Some of the UK’s best days out come once a year. From horse racing and tennis to music, books, flowers and fireworks, the British calendar is full of events that draw visitors from around the world. Many of them have been held for well over a century.
These are the dates people plan holidays around, roughly in calendar order. Dates move from year to year, and tickets for the biggest events sell out months ahead, so check the official sites early. At the end there is advice on getting to and from the big days without the usual travel headaches.
1. The Grand National, Aintree (April)
The Grand National, held at Aintree Racecourse just outside Liverpool every April, is the most famous steeplechase in the world. It was first run in 1839, and it is watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. The race is run over a long course with famous fences, including Becher’s Brook and the Chair.
The race is the highlight of a three day festival of racing, with the Friday known as Ladies Day, when racegoers dress in their finest outfits. The atmosphere is lively and glamorous. Liverpool itself is buzzing all week.
The most famous horse in the race’s history is Red Rum, who won it three times in the 1970s, and whose grave is at the finishing post. The race has changed in recent years to make it safer for horses and riders. It remains a huge national event.
Many people who never bet on horses all year have a small flutter on the National. The crowds are huge, and the roads and trains around Aintree are extremely busy. Book tickets, hotels and transport well ahead.
2. RHS Chelsea Flower Show, London (May)
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, held every May in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, is the most famous flower show in the world. It has been held on this site since 1913. It sets the trends for gardens across Britain for the year ahead.
The show is famous for its show gardens, designed by leading garden designers and built in just a few weeks, which compete for medals. The Great Pavilion is filled with displays of flowers and plants from growers around the country. There are also smaller gardens, stalls and talks.
Members of the royal family traditionally visit the show on its opening day, before it opens to the public. The Chelsea Pensioners, retired soldiers who live at the Royal Hospital, in their famous scarlet coats, are part of the scene. The show has a glamorous, very British atmosphere.
Tickets are limited and sell out quickly, and members of the Royal Horticultural Society get priority. The show is very busy, so arrive early. The RHS also holds other flower shows through the summer, including at Hampton Court.
3. Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye (late May)
The Hay Festival, held every late May and early June in Hay-on-Wye, a small town on the border of Wales and England, is one of the most famous literary festivals in the world. It began in 1988, and it has grown into a festival of ideas that draws writers, scientists, politicians and thinkers from around the world. It has been described as a Woodstock of the mind.
The festival has hundreds of talks, debates, readings and events, held in tents in a field on the edge of the town. There are events for children and families, as well as music and comedy in the evenings. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly.
Hay-on-Wye is known as the town of books, with around twenty bookshops selling new, secondhand and rare books. During the festival, the town is packed with visitors browsing the shops. The surrounding countryside of the Wye Valley and the Black Mountains is beautiful.
Accommodation in and around Hay is very limited during the festival, and it books up months ahead. Many visitors stay in Hereford, about forty minutes away, or in nearby towns. A car booked ahead is the easiest way to get to and from the festival.
4. Royal Ascot, Berkshire (June)
Royal Ascot, held every June at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, is one of the most famous horse racing events in the world. The racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711. The meeting lasts five days and features some of the world’s best racehorses.
Every day, the monarch and other members of the royal family arrive in a procession of horse drawn carriages along the course, known as the Royal Procession. It is a spectacular sight. Many racegoers come as much for the fashion and the occasion as for the racing.
Royal Ascot is famous for its dress codes, which are strict in the enclosures. In the Royal Enclosure, men must wear morning dress with a top hat, and women must wear formal day dresses and hats. The Thursday, when the Gold Cup is run, is known as Ladies Day.
Tickets for the Royal Enclosure are only available through members, but tickets for other enclosures are on sale to the public. The roads and trains around Ascot are very busy. Ascot is about half an hour from Heathrow.
5. Wimbledon, London (late June to July)
The Wimbledon Championships, held every summer at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in south west London, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. It was first held in 1877. It is the only one of the four major tournaments still played on grass.
Wimbledon is famous for its traditions, including the all white dress code for players and strawberries and cream for spectators. The grass courts, the green and purple colours and the quiet, respectful crowds give it a unique atmosphere. Centre Court has a retractable roof.
Most tickets are sold through a public ballot months in advance. But Wimbledon is also famous for the Queue, where members of the public line up, sometimes camping overnight, for tickets sold on the day. It is a very British institution in itself.
Visitors without tickets for the show courts can buy grounds passes and watch the action on the big screen from the hill in the grounds, sometimes called Henman Hill. The tournament lasts two weeks. Southfields station is the nearest on the Underground.
