Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival has topped Lonely Planet’s first curated list of the UK’s best experiences.
Published today in the travel company’s new book, Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist, the book ranks the top 500 experiences in the UK for prospective visitors.
Lonely Planet reveals the Fringe has topped the list because it "floods the city with art and nowhere beats it for spectacle or scale. There is theatre, comedy, dance, circus, cabaret, opera, music and spoken word, and whatever the time of day, an acrobat, trapeze artist, contortionist or tried-and-tested bagpiping busker will be pleased to entertain you. Simply step through the looking glass and prepare to be dazzled by the greatest show of arts and culture on Earth.”
The British Museum in London earned the second spot on the list, followed by Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway, the town of Bath in England and Hadrian’s Wall in England’s Northeast.
Rounding up the top 10, a Sunday Pub Roast is the sixth best UK experience, followed by London’s Tate Modern, Stonehenge, Windermere and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in Wales.
The top 20 best experiences in the UK according to Lonely Planet
1. Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh
2. British Museum, London
3. Giant’s Causeway, Norther Ireland
4. Bath, Southwest England
5. Hadrian’s Wall, Northeast England
6. Sunday Pub Roast
7. Tate Modern, London
8. Stonehenge, Southwest England
9. Windermere, Cumbria
10. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, South Wales
11. Punting in Cambridge, East Anglia
12. Glastonbury Festival, Southwest England
13. St Paul’s Cathedral, London
14. The Scilly Isles, Southwest England
15. Stratford-upon-Avon, Midlands and The Marches
16. Borough Market, London
17. Glencoe, Highlands and Islands
18. Yorkshire Dales National Park
19. Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh
20. South Bank, London
Lonely Planet’s VP of Experience, Tom Hall, said: “Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist brings together the UK’s most compelling sights and experiences, ranging from world-class museums and giant cathedrals to rollicking festivals, inky lochs and tiny pubs.”
Lonely Planet has also revealed London’s unmissable sights and experiences, with the British Museum, the highest-ranking London experience, described as ‘the envy of the world’.
In total, 70 London landmarks and experiences feature on the list, with Hampstead Heath at 42, Sir John Soane’s Museum at 74, God’s Own Junkyard in Walthamstow at 114 and saluting the missing sailor at the Hot Cross Bun Ceremony at 465.
