Britain on the Cheap

The Scottish Snowdrop Festival is popping up at more than 50 gardens across Scotland’s mainland now through March 18. You can marvel at more than 300 types of these dainty flowers, including a footpath sprinkled with snowdrops by a waterfall which inspired Robert Burns in Perthshire. There will be carpets of snowdrops at Culzean Castle [...]

All of the UK will be celebrating Charles Dickens‘ 200th birthday on Feb. 7, but the spotlight will shine brightest on his birthplace in Portsmouth. You can plan ahead for a free timed admission slot to the Charles Dickens Birthplace on both Feb. 5, an extra free day, and on Feb. 7. Both days will [...]

It’s easy to slip back a century or so for the holidays when you visit Blists Hill Victorian Town in the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, Shropshire. On Dec. 10-11 and 17-18, Blists Hill Town residents will be celebrating in 1800s style, with Christmas songs and stories, Punch and Judy and a magic show. Sing [...]

Guides will lead ghost walks at haunted Basing House in Old Basing, Hampshire, on the evenings of Oct. 28 and 29. Once the location of the largest private residence in Tudor England, Basing House offers layers of history dating back to the Norman Age. During the Civil War, Cromwell stormed the fortified building, leaving it [...]

Take your chances on the Ghost Tours Oct. 26 and 27 from the Discovery Centre in Winchester, Hampshire. The walk, £5/$8 pp, will start at 6:30 p.m. with tales of creepy happenings in the Discovery Centre itself, before heading on to find out more horrible histories in the Theatre Royal next door. The ghost of [...]

Free Halloween fun is afoot at The Red House Museum in Christchurch, Hampshire, a former Georgian workhouse. On Oct. 27, children five and older can discover a “Skulls, Skeletons and Skull Duggery” hands-on workshop. On Oct. 29, families can make Halloween lanterns, which they can take with them later on the spooky night Ghost Tour [...]

It’s been 25 years since the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire’s Severn Valley became a UNESCO World Heritage Sites—in the Class of 1986  along with Stonehenge and the Giant’s Causeway. Celebrate with the 25th Anniversary World Heritage Festival Sept. 24. The day unfolds from noon to 8:30 p.m. with a street market along the river banks, [...]

Yes, it’s posh and pricey, but the The Rubens at the Palace in London is offering a free children’s cinema, kid-favourite foods, and special children-only activities during August. The movies, such as “Shrek,” “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Princess Diaries,” “School of Rock” and the first five Harry Potters, will be shown daily [...]

The City of London Festival, June 26-Aug. 12, is going island this year—with an Oceania theme that celebrates Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. There are dozens of free events, including concerts, dance performances and lectures throughout the fest.  

London’s Marylebone Summer Fayre will close down the street 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 19 and fill it with market stalls, entertainment and festive food and drink. In Paddington Gardens and Paddington Street, the fest will have a day’s worth of live music from The Bedford Bandstand, hosted by Tony Moore. Marylebone Summer Fayre raises money [...]