Visit London Pocket Guide to Download
VisitLondon, the London Tourist Board website, has come up with a new pocket guide to the best of the capital. Download the Welcome to London pocket guide to getting the most out of London, from the moment you arrive.

W2W Coast to Coast Cycle route opens
Cyclists can soon enjoy a new 150-mile challenge route linking the Irish Sea and the North Sea when the Walney to Wear (W2W) cycle route is launched on 1st June with celebratory events taking place along its length. Forming part of the National Cycle Network, it runs from Walney Island, just outside Barrow-in-Furness, to the River Wear at Sunderland.

Archaelogy in York, England - Dig!
The Archaeological Resource Centre at St Saviours Church in York will be transformed into a simulated archaeological investigation including an excavation, site hut, and science laboratory and research library. Visitors will be able to excavate parts of a Roman fortress, Viking City, Medieval burial site and Victorian workers cottages. new tourist attraction in the centre of York.

Llandudno Boasts Pier of the Year in Britain
The Victorian seaside pier in a Welsh town where the real-life Alice in Wonderland once holidayed has been voted Pier of the Year 2005 by Britain’s National Piers Society.

Sculpture and Art Weeks in London
Two June events for art lovers will put London in the spotlight. For the second year a programme of special events, exhibitions, behind the scenes tours and gala evenings make up Art Fortnight London (June 20-July 4). Also in its second year is London Sculpture Week 2005 (June 16-24), with 11 of London’s most respected dealers in Mayfair staging special free exhibitions.

Blenheim Palace Music Festival 2005
The annual festival runs over four nights, June 30th – July 3rd, in the spectacular setting of the Great Court at Blenheim Palace. The birthplace of Winston Churchill, Blenheim is a magnificent estate in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside, a perfect setting for headline performers including Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, and Jose Carreras.

National Trust Farmers Markets
It's time to tickle your taste buds. Some of the most visited National Trust properties are now holding regular farmers' and food markets. From Sissinghurst in the Garden of England in Kent to the hugely popular Stourhead Estate in Wiltshire, the Trust is working to promote local and seasonal food via farmers' and food markets.

Trentham Staffordshire Monkey Forest
Visitors to Trentham in Staffordshire will have an opportunity to come face to face with around 150 Barbary Macque monkeys this summer. The Monkey Forest (opening July 19) will incorporate an acre of woodland where visitors will be able to walk and enjoy direct contact with the monkeys in the first attraction of its kind in the UK.

Ironman UK at Sherborne Castle
The grounds of a Dorset castle built by an Elizabethan adventurer is the unlikely setting of a competition to find the strongest person in Britain this summer.

Danson House London Opens to Public
A Georgian mansion in South-East London has been saved from demolition, restored to its former glory and is now open to the public. Danson House in Bexley was rescued by English Heritage, which raised £4 million for emergency conservation work and returned the interiors to their 1760s colour schemes and repaired gilding and plasterwork.

Historic Scotland Reenactment Events
The sights and sounds of World War II, medieval jousting knights and the story of William Wallace (‘Braveheart’); all of these can be enjoyed by visitors to Scotland this summer in a series of events organised by Historic Scotland.

Guildhall Library hosts Lithographs of London
London's Guildhall Library is hosting a free exhibition of lithographs by TR Way, friend and assistant to James Whistler, showing the river and streets of London at the end of the 19th century.

Eccentric London Book
London is more than a city, it is a melting pot of peoples and characters.Over the years, the capital has been home to an array of outlandish folk. These unusual characters are featured in a new hardback book, “Eccentric London” by Tom Quinn.

Suffolk Historic Church Trail
A new free booklet, “Explore Suffolk Churches”, suggests six country trails visiting some of Suffolk’s most historic and beautiful places of worship. Each trail is accompanied by a route map, brief history of the churches and their location, plus helpful information such as country pubs and rural shops to complement the experience.

Tour Britains Oldest Brewery
Britain’s oldest brewer is extending its guided tours to include a tutored tasting session. Shepherd Neame has been creating ales in the historic Kent town of Faversham, not far from Canterbury, since 1698 – though brewing has gone on in the town for 850 years.