TOP 10 UK SITES, COTTAGE COUNTRY SITE, DEAL OF DAY: BERMUDA

Gosh, we're boring.

Looking at the travelmole.com web site this morning, I spotted a survey by a group called First Rate Exchange Services that listed people's favourite places to go in the UK. And, boy, are we a predictable race of people.

Here's the list.

1. Trafalgar Square

2. Tower Bridge

3. London Museums

4. Buckingham Palace

5. Oxford Street

6. London Eye

7. Windsor Castle

8. Edinburgh Castle

9. Stonehenge

10. Globe Theatre, London

Trafalgar Square is fine, but number one in all the UK? Really? I was in London for just a couple days recently and it's a great city for simply walking. In that sense, Trafalgar is fine. But I'd take Westminster Abbey over Trafalgar Square. Or High Park or Buckingham Palace.

The London Eye, on the other hand, is pretty cool. If you've been there a day or two, it's a perfect spot to get a sense of where things are.

Stonehenge is fine, although timesonline recently spouted that Avebury, only a half hour away, has more impressive stones and a far more accessible site.

What about St. Andrews, for golf's sake? What about crossing Abbey Road? What about the sex shops in London's west end? Sorry, I keep forgetting this is a family blog.

Too bad, but I don't see Wales in there anywhere. I'm headed to Wales next month for a golf trip but hope to see a bit of the countryside and maybe, just maybe, check out a pub or six.

If you've got any UK favourites of your own, lemme know at jbyers@thestar.ca

ONTARIO COTTAGE COUNTRY SITE

Got a note the other day from some folks behind a new web site, www.cottagecountry.com. Hard to tell at a short glance, but it looks like it's worth checking out. You can find cottages in different areas all over the country and in various sizes and price categories.

I spotted a couple cottages near Bala, a great cottage town on Lake Muskoka, and a couple in Newfoundland. The Newfoundland place was a 3-bedroom spot near Tors Cove (below), an area I really fell in love with a couple years back.

It was listed at $1,400 for a week, which seems high for Newfoundland. But the attached review made it sound pretty good.

They also have information on B and B's and info on recreation opportunities, such as golf courses.

Can't say how it works, but it looks useful.

JIM'S DEAL OF THE DAY

If you’re charmed by the rosy hue of Bermuda’s sand, you’ll love the colour of the cottages at Cambridge Beaches Resort & Spa – pink, of course. Ranked by Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the world’s best hotels for service, the Bermuda property is offering 25 per cent off its standard room rates for travel through the end of the year, on bookings made by Sept. 18 with a minimum four night stay. Diversions at Cambridge Beaches are numerous: four private beaches, afternoon tea in the historic main house, on-site bicycle, moped and kayak rentals and croquet and tennis, just to name a few. And the Port Royal Golf Course is five minutes away (as is Royal Naval Dockyard Clocktower Mall). See www.cambridgebeaches.com.