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Get beyond the gates of the Castle to see a side of Windsor you never knew. This thriving, bustling town may have been the home of the Royal Family for almost 1,000 years, but it is generations of local residents who have made Windsor a truly special place to be. In this book, locals and travelers alike will delight in tales that explore the mysterious, mythological and also mortal side of Windsor, weaving through tales of deceit and scandal, heroism and genius, to paint a picture of a town that is breaking away from its Royal connections and emerging as a world-class destination in its own right.

Learn how an emerging craft beer scene is bringing brewing back to Windsor. Discover local characters who have created museums and art galleries in the most unlikely ways. Explore the hidden histories of everything from a pub with a tombstone in the saloon, to a café in an old ticket office, to the world’s first augmented reality mural. If you thought Windsor was just the Castle, the Great Park, Eton College and Legoland, you’re in for a surprise.

Mixing Roman and medieval roots, Chichester sits at the heart of a storied landscape where South Down hills dotted with idyllic hamlets ripple back from a shoreline mixing wild dune-backed beaches with old-school seaside resorts. Reminders of smuggling and war add spice.

But a thrilling thread of modernity runs through this slice of West Sussex too. Chichester’s modernist Festival Theatre provided the foundation for London’s National Theatre, while masterpieces of contemporary architecture that draw admirers from around the world include Sea Lane House in East Preston and The White Tower in Bognor Regis.

Evocative ancient memorials abound. Chichester is blessed with the only English cathedral visible from the sea, while England’s largest castle rises above the ravishing – and cosmopolitan – riverside town of Arundel. Ancient yew trees mark the burial spots of Viking warriors in an idyllic Downland spot. And it’s a land vibrant with creative imprints: poets, painters, composers, from Blake and Keats to Joyce and Chagall.

This guidebook takes you exploring Chichester and its surroundings to find incomparable natural beauty, hidden secrets, astonishing history, art of all kinds, and much more. 

Bristol is one of the UK’s biggest cities but is small enough to sometimes feel like a village. It is a city built on trading with much of its former maritime heritage now transformed into buzzing independent harborside businesses in which to eat, drink and let your hair down. Both water and green spaces abound. And you’ll have to get used to hills when exploring this cosmopolitan city because like Rome, Bristol was built on seven of them. Step away from the obvious – the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain (both designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel), or the wonderful We The Curious where science and art collide – and discover unexpected treasures such as secret gardens, hidden memorials to the past and unusual modes of transport.

Journey through the old haunts of world famous pirates; past the Oscar-winning animation studio home to Morph and Wallace & Gromit; along shopping streets that sell everything from handcrafted violin bows to locally-made gin; and through an indoor market selling everything from spices to fossils. If you know where to look, Bristol will unravel its secrets in front of your eyes.

Manchester is far more than a grey provincial city preoccupied with the business of making money. The bales of cotton goods awaiting export have gone from the grand warehouses styled like palaces, and the cotton mills no longer hum with the sound of machinery. Yet the buildings remain in all their glory of tiles, terracotta and stained glass – converted to hotels, offices, chic apartments, hipster bars, fine eateries or gritty drinking dens. The textile trade may have disappeared, but you can find sustainable fashion in the old rag-trade district, and top quality coats and jackets are still being hand-sewn in the last remaining family-owned clothing factory. This book will also take you to alternative Manchester – Radical Manchester from Peterloo to the Pankhursts, Literary Manchester from Elizabeth Gaskell to Anthony Burgess, and of course to Madchester, the crazy music scene of Morrissey, Tony Wilson, the Hacienda and Factory Records.

Mixing Roman and medieval roots, Chichester sits at the heart of a storied landscape where South Down hills dotted with idyllic hamlets ripple back from a shoreline mixing wild dune-backed beaches with old-school seaside resorts. Reminders of smuggling and war add spice.

But a thrilling thread of modernity runs through this slice of West Sussex too. Chichester’s modernist Festival Theatre provided the foundation for London’s National Theatre, while masterpieces of contemporary architecture that draw admirers from around the world include Sea Lane House in East Preston and The White Tower in Bognor Regis.

