With so much to see and do in this small island, how do you prioritize where to go? This is where the UK Bucket List: Ultimate things to see and do comes into it.
Whether you love the great outdoors, or to just wander around a UK city, you’ll need an ultimate UK bucket list.
But why a bucket list?
Bucket lists are a great way to help you plan your next adventure. All you have to do is decide where you want to visit and then tick them off as you go.
This is our UK bucket list, join us on our adventures around the UK and tick each place off as we go.
Table of Contents
UK Bucket List: Ultimate things to see and do
To help with planning your ultimate trip to the UK, we have separated into the four regions, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Ultimate things to see and do in England:
Our bucket list of places we must visit in England:
London
This has to be at the top of anyone’s Bucket List of places that must be visited.
London is a large city with so much to see and do. Step back in history, at the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral. Visit Royalty at Buckingham Palace, unless the queen or the royal invite you, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll meet the queen, sad face.
Although most tourist head straight to the tourist attractions, but why not dive into cultural London, admire some of the most beautiful street art that’s dotted around the city.
While London might be one of the most expensive cities to visit, but how about visiting London on a budget?
Yes, that’s right, it really is possible to visit London on a budget. There’re free museums, many large parks to run around, free walking tours and so much more.
We have only explored a small portion of the city, but our aim is to explore more of the wonders that London has to offer.
Stonehenge
The mystery behind Stonehenge has never been discovered. Making it a wonder, that must be included in your UK bucket list.
It’s incredible how these large stones were placed here many thousands of years ago. How did the stones get here, without the technology that we have today?
If you have a theory, let us know in the comments below.
It is thought that the stones were placed here as a time piece, or to determine the seasons. Some even believe they were placed as a burial ground, or for sacrificial reasons.
Whatever the reason they were placed here, Stonehenge is definitely worth visiting on a day trip from London.
Bath
We love learning more about England’s history and there’s plenty of history to learn from visiting Bath.
Not only is the entire city a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but we couldn’t resist exploring the number of old Roman Bath houses.
With a natural hot spring running through Bath, it would have made bath houses ideal for the Romans.
Herschel Museum of Astronomy is another on our list while visiting Bath. William Herschel discovered Uranus from his home in Bath.
Exploring his home which hasn’t changed much is a great insight into life that was like back in the 18th Century.
Bath is a real mixture of Roman and Georgian architecture dotted around the city. Definitely a city to build up your Instagram feed.
Oxford
The city of dreaming spires, or Oxford to you and I.
Oxford is famous for its universities, punting, Harry Potter and authors.
The oldest university dates back to the 12th century, while the largest and most famous university located in the middle of the city known as Christ Church.
Harry Potter fans might be familiar with the dining room of Christ Church University, as it featured in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.
We would love to try our hand at punting while we are visiting Oxford. Hoping that we don’t fall into the water in the process.
Oxford might be the place for student to study, but with so much to see and do, we can’t wait to explore this small city that’s ideal for a day trip from London.
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Windsor Castle
Meet royalty at the queens second residence at Windsor Castle.
It is highly unlikely we’ll get to meet the queen or royalty, but that doesn’t stop us from including this in our bucket list of places to visit in the UK.
We have visited Buckingham Palace in London and can just imagine what Windsor Castle grand interior must be like. Fit for a queen.
William the Conqueror first commissioned a fortress here, that over the years have dramatically changed to what we see today.
The state apartments and St George’s Chapel would be the highlight of our trip.
St George’s Chapel is the resting place of many Monarchs and was the place that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married in 2018.
Changing of the guard is another highlight to watch on any visit to Windsor Castle.
Isle of Wight
This small island off the coast of Southampton is a lovely spot to include in our bucket list of places to visit in the UK.
It takes less than a day to travel around the whole island without stopping. But why would you want to do that!
Our highlight would have to be visiting Osbourne House, the grand Victorian holiday home for Queen Victoria.
