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7 wonders of the UK for 2026
Smaller than California, we may be, and with a population dwarfed by Turkey and Vietnam, but the United Kingdom (if we do say so ourselves) continues to punch way above its diminutive size and comparatively modest population when it comes to how much we pack in for visiting and native travellers alike.
It’s well worth seeking out at least a few of our 2026 list of the finest seven wonders this island offers; all of which lie beyond the more obvious (yet still delightful) attractions of Oxford, Bath and the Cotswolds. Because these are the beguiling, charming corners that Britain chooses not to shout about, but rather to whisper about in the ears of those open to the idea of venturing just a little off the more well-trodden paths.
The Flow Country, Scotland
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site just two years ago, the Flow Country sprawls across Caithness and Sutherland in a manner that resists easy comprehension. This is Europe’s largest blanket bog: a fervent ecosystem of sphagnum moss, black lochans and peat so deep it locks away more carbon than all the UK’s forests combined. There are no peaks to conquer and no obvious focal points; what the Flow delivers is vastness, silence, oyster-shaped clouds and, if you’re lucky, the occasional saffron coloured sun at dusk.
Base yourself at Garvault House; it’s located around 20 miles from the Forsinard Flows National Nature Reserve, where boardwalk trails allow access without disturbance. An old fisherman’s lodge dating back to 1900, the Garvault is the most remote accommodation in the UK, with an address that is listed as ‘off the B871.’ There’s no need for elaboration; this is the only building for five miles around.
Menai Bridge, Wales
Suspended between Anglesey and mainland Wales, the Menai Bridge is not just a feat of 19th-century engineering but a piece of functional poetry. When it opened, exactly 200 years ago, Thomas Telford’s cast-iron suspension bridge was the longest of its kind in the world. Two centuries on, it remains improbably elegant. Seen from below at low tide, the bridge seems to float above the Menai Strait’s swirling currents, framed by wooded slopes and distant mountains.
From above, crossing the bridge on foot, the odd boat threads across the channel, on the banks of which Romans and Druids once battled, while the painterly elegance of Snowdonia rises in the background. You could argue that the Industrial Revolution started here with Telford’s creation, but this is a place where concrete and commerce couldn’t feel further away.