Evocative ancient memorials abound. Chichester is blessed with the only English cathedral visible from the sea, while England’s largest castle rises above the ravishing – and cosmopolitan – riverside town of Arundel. Ancient yew trees mark the burial spots of Viking warriors in an idyllic Downland spot. And it’s a land vibrant with creative imprints: poets, painters, composers, from Blake and Keats to Joyce and Chagall.

This guidebook takes you exploring through Chichester and its surroundings to find incomparable natural beauty, hidden secrets, astonishing history, art of all kinds, and much more. 

Discover Hastings and Rye, the heart of 1066 Country, where history, charm, and the sea collide. Hastings, an ancient fishing mecca still home to Europe’s largest beach-launched fleet, has long carved its own path along the Channel coast – from the castle-capped Old Town to the vibrant, artistic streets of St Leonards. Walk where William the Conqueror landed, and explore the nearby town of Battle, where England’s most famous clash reshaped a nation.

Beyond Hastings, this region brims with contrasting delights: the medieval jewel of Rye, one of England’s loveliest towns, quirky Dungeness with its shingle expanse, Bexhill’s understated charm, and timeless back-country villages.

From sunken forests older than the Pyramids to Roman relics, forgotten castles, wartime memories, eccentric locals, and modern creatives, the stories here span millennia. Rich, evocative, and endlessly surprising, this guide invites you to explore the landscapes, history, and culture that make Hastings and Rye utterly unforgettable. Dive in and experience it all.

London is full of strange and beautiful sights. It is a place for traditions and rebels, for the establishment and every alternative subculture. This book celebrates the diversity of the city. It invites you to see Little Ben or the fake 10 Downing Street, and answers both conventional and unusual questions. What, apart from Rolling Scones, will you see at God’s Own Junkyard? Where does an old-school gentleman buy his wine and umbrellas? Why did Robbie Williams feud with his next-door neighbor? How has the city commemorated the Queen Mother and Princess Diana? In which park do 100-year-old naked ladies cavort on the banks of the Thames? Where did Lenin and Julian Assange campaign for their beliefs? And which bridge rolls itself up?

Northumberland is the ‘Land of the Far Horizon’ and England’s most northerly county. It was once a place of industrial innovation and manufacturing, literally fuelled by the coal brought up from its depths. Now Northumberland is a quieter place, loved by residents and visitors alike for its rolling hills and long, sandy beaches, as well as its charming towns and villages.

With this book in hand, meet Grace Darling, a Victorian heroine who took to storm-tossed seas to help rescue survivors of a terrible shipwreck; visit Amble, the ‘Friendliest Port’, and discover its connection to the Mauretania, once the fastest passenger ship to sail the Atlantic; and take in Turner’s View, an atmospheric stretch of coastline that was a lifelong inspiration to Britain’s greatest landscape painter.

You can also take a walk to the top of Cheviot, the county’s highest mountain and what was once a massive and very active volcano; and then top it off in the tranquil setting of St Cuthbert’s Island, where the eponymous saint went to get away from the strangely hectic whirl of monastic life.

Written by a proud northerner, this book will help you discover the more offbeat corners of Northumberland, and appreciate its many treasures.

“… it’s also a book to dip into – for inspiration, for discovery, or simply for the pleasure of armchair exploration.” — Worldwide Writer

Dorset doesn’t have any motorways. Or cities. Or major industries. We do have railways – but don’t expect high speed intercity connections. But these are the reasons why the county is so appealing: The pace of life is slower, the people friendlier, the views more unspoiled. The county is a magnet for creative types: artisan food producers, eco-preneurs, artists and craftspeople who are quietly building businesses in small towns and villages, tucked away in back lanes and converted farm buildings.

Whether you’re a local, a seasoned traveler or first-time visitor, beautiful, quirky Dorset will surprise and delight you. This guide will introduce you to 111 off-the-beaten track (and sometimes off-the-wall) locations that make this slice of the West Country a wonderful place to live and a great place to visit.

Pick flowers in the grounds of a ruined abbey. Watch the summer solstice at a mini Stonehenge. Spot badgers in fancy dress. Buy wobbly bread from a post office. Moon-bathe in a beach-side sauna. Or fill your boots at a dry dock.

