britain, Scottland, Ireland… We’ve studied the history of those areas in our homeschool recently, and it’s making me want to go even more. Someday I hope to be able to!
I was lucky enough to get to study abroad a semester in London. During this time our program took us many locations that were on my bucket list. Since then I haven’t had a chance to go back but I have had some exotic fairytale trips in the Caribbean. Traveling is one thing I set as a priority!
London is my husband’s most favorite place in the world to visit. He loves the lush, green countryside, and I love the heart of the city. We do make quite the traveling pair. 😉
That’s a trip I’d love to take, although I think I’d prefer doing this one without the kids in tow. Put me down for the girls’ trip!
I’ve never traveled outside of the US but if I ever do, I’d love to visit there!! It’s so gorgeous and old fashioned. I’d want to visit all the pretty castles and other old structures. That would be stinking awesome!
I am inspired by authors like you! I would love to visit the sites from my favorite Jane Austen books! Beautiful!
I would love to visit England and other locations in Europe, But first I need to visit ORegon, California and Hawaii! Then oversees for me!
I have been wanting to visit England…LONG before I ever started watching Downton Abbey. Can’t wait to visit one day!
I would love to visit Britain! The history, the scenery, it looks absolutely beautiful.
Are you kidding me? This looks amazing! I would love to find my storybook story in Great Britain. I’ve been once in high school but definitely would love to go back one day.
Britain looks amazing and is on our must visit list. I think I’d stay out of the city and just do countryside, we have plenty of city here.
I am scared to travel anywhere outside of the USA, but I would some day like to visit England when I get my fear in check. Such a beautiful place to check out, or so it seems!
WOW! That is absolutely gorgeous! I would love to go there someday.
England has long been my #1 place to travel to! I think it would be so beautiful.
Britain is on my bucket list. I want to visit London Hospital.
I’m also inspired to visit Britain based on storybooks, but mine come from victorian era.
Britain has such wonderful landscape that I’d say they are very much like storybook locations… Your photos are beautiful.
That is so cool. I would love to do this and visit Britain