Wessex

Counties: South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset.

Principal towns: Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol, Bath, Bournemouth.

This area has very few foreign visitors, with the exception of the Roman spa town of Bath. Bath is certainly worth a visit, for its majestic Georgian architecture and the remains of the Roman baths, but there is much more to this region.

Dorset, the home of Thomas Hardy, has rolling hills and villages with ‘chocolate box’ thatched roof cottages.

Wiltshire has many pre-historic sites, including the famous circle of stones known as Stonehenge.

Cheddar Gorge, home to the famous cheese, is a spectacular ravine with explorable underground limestone caves.

Exmoor National Park offers dramatic coastline, wooded valleys and open moorland, with a huge variety of flora and fauna, including the ponies that roam free on the moors.