Jutting into the North Sea, Norfolk is one of England’s largest and most diverse counties. With no motorways and few large towns, its sense of remoteness is exactly what draws visitors and delights those who live here. Once the country’s most prosperous region, Norfolk is rich in history, reflected in its market towns, idyllic villages and a skyline of medieval church towers – the county has the greatest concentration of medieval churches in the world. Though it feels far from everywhere, Norfolk is surprisingly accessible, just a few hours from London or the Midlands. Predominantly rural, its landscapes are more varied than expected, from the sandy forests and heathlands of the Brecks to the wetlands of the Broads and the dunes and beaches of the North and East Coast. 111 Places in Norfolk That You Shouldn’t Miss uncovers ancient secrets and hidden stories, revealing places you might otherwise pass by.

111 Churches in London That You Shouldn’t Miss takes you through the doors of 111 rarely visited churches, but which, with the help of this informative guide are now on the map!  With their spires, towers, columns and capitals, vaults and arches, carvings and paintings, London churches tell us a lot about its architecture and its history. And with their beautifully carved fonts, pulpits, carvings, mosaics and  decorative objects, they show you centuries of skill and labor that went into making these buildings for which the main objectives were majesty, endurance and posterity.
Following the little black crosses on her mini A to Z, Londoner Emma Rose Barber takes you to a ultra-modern church made in the Brutalist style, to a church once so dark, and now so light, a bombed church, now hollowed out, containing the most romantic garden in London, to churches where you can sip coffee in the aisles and nave…

Tokyo is a city that enshrines the past and the future, where the Far East meets the Western world. Time and again throughout its history, the city has been afflicted by natural disasters. Yet, despite total destruction, it has risen up again and again like a bamboo shoot in the wind. Thanks to the latest construction methods, today’s new buildings withstand even the strongest earthquakes and typhoons. But even without the influence of natural forces, the city constantly changes and renews itself. With this exceptional travel guide by Christine Izeki and Björn Neumann, you can easily explore the Tokyo Metropolis from unusual vantage points, far away from the crowded tourist tracks. The authors take you to unknown nooks and green oases in the middle of the concrete desert. They reveal where Japanese teens meet up and where the hippest cafes can be found. This guidebook is for anyone who wants to explore Tokyo from a different perspective while enjoying unique discoveries and the authentic culture of this international city.

Northumberland is the ‘Land of the Far Horizon’ and England’s most northerly county. It was once a place of industrial innovation and manufacturing, literally fuelled by the coal brought up from its depths. Now Northumberland is a quieter place, loved by residents and visitors alike for its rolling hills and long, sandy beaches, as well as its charming towns and villages.

With this book in hand, meet Grace Darling, a Victorian heroine who took to storm-tossed seas to help rescue survivors of a terrible shipwreck; visit Amble, the ‘Friendliest Port’, and discover its connection to the Mauretania, once the fastest passenger ship to sail the Atlantic; and take in Turner’s View, an atmospheric stretch of coastline that was a lifelong inspiration to Britain’s greatest landscape painter.

You can also take a walk to the top of Cheviot, the county’s highest mountain and what was once a massive and very active volcano; and then top it off in the tranquil setting of St Cuthbert’s Island, where the eponymous saint went to get away from the strangely hectic whirl of monastic life.

Written by a proud northerner, this book will help you discover the more offbeat corners of Northumberland, and appreciate its many treasures.

Often called the ‘Heart of the Midlands’, Nottingham has given the world Robin Hood, Raleigh bikes, John Player cigarettes and Boots the chemists – and it was here that Ibuprofen first saw the light of a petri dish to the benefit of a million hangovers. As if that wasn’t enough, Alan Sillitoe and D. H. Lawrence went to school here, Lord Byron’s ancestral pile is just on the city’s outskirts, and it was here that King Charles I raised his battle standard at the start of the English Civil War – though precious few rallied to the cause. Local heroes include the cantankerous Brian Clough, who led Nottingham Forest Football Club to a pair of European Cups, the fast bowler Harold Larwood, who famously bowled Donald Bradman during the Body Line Ashes of the 1930s, and the charismatic William Booth, who founded a worldwide movement, the Salvation Army.

