United Kingdom

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in the United Kingdom, independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

Terry Marsh, our resident Shetland expert, offers up his own guide to Shetland.

Shetland. Discover brilliant Islands with Latitude

In 1999, when I first visited Shetland, I was presented with a certificate confirming that I had been farther north than 60°; it was a marketing ploy, but I was pleased to receive it – and still have it. Latitude, clearly, was anything but a geographical platitude to these people of the far north of Britain, closer, as they are, to the Arctic Circle than they are to London, and on a level with Hudson Bay in Canada, St Petersburg in Russia, Stockholm in Sweden and Helsinki in Finland.

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Rhubarb at Fenchurch at Sky Garden Sized44

Fenchurch at Sky Garden. Discover excellent dining and Sky high views

Just as well Fenchurch at Sky Garden is in the so-called walkie talkie building on London’s Fenchurch Street as security needed walkie talkies to manage the flow of people waiting to get up to the 35th floo

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terry Marsh reviews Angel's Restaurant and finds it a very special place indeed.

Angel’s Restaurant. A very special place indeed.

Special wine is for special occasions; and the same is true of dining out. So, it was with no small measure of joy that on the proverbial dark and stormy night, in search of epicurean delight that didn’t require an advance visit to the bank for a mortgage, my curious finger flipped its way through the Michelin Red Guide to alight on Ribchester and Angel’s Restaurant, not far from my Lancashire home.

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I had 24 hours in Newcastle to find out why, but with so much to explore, would 24 hours in Newcastle be enough?

24 hours in Newcastle. A great city but is it enough to have a fantastic time?

In 2014, The Guardian readers voted Newcastle best city-break destination. I had 24 hours in Newcastle to find out why, but with so much to explore, a strategy was needed.

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The Hilton Metropole

The Hilton Metropole. The Edgware Road has never looked so good.

The Hilton Metropole once suffered from a slightly odd location, sitting just outside the West End, with the need to negotiate the hairiest junction on Edgware Road making it a tad tricky to enter. But now Paddington is the subject of redevelopment, what must be the largest hotel in London is set to come into its own.

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Anthea Gerrie reviews Roba Bar and Restaurant in newly trendy Paddington. 

ROBA BAR AND RESTAURANT. Paddington’s delicious new foodie destination.

With the redevelopment of Paddington imminent, the area is starting to spawn interesting new dining destinations after years as a bit of a gastro-desert. One of the first to jump on the bandwagon is the Norfolk Towers Hotel steps from the station, which has replaced their basement pub with a shiny new ground-floor eatery.

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