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Alastair Sawday’s best places for luxury camping

Alastair Sawday is the go-to guide for characterful places to stay and Canopy & Stars is his carefully chosen collection of luxury camping spaces. They’ve just launched The 2012 Great British Adventure competition, which will send two lucky winners on a 1,270 mile trip through three countries in 10 days this summer. Naturally, there'll be a fair few eclectic beds to sleep in along the way.

To celebrate, Sawday has compiled this list of unusual and imaginative places to stay, so we can all wave ta-ta to our desks and set off, Hunters in hand, to off-the-wall accommodations in England’s less-trumpeted corners. 

Our London Zoo Bedbugs Sleepover

It was late and Lucifer would not stop his roaring. I suppose he is the king of the zoo, but he’s noisy once he gets going and it was going to be tricky enough getting some sleep among the giant orb spiders, cave crickets, and leaf cutting ants.

We love...The Donald McGill Museum

Who knew postcards could be so controversial… So saucy, raunchy and naughty! And yes, perhaps, just a little offensive.

We love...Seaspray Hotel for Valentine's Day

Crashing into our room with armfuls of stuff freshly bought on a spree in Brighton’s shopping haven, North Laine, we came face-to-face with Elvis.

All aboard for the Isle of Wight Santa Special!

The Isle of Wight Steam Railway Santa Special is deliciously shameless in its celebration of all things festive, making it a must-do for other shameless lovers of all things festive, like me.  I had to check it out...

Explore England through the eyes of a travel expert

Frommer’s England expert talks day trips, mackerel sandwiches and museums...

Mark Henshall is a family man. He loves nothing more than tucking into a locally-sourced sarnie on Brighton beach, wandering some of England’s most eccentric museums and spending memorable holidays with his family, whether that be dolphin spotting in Cornwall or exploring medieval castles in Northumberland.

Foodie Thursday: Edible art in the east end of London

With an empty stomach and an open mind at the ready I headed to The Experimental Food Society’s Spectacular in Brick Lane, an annual event that showcases and celebrates some of the most creative food artists in the country. As I approached the Truman Brewery, I sneaked a peak through the ceiling-to-floor windows and could tell I was about to enter a food fantasyland; my spoilt eyes didn’t know where to look first.  

Now I could happily go on all day about the pretty icing flowers that looked like they’d just been plucked from the ground; the adorable dolls house complete with mini liquorice windows and nougat walls; and the life-sized model of a dodo made entirely from vanilla sponge and icing detailing or, I could simply show you a few photos that express the magic of this event better than words ever could…

We love...Biddy's Tea Room

As the streets become particularly leaf-strewn, the days shorter and the mornings a lot more chilly we think there's nothing like a good hot cuppa and a slab of homemade cake to keep the cold out. We  find it especially hard to resist a comforting carb and Earl Grey session at Biddy's in Norwich...

We love…Wedgwood

The recent Royal Wedding and impending Diamond Jubilee have reignited our love for all things royal - aren't Wills and Kate just adorable? Wedgwood, England’s finest china company, has created dinner sets for dozens of royals in its 250+ year history, including an 950-piece ‘Frog Service’ created for Catherine the Great of Russia is made up of more than a thousand hand-painted English views. And why not?  We could think of hundreds of English scenes to eat our scones off of.