Despite all this and much more, Nottingham wears its charms lightly, avoiding the tourist crowds, but this fascinating city has much to offer – and we have selected 111 Places to intrigue, amuse and illuminate.   

The Scottish Highlands are at the most northerly extreme of mainland Britain. The region was once a place of turmoil and bloodshed, of clan warfare and royal misadventure. Now the Highlands are somewhere to explore at leisure. It is a place rich in history, a land of hills and craggy mountains, of secluded coves and sandy beaches, and appealing towns and villages.

With this book as your guide, meet Felicity, a large and friendly puma; learn the rules of Shinty, a unique and popular Highland sport; sit in the shade of Europe’s oldest living tree; take a turn around the Devil’s Elbow, if you dare; find yourself at the very center of Scotland; visit a fairy village; take a stroll around an impossible garden; and shake it all about at the Earthquake House.

Written by someone who loves the Scottish Highlands whatever the weather, this book will help you explore this wonderfully beautiful region.

Viewed from a satellite at night, the Peak District National Park appears as an island of darkness, surrounded by the streetlights of northern England’s industrial cities. From these cities come many of the park’s visitors, drawn to one of the most loved and most visited National Parks in the world, often treating it as their own personal playground. This book guides you to 111 Places in the Peak District That You Shouldn’t Miss and includes 11 carefully selected walks to help you explore them on foot. Alongside familiar highlights, it uncovers offbeat, surprising and unusual sites that even regular visitors may have overlooked or never heard of. From the gentle limestone dales of the White Peak to the dramatic edges and rugged moorland of the gritstone Dark Peak, the scenery is wonderfully varied. Stone-built villages, prehistoric remains and traces of early industry add further depth. Join us as we explore the lesser-known corners of Britain’s original National Park in the expert company of the man known as Mr Peak District.

Welcome to Birmingham, a super-diverse city with an ever-shifting identity. This is the quiet medieval market town that overnight became the center of the industrial revolution, over the centuries rolling out leather wares, jewelry, steam engines, motor cars, fountain pens, gun smithery, toys, chocolate, heavy metal music and nanotechnology. The city’s drive to successively reinvent itself as motor city, conference capital and shopping destination reflects that initial burst of energy. The result is a city of many layers, bold planning experiments, overlapping fragments and pockets of creative endeavor which can be tough to navigate without a guide. However, its many treasures coruscate more brilliantly for being lost. This book tells the story many would miss through the art, places, buildings, people and the dynamic mix of cultures that reveal the Birmingham identity, from the smallest architectural details to epic civic structures. Only here can you chill on a bench with local heroes Black Sabbath, will you be greeted at the museum by the fallen angel Lucifer, chance upon a golden Burmese peace pagoda, time travel in the Shakespeare Library and find the world’s oldest surviving instance of railway architecture.

Paris is known as the City of Lights, but it is really the City of Museums. Explore iconic centers of fine art with fresh eyes and dig deeper to uncover a world of museums dedicated to art and artists, science and industry, literature and film and curiosities both unusual and fascinating.

Can you identify all the great artists of French impressionism? Do you know about French contributions to early automobiles and airplanes? Are you fascinated by haute couture? Would you like to visit the ateliers of great painters and sculptors? Do you love music and film? Are you an obsessive collector of something truly peculiar? Or do you simply want to learn about new and compelling things in the world around you?

111 Museums in Paris That You Shouldn’t Miss highlights destinations, both well-known and obscure, where you will discover new treasures throughout this magnificent city.

Discover Derby like never before with 111 Places in Derby That You Should Not Miss. Nestled along the River Derwent, Derby is a city rich in history, from its Roman roots to its prominence as a railway town, where rolling stock has been manufactured since the early 19th century. Visit the Museum of Making to explore this industrial legacy and much more.

Beyond railways, Derby boasts stunning Victorian architecture, a splendid cathedral, and serves as a gateway to the gentle, rolling landscapes of south Derbyshire with, its grand country houses and charming towns and villages like Melbourne, Ticknall and Dale Abbey. Learn about local heroes such as Florence Nightingale, football legend Brian Clough, and artist Joseph Wright.