Her predecessor, loved Brighton, yet Victoria couldn’t stand Brighton. She found it to be too busy and the palace wasn’t private enough for her. Yet Osbourne House, was built on a quiet island off the coast of England.
We love getting out into the wide outdoors. So, couldn’t not visit the Isle of Wight without taking on a hiking route around some of the island if not all of it.
Blackpool
The home of the Blackpool tower, pleasure beach and the ballroom.
We are fans of Strictly Come Dancing, known as Dancing with the Stars in the US. We would just love to dance on that springy dance floor, or watch others do, while we sipping a nice hot cup of tea, with a grand afternoon tea extravaganza.
If waltz around the dance floor isn’t enough for us, we could not resist wandering around the pleasure beach.
The Pleasure beach is a long section of the beach with more than 145 rides, that whirl happy guests around the sky.
Once the adrenaline of watching other take on the rides, we’ll happily wander along the three piers, or take an evening stroll admiring the Blackpool illumination.
Definitely a bucket list place to visit in the UK.
Margate
Although there is little to do in Margate. It’s still a popular seaside resort and one we can’t leave off our bucket list for the UK.
In our home town of Hastings, we don’t have the nice sandy beaches that’s in Margate. So rather than laying back on a hot summer’s day on the shingles of Hastings beach, we’d just love to relax and enjoy the sandy beach for a change.
For the adventure, we can’t miss off wandering around Dreamland. You won’t catch us on any of the scary rides, but that wouldn’t stop us from watching others being thrown around on some of the oldest rides that date back to the 1920s.
The most fascinating place we must visit on a trip to Margate is the Shell Grotto.
Discovered in 1835, with rooms and passageways with over 4.6 million shells attached to the side of the walls in a mosaic.
It is not clear what the cave with the shells represents, how they were placed here or why. But would be interesting to explore.
Durdle Door
The Jurassic coast is one of the most spectacular scenic coastal routes in the UK.
This area runs about 95 miles from Exmouth to Swanage. Over millions of years, rock formed around the Jurassic coast, erosion along the coast now offers some incredible bays, stacks and rock arches. This leads us onto Durdle Door.
Durdle Door has the most amazing rock arch emerging from the side of the coast, with a relaxing sandy beach.
The ideal location for families to visit on a staycation during the school holidays, or tourists looking for a relaxing beach location with amazing views.
This brings back some childhood memories of a family holiday to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. Which is why it has made it onto our bucket list for the UK.
Bucket list of Scotland: Things to do
Located north of England is Scotland. Rugged landscape, wildlife, hikes and more delight you with these bucket list of Scotland, things to do.
Loch Ness
Ever heard of Nessie? Well, you will when you visit Loch Ness, but did you spot the elusive monster?
This famous monster has been spotted a few times, but the cold waters have been extensively searched, with no such find of the Loch Ness Monster. The closest you will probably get to seeing the Loch Ness is with picture at the Drumnadrochit’s monster exhibition.
We wouldn’t just look out for the Loch Ness monster, but would be excited to see the beautiful landscape around the Loch.
A road trip around Loch Ness would be one of the things we would tick off from our bucket list, but would also take on a hiking route in the area.
You really can’t beat stunning scenery.
Hadrian’s Wall
Built in AD122 and 128 to separate the Romans and the Scottish Picts, Hadrians Wall is a must hike for us and why it’s on our UK bucket list.
The enormous 84-mile wall would have once been a defensive wall, with small fort called a milecastle every Roman mile (0.95 miles) along the route. Between each fort was two observation turrets.
Milecastle’s are numbered 0 in Wallsend and 80 at Bowness-on-Solway.
We love hiking, so for us the best way to enjoy the archaeological heritage of the wall, would be to hike its entire length, taking about 7 days.
If hiking isn’t your thing, then you could road trip along the route and stop off at each of the milecastles and garrisons. Which will be the quickest and easiest way to cover Hadrian’s Wall.
