Best birthday weekend breaks in the UK

A lively seaside city with a pier, independent shops and nightlife

A genteel spa town of gardens, tea rooms and Turkish baths

England's biggest national park: lakes, fells and cosy villages

Ancient woodland and heath with free-roaming ponies

Wide sandy beaches, salt marshes and seal trips

Golden beaches, art galleries and a pretty Cornish harbour

England's biggest lake, with a town on its doorstep

Medieval walls, a magnificent minster and cobbled streets

Roman baths, Georgian crescents and thermal spas

Honey-coloured villages, rolling hills and country pubs

A dramatic castle city of cobbled lanes, festivals and whisky

A riverside town famous for its regatta and rowing

A Cornish fishing harbour famous for seafood and the Camel Trail

A chic sailing town on a sunny estuary, with sandy beaches and crab