Recommendations

When in the UK, I realized that, when basing your travels on books like Lonely Planet, you miss out on a number of things. First of all, recordshops. You never read where to find good (alternative) recordshops, outside of the Virgins or similar megastores in the city centres. Google can help, there are some listings to be found on the internet, but that assumes you have internet at your disposal or have done your homework. Shortlists like for eating or sleeping in Lonely Planet and with description of why they are good and what they offer are usually not readily available.

The same is true for lots of (specialized) stores. Usually, they don't say more than "this street is good for shopping" - only to lead to disappointment when finding just the general chain stores there. Almost anything alternative (bars/venues/coffee places/sleeping places/whatever) is hard to be found, unless they are the truly exceptional. This might be what you expect from travel guides that serve a broader public -usually the Lonely Planet is thick enough as it is-, but it wouldn't do any harm to have an alternative. Therefore I decided to give it a start with some recommendations of my own, found on the way in the UK. Some of these will possibly be listed everywhere, but what's great is great. Additions can always be commented or mailed, links to good sites already listing great stuff are welcome.

Bath

The whole city of Bath is a World Heritage site and for good reason. And, as can be read everywhere, the whole city is a recommendation. The Roman baths especially, but also the abbey/cathedral is very impressive. A tip when visiting the baths: take the English audiotour to have all the additional commentary, including that of Bill Bryson, as well. Do not try to listen to everything, you'll get annoyed by the stupid presentation and background sounds of the standard tour. The baths and temple remains are very impressive though, and Bill Bryson's insights nice to listen to.

When arriving to the city by car, for the day, make sure to use the long term car park, which is close to all the sights.

When you want to visit Prior park, be there in time! You are not allowed admission 1 hour before closing, which is at dusk or 5:30 (depending on time of the year). You have to pay to get in, which is quite strange for a park, because it conserved by the National Trust. The walk from the city centre is not long in miles (about 2m), but can take quite some time going uphill.

Food-wise, Las Iguanas is a good suggestion. A nice selection of Latin American foods, drinks and desserts, with lots of vegetarian options. They apparently have several location across the UK. Another seemingly interesting option is Demuths, a vegetarian restaurant, but reservations are recommended (it was full when we got there, so no judgement on the food here). This is by the way located in the same street as Sally Lunns, whose buns are apparently world-famous and therefore listed in most travel guides (I guess). Well worth a visit for an afternoon tea.

Brighton

Lots of information on Brighton can be found everywhere, so I'll just stick with the recommendation of Terre a Terre. The statement at their site sums it up pretty well:

Forget everything you have ever read or heard about vegetarian food. Forget everything you have ever eaten at vegetarian restaurants. Dining at Terre à Terre is a culinary experience like no other, with intense flavours, sublime textures and a combination of ingredients that few have the imagination or daring to put together.

This restaurant is not just your hippie vegetarian thing, with lentils and other standard veggie food. This restaurant offers innovative and creative recipes. It is run by chefs who happen to believe in meat-free cooking. As chefs are supposed to do they offer an eating-experience, but meat-free. Great concept.

As a bonus tip for Brighton: make sure you book your sleeping places in advance (certainly in the weekends), it is likely to be full in this popular city.

Bristol

For sightseeing, I would not recommend Bristol. However, a stroll down Gloucester Road and Cheltenham Road is quite nice if you happen to be in the neighbourhood. Several secondhand recordshops (unfortunately closed on the Sunday we were there), a great number of pubs and bars (sometimes offering live music), lots of arty and alternative (young) people on the streets and one of Britain's best coffee-houses: Coffee #1. With more locations across Bristol and in Wales, they focus on a cosy athmosphere serving great-tasting coffee.

Not a real restaurant, but more a vegetarian take-away with eat-in facilities is Cafe Kino. In the downstairs eating area they have secondhand books you can read or buy (for extremely low prices) and they have free wifi. Not recommended for dinner as a night out, but certainly good for a quick bite while reading or surfing.

The Arches hotel is nicely located between the 2 previously mentioned streets. A small, nice hotel with some good vegetarian breakfast options.

Cornwall

Lots of things are recommended in Cornwall, just read all the information in travel guides. A walk across the coastal footpath, which actually runs from Dorset through Devon, Cornwall, Devon again to Somerset, is good for stunning views. The most southwest point is a point well worth staying a little longer. This place is also reachable by car and the view when arriving at the top the view can't be beat! This place is home to the Minack Theatre, an open-air theatre created out of the cliffs. A visit to a performance is a unique experience. Nothing I write down here is doing it justice, so visit the site and go there when you have the chance!

When in the proximity of Looe and interested in the welfare of animals, go and visit the Monkey Sanctuary. This place was started up to rescue monkeys who were exported to Britain as pets. Of course this is not for monkeys who are used to the tropics. The Monkey Sanctuary gives them a home away from home (they will not survive in the wild anymore) and takes care of them. 2 species are around, woolley monkeys and capuchin monkeys, as well as a botanical garden conserving natural local fauna.

The Eden Project is nice, but a bit too expensive for what you get.

Devon

Located in Dartmoor national park, Becky Falls is voted Devon's Top Beauty Spot of the year. And for good reason, as it is great to walk among the woodlands and see the falls. Several walks are set out, with increasing difficulty and length. The most difficult and longest one is actually still pretty easy for the young at heart.

Exeter and Paignton are 2 cities that don't have too much to offer in terms of sights or shops. The latter is a typical tourist place, which is probably booming in summer. Exeter has some nice shops when you walk down from High street towards the river. The vegetarian restaurant Herbies has ok food, not very special, but a completely uninterested staff.

Glastonbury

If you're feeling gothic or love fantasy, Glastonbury is THE place to be. The main shopping streets have a variety of gothic bookshops, vegetarian places, health food stores and fantasy outlets. Very friendly athmosphere to top it off. Just around the corner are the ruins of the Glastonbury Abbey. This place used to house a monastery and was the grave of King Arthur, amongst other things. Even without the history, the ruins are impressive!

Stonehenge is too obvious to mention in detail, but a recommendation nonetheless.