Inside U.K. New Attractions Open Their Doors To Tourists By STEVE HILL	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
新しい観光名所が続々登場 イギリスでは、最近、ロンドン塔のような従来の観光名所以外にも、観光客がイギリスらしさを満喫できる新たなアトラクションが続々オープンしている。海洋の国らしく、その多くは海に関係しているという―。

If you're heading to Britain this summer and want to experience something different, then you're in luck ― because a host of new attractions is now open to visitors.

The vast majority of tourists end up following a well-worn trail around London, taking in the British Museum (5.7 million visitors last year), Madame Tussaud's (2.7 million) and the Tower of London (2.5 million).

If you've been there, done that and want a new T-shirt, how about getting out of our busy and crowded capital and seeing something else of this varied land?

It's interesting to note that many of the new tourist attractions up and down the country are related to the sea ― under it, on it or near it.

In Scotland, for example, a dolphin watch base opened June 8 at an old salmon fishing station in Elgin, near Inverness. It's home to Scotland's only resident population of breeding dolphins and gives visitors the chance to take part in boat patrols to see the creatures in their natural habitat.

Working back south, Britain's first underwater nature trail, complete with a genuine shipwreck, opened to amateur divers June 8 ― appropriately, World Oceans Day. The wreck of the Janet Clarke, which sank Christmas Day 1984, is the highlight of the 50-m trail at Whitley Bay, near the northeastern city of Newcastle.

For those with a bit more energy and time, it is now possible to cycle the 480 km between the east coast ferry ports of Hull and Harwich. The route is part of the ambitious National Cycle Network being built to mark the millennium.

Also now open is a 368-km cycle route between Bristol and the picturesque Cornish harbor town of Padstow, taking in the spectacular southwestern coastline.

The nautical theme still looms large for visitors with only a few days to see the sights.

The Endeavour, a replica of the sailing ship in which the 18th century navigator Capt. James Cook spent three years exploring the Pacific and Australia, is touring 14 British ports this summer.

And, back in the capital, the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater opened last month. Hillary Clinton was among the first customers when the Globe, a faithful re-creation of the original theater, opened its doors. The original Globe Theater was destroyed by fire 400 years ago.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed here, and it is appropriate that his works will again be put on stage in natural light with a simple, unchanging set.

Tickets for productions are sure to be in hot demand, starting at a bargain £5 (¥950) for "groundlings," who stand in the yard around the stage of the circular theater. Be warned, though, that most of the plays last three hours or more ― a long time to stand in one spot! Seat prices range from £5 (¥950) to £20 (¥3,800).

Staying in the capital, as the vast majority of visitors do, another major new attraction is the London Aquarium. Located on the south bank of the Thames at County Hall ― the former home of the Greater London Council ― it is billed as one of Europe's largest exhibits of live fish.

It is built on three levels, the main attraction being a huge crescent-shaped display of twin tanks containing fish from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There's also a shallow beaches display where visitors can stroke rays swimming ashore.

Moving out of central London, the Dungeons of Windsor, close to the famous castle, opened this month. And in Kent, the 450th anniversary of the death of King Henry VIII ― the one who had six wives ― is being marked with a costume exhibition at Hever Castle.

The castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn ― wife No.2 who was beheaded for her trouble ― and, apart from contemporary costumes and jewelry, also features fine gardens and a water maze.

There's still so much to mention: a new £1 million (¥190 million) visitor center at Spode, one of the big four china companies in Stoke-on-Trent, an £11 million (¥2 billion) American Air Museum at Duxford Airfield, near Cambridge, or the refurbished ghost tower at the magnificent medieval Warwick Castle, near Birmingham.

Don't forget an exhibition of new David Hockney paintings at Annely Juda Fine Art on Bering St., London, or, if you're feeling homesick, Nobu ― New York's hottest restaurant ― is now serving Japanese cuisine on the first floor of the new four-star Metropolitan Hotel on Park Lane.

Shukan ST: June 20, 1997

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