England: Things to Do and See

Things to See in England:

1. Hadrian's Wall: Named in honour of the Roman emperor who ordered it built, Hadrian’s Wall was constructed over 117km of northern England to keep the Romans (ie, subdued Brits) in, and the hairy Pictish barbarian louts from Scotland out. Close to 2000 years after the first stone was laid (in AD 122), the still-standing sections are a testament to the Roman knack for building things that last. If you fancy an epic walk in the footsteps of the legions, the weeklong Hadrian’s Wall Walk offers enough ramparts, towers and fortlets to wear your sandals out.
2. Stonehenge: People arrive at Stonehenge hoping to tap into the site’s spooky mysticism and/or marvel at the ancient engineering system that brought these huge, 4-ton blocks from a Welsh quarry up to 5000 years ago. Who built this compelling ring of rock, how, and above all, why? Theories abound – the huge upright slabs and dramatic triliths (two vertical stones topped by a horizontal one) could constitute an ancient celestial timepiece or place of sacrificial worship. Despite the noisy nearby traffic and hordes of would-be druids, it retains its monolithic power.