The most popular cities and towns in England include: London: The commercial, cultural and political capital of England, few world cities are as iconic as London. Soak up England’s past imperial grandeur at St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey; view great works of art at the National Gallery, The Tate, and the Victoria and Albert Museum; and delve into contemporary multicultural London in Brixton and Brick Lane. Brighton: Britain’s most beloved seaside town, Brighton is home to the exuberant Royal Pavilion and the iconic Brighton Pier. Today, Brighton draws visitors with a quirky culture all of its own, manifest in the many oddball boutiques and creative cafes and restaurants scattered around the city’s backstreets. Bath: Possibly England’s most elegant city, Bath was established by the Romans as a health resort around the city’s hot springs, leaving some of the best preserved Roman baths in the world. In the 18th century, the hot springs once again brought the crème of 18th century society, whose grand manors are preserved around the Great Crescent. The society of Georgian Bath is immortalised in the novels of Jane Austen, who lived here in the early 19th century (and hated it). Oxford: The University of Oxford is England’s oldest university and one of the world’s top institutions. Join the students and professors and ramble around the cobbled streets and ancient quads, home to some of England’s greatest minds, including Oscar Wilde, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Stephen Hawking. Cambridge: Established in 1209 after a dispute among academics at Oxford, the upstart University of Cambridge has rivalled Oxford among the world’s best educational institutions, playing host to the great scientific minds of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, and writers from Edmund Spenser to Zadie Smith. While Oxford is a bustling city, Cambridge is all university town, and has one thing the ‘other place’ (as the locals refer to Oxford) lacks: punting on the Avon. Stratford-upon-Avon: A pretty town in the West Midlands, Stratford-upon-Avon‘s claim to fame is that it was home to the legendary William Shakespeare. Today, you can see Shakespeare’s birthplace, preserved in its Tudor form, and the Holy Trinity Church, where he was buried in 1616. The Royal Shakespeare Company divide their time between London and the riverside Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Manchester: The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, the history of Manchester has been felt around the world. History buffs will love learning about the city’s fascinating history at the Science and Industry Museum and the People’s History Museum, while the city’s vibrant energy – reborn after economic decline in the late 20th century – will impress any visitor including the Bee symbol. York: One of England’s most ancient cities, York (whose name derives from the Danish Jorvik) is also one of England’s most fascinating. Delve into the history of Viking England at the Jorvik Viking Centre, while York’s preserved medieval heart is a gateway into another time.