Beamish Museum in Lonely Planet's Top UK Experiences!

August 13th 2019

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North has been listed as one of Lonely Planet’s top UK experiences.

The new Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist features the top 500 unmissable experiences and top sights across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

 

Lonely Planet's Top UK Experiences. Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist logo.

Beamish is among only 16 North East places featured in the guide, which is published today (13th August) and features museums, festivals, pubs, cathedrals and more.

Rhiannon Hiles, Beamish’s Deputy Director, said: “We were thrilled to find out that we have been included in the Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist.

“To be featured in this guide, providing advice on places they think people should experience with sights to ‘humble, amaze and surprise’ is a major achievement for Beamish.

“We welcome over 750,000 visitors a year to the museum and aim to ensure that their experiences are something to remember and that they will become longer term supporters, helping to place the museum as an integral part of what it means to visit the north of England.

“To be included in the listing is fantastic news and we are looking forward to welcoming those people who have been inspired to make a visit having taken note of the new Travelist recommendations.”

The travel hitlist ranks the 500 “most memorable, beautiful, surprising and compelling experiences” in the UK, with Beamish ranked 235. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe claimed top spot. Other North East experiences and landmarks featured in the list include Hadrian’s Wall, Durham Cathedral, Farne Islands, Dunstanburgh Castle, Alnwick Castle, Victoria Tunnel and Baltic.

The travelist was compiled after Lonely Planet staff and leading figures in the travel sector chose their favourite spots and experiences. Everybody in Lonely Planet’s UK community was then asked to vote for their top 20 experiences. With hundreds of votes cast, Lonely Planet ended up with a score for each of the 500 experiences in the book.

Lonely Planet's Top UK Experiences. Beamish, The Living Museum of the North.

Tom Hall, Lonely Planet’s VP of Experience, said: “Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist brings together the UK’s most compelling sights and experiences, ranging from world-class museums and giant cathedrals to rollicking festivals, inky lochs and tiny pubs.”

Beamish is the North East’s most popular museum and paid-for visitor attraction, welcoming more than 750,000 visitors each year, including thousands of international visitors.

The museum has around 500 staff and 500 volunteers. Our £20million Remaking Beamish project – the biggest development in our history – is now underway, featuring a 1950s Town, 1950s Farm and expansion of our 1820s Landscape, including a coaching inn where visitors can stay overnight.

Inclusion in the new Lonely Planet’s Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist is the latest accolade for the museum. Emily Hope, who works at the museum’s Entrance, was named national VisitEngland Tourism Superstar 2019 and we also won the Tourism and Hospitality Award in this year’s North East Business Awards.