England is choc-a-bloc with hundreds of great attractions. Everyone knows the likes of Chester Zoo, the Tower of London, Stonehenge and the Natural History Museum, but one lesser known place has just trumped them all at this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
Winning gold as the best large visitor attraction in the country was the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. You might not have heard of it, but the centre has been welcoming wildlife lovers for almost 80 years. It was the first of the WWT centres in the UK, which altogether attract over one million visitors a year.
The huge 800-acre nature reserve sits halfway between Bristol and Gloucester and is home to a collection of flamingos, otters, cranes, water voles, swans and a whole host of other creatures. VisitEngland praised its recent new exhibits, including a canoe safari that lets visitors get closer to the wildlife.
It also has an open-air theatre where you can watch birds flying above you, a summer walkway overlooking the River Severn and a self-catering lodge where visitors can stay overnight.
Slimbridge beat the endlessly popular Warner Bros. Studio Tour – The Making of Harry Potter, which earned silver, and ROARR! in Norfolk which won bronze.
Did you see that this swanky zero-emission ferry is coming to the Isle of Wight?
Plus: This historic tower near Bath has reopened to the public after a £4 million makeover.
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