6. Glastonbury Festival, Somerset (June)
Glastonbury Festival, held on Worthy Farm in the village of Pilton in Somerset, is one of the largest and most famous music festivals in the world. It was first held in 1970, and it has grown into a temporary city of more than two hundred thousand people. It is run by the Eavis family, who own the farm.
The festival has dozens of stages, from the famous Pyramid Stage, where the biggest headliners play, to tiny tents in the fields. As well as music, there is comedy, theatre, circus, art and much more. The atmosphere is unique.
Glastonbury takes a fallow year every so often, to let the land and the local community rest, so check it is on before you plan. Tickets sell out in minutes, and they must be bought by registered people in advance. Resale tickets are released later.
Getting to and from the festival is part of the adventure. Roads around Pilton are extremely busy at the start and end of the festival. Book any car transfers well ahead, and agree a pickup point with your driver in the official areas.
7. The Edinburgh festivals (August)
Every August, Edinburgh hosts several festivals at once, turning the whole city into a stage. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world, with thousands of shows in hundreds of venues, from theatres to pubs and even cars. Anyone can perform, which makes it wonderfully varied.
The Edinburgh International Festival brings world class classical music, opera, theatre and dance. The Edinburgh International Book Festival is one of the largest in the world. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is performed on the castle esplanade every evening.
The streets of the Old Town are packed with performers handing out flyers, street entertainers and crowds. There is a buzz everywhere. Many shows are free or cheap.
Accommodation in Edinburgh during August books up many months ahead, and prices rise sharply. Plan early. See our Edinburgh in August guide.
8. Notting Hill Carnival, London (August bank holiday)
Notting Hill Carnival, held over the August bank holiday weekend in west London, is Europe’s biggest street festival. It celebrates Caribbean culture, and it has been held since the 1960s. More than a million people are said to attend.
On the Sunday and Monday, a parade of dancers in spectacular costumes, known as mas bands, and steel bands winds through the streets. Huge sound systems play music on street corners. The atmosphere is joyful and exhilarating.
Food stalls sell Caribbean food, including jerk chicken, rice and peas and patties. The Sunday is traditionally the family day. The crowds can be enormous.
Roads around Notting Hill are closed during the carnival, and some Underground stations are closed or exit only. It is best to walk in from further away. Agree a pickup point well outside the area if you are being collected.
9. Bonfire Night (5 November)
Every year on or around the fifth of November, people across Britain celebrate Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night. It remembers the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when a group of conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The celebrations have been held for more than four hundred years.
Towns and villages hold bonfires and firework displays, often with fairground rides and food stalls. Many families have fireworks at home. Traditionally, an effigy of Guy Fawkes, called a guy, is burned on the bonfire.
The most famous celebration of all is in Lewes, in East Sussex, where bonfire societies hold torchlit processions through the streets, with costumes, burning crosses and huge effigies. It is dramatic and unforgettable, but very crowded. In Ottery St Mary, in Devon, people run through the streets carrying flaming tar barrels.
The biggest displays draw huge crowds, and roads nearby can close. Lewes, in particular, asks visitors to plan carefully, as trains and roads are very busy. Book transport ahead.
10. Hogmanay, Edinburgh (31 December)
Hogmanay, the Scottish celebration of New Year, is one of the biggest parties in the world, and Edinburgh’s is the most famous of all. The celebrations last several days. They draw visitors from around the world.
The festivities usually begin with a torchlight procession through the city, where thousands of people carry flaming torches. On New Year’s Eve, a huge street party fills Princes Street, with music and entertainment. A concert is held in Princes Street Gardens below the castle.
At midnight, fireworks explode over Edinburgh Castle, and everyone sings Auld Lang Syne, the song by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. It is an unforgettable moment. On New Year’s Day, brave people take part in the Loony Dook, a dip in the icy sea at South Queensferry.
Tickets are needed for the street party and the concert, and accommodation books up months ahead. It is very cold, so wrap up warm. Roads in the city centre are closed.
Getting there on the big days
Trains fill up, roads close around venues and taxi ranks empty the moment an event ends. Book your car ahead, agree a pickup point a short walk from the crowds, and the fixed price means you will not pay extra for the traffic.
For multi day events, you can book the journey there at the start and the journey home at the end, each at a fixed price, so the trip is sorted before you set off.
Ride with ZeroLanes. A car booked ahead, at a price fixed before you confirm, with the driver and the car on your journey page before pickup. Get a fixed price for the journey.