Many visitors to the United Kingdom go straight to London and never set foot outside the capital—which is a pity, for those that do are often surprised at the sheer variety of landscapes 1 within such a small geographical area. 2 you want to see stunning, unspoilt scenery you should 3 spend a few days in one of Britain"s largest areas of protected countryside, a national park. 4 in the second half of the 20 ^th century after popular pressure for access 5 the country"s wilder places, there are now 15 of them throughout the British Isles.
The biggest is the Cairngorms in northern Scotland, named 6 some of the country"s highest mountains and the best place for skiing. Pony-trekking, climbing and fishing are also 7 , along with Scotland"s national game, golf. 8 enthusiasts are well rewarded—this is the home of the red deer, red squirrel and golden eagle, If you don"t like the 9 to the highest point, some 2000 metres 10 sea level, you can take the railway 11 gets you to the summit in less than ten minutes. 12 the west of the park is another popular natural 13 , Loch Ness. The lake is over 200 metres 14 in places, and salmon, trout and eels are in abundance here.
Over the border in England is the Lake District, 15 made famous by Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth two hundreds years ago. People have been 16 here en masse since 1847 17 a railway was built to its biggest lake, Windermere. 18 in the past boats plied its waters 19 stone, timber and wood, today"s craft are more likely to carry 20 on pleasure cruises—over a million a year, in fact.