London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 09, 2025

Royal Yacht Britannia and Fountains Abbey voted top UK attractions

Royal Yacht Britannia and Fountains Abbey voted top UK attractions

Ruined monastery in North Yorkshire and decommissioned royal ship in Edinburgh voted joint favourites in Which? poll

Asked to guess what the UK’s favourite attractions were, you might be expected to say Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey or the Tower of London. But it’s Fountains Abbey and the Royal Yacht Britannia that have tied first-place in a survey by the consumer body Which?.

The poll of nearly 3,000 Which? members ranked sites in April and May according to value for money, staff helpfulness and lack of crowds. Fountains Abbey, a famed monastic ruin in North Yorkshire, and the Royal Yacht Britannia, a decommissioned royal yacht moored in Edinburgh, emerged as joint favourites.

The consumer group said it was “easy to see why” the historic sites topped the survey at 88%. “Both Fountains Abbey and the Royal Yacht Britannia offer a unique day out with visitors telling us they enjoyed the opportunity to immerse themselves in a slice of history for the day,” said Guy Hobbs, editor of Which? Travel.

Eight-hundred years ago, 13 Benedictine monks seeking refuge set up Fountains Abbey beside the River Skell. Last year, foundations of a medieval tannery at the abbey were discovered at the UK’s largest monastic ruin now managed by the National Trust, revealing a “missing link” and providing further insight into the abbey’s history.

“It is so easy with a place like Fountains to think this is exactly as the monks saw it. What we are finding is that there is a whole unrecognised history,” said Mark Newman, a trust archaeologist, said upon the discovery in October 2021.

The Royal Yacht Britannia, pictured moored up in Edinburgh on 3 June, has been used by the royal family in nearly 1,000 state visits.


Topping the consumer body’s survey for the second time since 2020, the Royal Yacht Britannia has belonged to the British royal family since 1660, when Charles II bought a small coal ship, named HMY Royal Escape, on which he had fled for France a decade prior. In 1953, and 82 ships later, Britannia was launched and later heavily used by the royal family in nearly 1,000 state visits.

Due to increasing maintenance costs, the yacht was decommissioned in 1997 by Tony Blair, and has since become a lucrative political tool for successive prime ministers.

In 2021, Boris Johnson announced a new national flagship would be built, “reflecting the UK’s burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation”. His anticipated successor, the foreign secretary Liz Truss, sought to strengthen her leadership campaign by pledging support for another large, national ship.

“I do support the idea of promoting our trade around the world,” Truss said in July, adding that she would turn to the private sector for investment for the projected £200m price tag.

Following the pair, the Roman Baths and Pump Room in Bath, scored third, alongside the Culzean Castle and Country Park in Scotland, managed by the National Trust for Scotland.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×