With a mix of quirky history and local humor, this guide is a perfect blend of intrigue, charm, and fun. 111 Places in Derby is a must-read for anyone eager to explore this unique and versatile English city.

In 111 Places in Buffalo That You Must Not Miss, author Brian Hayden reveals the lesser-known stories, off-the-beaten path locales, and hidden gems that make Buffalo and nearby Niagara Falls extraordinary. Journey through the region and explore century-old ethnic clubs, neighborhood taverns with incredible wings, a hiking trail in the shadow of a collapsed power plant, possible buried treasure in the Niagara River and the small town that invented the kazoo.

Find out why Irish Civil War Veterans launched an invasion on Canada from Buffalo, how the manuscript of a Mark Twain masterpiece ended up in a downtown library, and where you can see a “stunter’s row” of daredevils buried together in a Niagara Falls Cemetery. Shop for unique finds in the city’s last “junk shop,” browse for produce grown by recently resettled refugees at an urban farm, and play Buffalo Gay Bingo in an Amvets Hall. Discover the places and people who have called this region home for centuries – and the new arrivals from around the world who have infused New York’s second largest city with new life. Experience the Buffalo and Niagara Falls that even locals might not know about – and come away with a renewed appreciation for this historic and inspiring region.

Lancaster and Morecambe are like chalk and Lancashire cheese. So near, yet so far apart in what they offer. Morecambe, the traditional seaside resort, its ‘Bring me Sunshine’ favorite son Eric Morecambe and Victoria Wood’s ‘two soups’ cafe. Plus, its awesome 1930’s Art Deco Midland Hotel, haunt of Coco Chanel and Laurence Olivier.

Lancaster, with its Roman remains, its impregnable ‘John O’Gaunt’ castle and characterful Georgian buildings, built in part from slave-trade profits. Notorious Lancaster, known as the ‘Hanging Town’ for its use of the noose, with its fearsome castle cells that held Quaker maker George Fox.

Leave the crowds behind and embrace the true character of this story-filled region, one special place at a time.

Sheffield is yet to be discovered. Were you aware that football’s first professional rule book was written in Sheffield, and that it is home to the oldest ground in professional use? Did you know that climbers the world over come to Stanage Edge for the challenges offered by one of the world’s most fearsome millstone grit escarpments? Did you know that the Arctic Monkeys grew up in Sheffield, and that you can see the room at Yellow Arch Studios where they rehearsed as schoolboys and cut their first album? Did you know that the steepest hill in the entire 2012 Tour de France is in Sheffield? Did you know that Sheffield’s craft breweries produce some of the finest beers in the world? Did you know that you can walk out of the center of Sheffield, through parkland, and directly into open countryside? You need this book fast then, don’t you, you soft ‘aporth!

What do movable dolls’ eyes have to do with a Catholic church? Where could you meet Plain Bob Maximus and Surprise Major? Why does just one person know where Oliver Cromwell’s head is buried? And where is a dog a very large cat?

The answers to all these questions lie in Cambridge, which combines the magnificence of a medieval university with the dynamism of a high-technology hub. Tens of thousands of visitors flock to Cambridge every year to see the colleges, go punting on the river, and shop. But there is much more to Cambridge than its university and Silicon Fen. Over the centuries, town and gown together have transformed this city, which was an inland port until the 17th century. Eccentricity is something of a Cambridge tradition, and the town seems to delight in taking its visitors by surprise, whether that’s with a huge metal time-eating grasshopper, May Balls held in June, sculptures that dive into the ground feet first, or a museum that makes a feature of broken pottery. You will find these and many more curiosities in this book.

London is full of strange and beautiful sights. It is a place for traditions and rebels, for the establishment and every alternative subculture. This book celebrates the diversity of the city. It invites you to see Little Ben or the fake 10 Downing Street, and answers both conventional and unusual questions. What, apart from Rolling Scones, will you see at God’s Own Junkyard? Where does an old-school gentleman buy his wine and umbrellas? Why did Robbie Williams feud with his next-door neighbor? How has the city commemorated the Queen Mother and Princess Diana? In which park do 100-year-old naked ladies cavort on the banks of the Thames? Where did Lenin and Julian Assange campaign for their beliefs? And which bridge rolls itself up?