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North Coast 500 (NC 500)
Also known as the Route 66 of Scotland and one that must be on our bucket list for the UK.
Covering about 500 miles starting and finishing in Inverness will take us through some coastlines, incredible mountains and white sandy beaches, that sounds like one amazing road trip that will take about one week to complete.
The route has grown in popularity over the years and one we can’t wait to discover.
Ben Nevis
The highest peak on the British Isle at a staggering 1345m, so one we would have to challenge ourselves to complete.
This would definitely need some preparing. Not only would we need a good level of fitness, but we would need to be well equipped due to the weather conditions at the summit.
Not only could we experience sub-Arctic conditions at the top, but as we ascend visibility can be very poor, with low lying cloud reducing our visibility to about 10m.
Frequent snowfall could also slow the hike down.
We would need good hiking shoes, layers of clothing, enough food and fluids in the event of an emergency and more.
While we have most of this when we go hiking, these will definitely be our lifesaving equipment for our hike up Ben Nevis. We don’t want to be calling Mountain Rescue out.
While this is definitely a more challenging hike than we have encountered, but one that must be included in our bucket list for the UK.
Balmoral Castle
We can’t leave this Royal Residence off our bucket list UK, when we have other such Royal Residences listed.
It was built by Queen Victoria in about 1855 as a private residence for the Royal Family and is still the holiday residence for the current Queen Elizabeth and her family.
During the summer months, the queen leaves Buckingham Palace to spend time in Balmoral Castle.
The queen loves her gardens and estate, so it would be high on our list of places to visit while we’re in Scotland.
Bucket list Wales: Things to see and do
Located to the west is Wales. Rugged landscape, wildlife, gold sandy beaches, seaside resorts, hikes and more delight you with these bucket list of things to see and do in Wales.
Snowdonia National Park
Packed with so much to see and do, Snowdonia National Park is like no other.
Our main priority would have to be hiking Snowdon. The summit is at a height of 1085m.
However, you don’t need to hike Snowdon to reach the summit. It is possible to take a train, although not the same as hiking, but would still be rewarding.
Snowdonia is also popular for biking, with different routes for different abilities.
Once we have had enough of hiking, we’d have to explore some of the most beautiful coastlines, forests and wildlife, just to name a few.
Snowdonia’s ideal for families, couples of anyone who is looking for an adventure while visiting the UK.
Gower Peninsular
We have heard that the Gower Peninsular, on the south coast of Wales offers some of the most amazing beaches, great surf and awesome clifftop walks.
Yes, more hiking, as we could hike the entire length of the coast along the Wales Coast Path. Something we would love to do.
The Gower Peninsular is the first official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, named so in 1956. Why visit this area just for hiking, when we can explore some of the best beaches, or try our hand at surfing at the famous Rhossili Bay.
Wildlife is abundant in the salt marshes of the Gower, so we would have to include that, when we get to visit Wales.
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Cardiff
Getting out into the fresh air for hikes or relaxing on a nice sandy beach is lovely, but so is explore Wales’s capital.
Steeped in so much history from the Romans building a fort at Cardiff Castle, to 1955 when it became the capital of Wales.
Cardiff Castle would be a must visit, to learn more about Cardiff’s history, but we would also be keen to learn more at the National Museum Cardiff and the strange but interesting St Fagans National History Museum.
We can’t wait to get to Cardiff to explore the city.
Conclusion
We have a lot of exploring to do, but we could have added so many more onto this bucket list UK of ultimate things to see and do.
We find that creating a bucket list helps us plan our holiday for where we want to go next. Once we have chosen our next adventure, we plan our trip, before booking the dates of travel and all our accommodation.
This is a great way to get you all excited about travel.
If you’re not sure where you want to go in the UK, just follow our bucket list and we can tick each place off as we go.
Have you visited any of these places? What was your favourite place? What is on your bucket list? Have you got somewhere on your bucket list that you would recommend to us? Let us know, by leaving a comment below.
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