h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We all have them; memories of special days out, the sunlight through trees, places where we can just sit and be.

My favourite places are:

The wooded Cotswold hills and valleys - especially at this time of year and in May

Avebury Stone Circle - 6,000 years of humanity soothes my soul every time I go there

The Ice Hotel near Kiruna in northern Sweden - where you go into the building which is minus 6 degrees c and think 'gosh it is warm in here', where the north star is almost overhead, and you can go on moonlit ponytreks in the woods between chest high drifts of snow

And the sight of London on the approach to Heathrow - the only good thing about flying into or out of that benighted airport

My home - it has taken a long time to become my home, but having all my things under one roof, and no-one else's stuff there, is immensely comforting to me

So - where and when are yours?

Ben

Practically anywhere in Cambridge - preferably when it's not raining! Particularly the view down the pond at Emmanuel college, when surrounded by ducks.

Any empty theatre, before the scenery has been put in, lights set up etc.

Guitar shops and book shops, although I generally have to avoid these for financial reasons...

Bramall Lane football ground, Sheffield (but only when we win )

Bristol Bierkeller.

Dont ask why. Its a dirty, stinky, grotty place with sticky floors.

I just feel at home when Im there...

Like Danny B., I love bookshops at any time, but love them most when I have *money*!!!

Home, any time. I like to travel, but I *love* coming back.

The Loire valley, France, in early autumn. We spent our honeymoon there, and it was beautiful.

Abu Simbel or Karnak, Egypt, any time. We went to Egypt for our 10th anniversary, and I've promised myself that we'll go back some day.

Hagley churchyard on a bright sunny day. Hagley church is built at the top of a hill. On a clear day you can see for miles around. And it can be so quiet and tranquil up there. I wish it was a little closer to home so that I could go there more often.

Rodel church, Harris. It's a small medieval church that is no longer used, AFAIK, but it is so peaceful there.

Dublin bay at dusk on a summer evening.

The peak cafe, Hong Kong on a clear evening.

Lesotho or Central Australia at night ("oh my god, it's full of stars...")

Definitaly The Peak in Hong Kong, I'd forgotten about that man...

The view of Edinburgh from either Arthur's Seat or Scott Monument very panoramic.

A great second hand book shop in Carlisle next to the cathederal 4 storeys of books you can almost imagine getting lost in L space (see Terry Pratchett's Discworld for explanation)

The Giant's Causeway no matter what the weather an amazing palce to be.

Right in the middle of Regent's Park the quietest place in London (apart for the occasional plane overhead)

But most importantly wherever FC is. (OK you lot can throw up if you want)

80 Mile Beach, WA, Australia.
Any time (sunset's nice, though)

My favourite place is Corrie Fee in Glen Doll in Angus. A vast natural amphitheatre of truly staggering beauty. On every occasion when arriving at it, the first sight takes the breath away and does something wierd but nice inside you. No words can really describe this feeling.

Stone circles always seem a bit special too and Avebury happens to be one of my favourites also.

Om

There's a stone cicle outside Keswick which me and FC visited last year and it was covered in fog meant to have a brilliant views of the mountains. Didn't care about not geting the views it was very atmospheric

Perret's park,
Knowle
Bristol

Bristol is a bowl shaped city, that is the suburbs are all on hills, leading down to the city centre. On one of these hills there is a natural amphitheatre shaped park. As well as having one of the best views of the city (you can see the Suspension Bridge, the Cabot Tower, The Avon Gorge) it has the sun from sunrise to sunset.

This park is responsible for a whole community of people, there is a large amount of friends who spend half the summer there, we all know that on a sunny day you can just go down there and you will see friends you havent seen for ages and chill with them all day-the park is the real reason we all got to know each other.

And it is only 5 minutes walk from my house.

One of those places that will always be remembered with joy by many people...

DD - Are you stalking me.... Carlisle and Keswick?

I know Carlisle Cathedral like the back of my Hand... and as for Keswick (The stone circle you were talking about is at Castlerigg, about 2 klicks east of Keswick itself), my favourite place of all time is only about 9 miles away from Keswick as the crow flies...

The Mountains around Buttermere on a crisp January day under a blue sky... Not a soul to be seen for miles, complete and total tranquility and a view you can safely say 'and now I can die!' about.

The middle of a forest in the middle of Wales, cooking up a feast on a camping stove while Misty in Roots - Live at the Counter Eurovision plays at the kind of volume you just wouldn't get away with elsewhwere.

Amsterdam, more or less anytime/place.

Bed, when you wake up and know that all you have to do is NOT get up.

The Japanese garden at Compton Acres, before too many people get in.


TSF

People keep mentioning places I wish Id remembered...

Amsterdam is amazing...

Have to agree with Abu Simbel and Karnak in Egypt. Absolutely astounding and humbling places I could stare at for hours.
Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The mountains are staggering, the lake is a wonderful hue (when not frozen ), it absolutely blew me away when I first saw it.
The West Highland Way north of Loch Lomond. It quietens down and you feel like you are the only person for miles.
Lamlash, Isle of Arran, in the Clyde. My parents have a little cottage there and the views out over the bay of an evening when the wind drops and the water looks like a mill pond are once again something I can just stare at.

There was a pub on a pontoon on the Vltava river in Prague, looking out on Prague Castle and Charles Bridge. To have a beer there at sunset was a real treat.

Ballybrannigan strand, Inch strand or White Bay in East Cork, only a few miles from my house.

Ras Mohammed on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. Amazing.

The tip of the Dingle peninsula - almost the most westerly point in Europe.

Ryan's pub, Beggars Bush in Dublin, and Sean Na Mbads pub in Ringabella in Cork.

Add me to the list for Abu Simbal & Karnak, they are just so BIG!
Avebury is very special to me, I spent a weekend there a while back, and it’s great to just sit and think and work things out. Prague, wow, the buildings are amazing.

Other places, there’s a field in deepest, darkest Hampshire, I have camped there many times over the years, all through the season. One of the best times is November, we have a huge firework display, sit round the fire till the early hours, then to stick you nose out of a warm tent and see all the frost on the ground, and in the trees, Wonderful.

I'm not stalking you Whiskyu but it was where FC and me went on our 'honeymoon' that wasn't so that added to the atmosphere no doubt.

The Old Marine Pub, overlooking North Bay, Scarborough - preferably with the sun rising over the castle, but most pubs don't open that early.

B

Lake Vänern in Sweden.

Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge - not the building, the gardens.

The Royal estate at Sandringham.

Nottingham. It's not beautiful (most of it), it's not clean or fresh or pleasant really, but it's inexorably linked to my life and I love it.