The route
This is a suggested first route through England, built from the places already in the Old Route Retro atlas. England is too large for a single line, so this route reads in three legs — the West Country, London and the South, and the North — each a few days of its own, threaded through the atlas's heritage country. Every stop below links to its own place page, where the postcards filed for that location are gathered together.
The England route shows the whole country, and holds every design currently filed under it.
The West Country
Start in the west, where the atlas's England is oldest. Bath keeps its Roman baths and Georgian terraces, and Bristol anchors the port country beside it. Heading south, Stonehenge and Salisbury mark the chalk country, New Forest opens its old woods, and Dartmoor lifts its granite moor above the rest.
Beyond the moor, the road runs to the sea: Plymouth on its sound, then Cornwall and the artists' town of St Ives at the western end of the atlas's England.
London and the South
The second leg is anchored by London, and around it the atlas files the south: Brighton on the coast, the ridge of the South Downs, the White Cliffs above the Channel, and Canterbury with its cathedral. Inland from London, the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge make their own short legs.
The North
The third leg belongs to the north. York is the walled city at its heart, with the coast at Whitby and the moors of the North York Moors between them. Further west, the Lake District holds England's steepest country, while far to the north Hadrians Wall, Durham, and Newcastle mark the Roman and medieval frontier.
The atlas's other Englands
Three legs cannot hold all of England, and the atlas does not pretend otherwise. The Cotswolds and Chester sit between the regions, the flatlands of The Broads and Norwich lie in the east, and the great cities of the Midlands and the Pennines — Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield — each carry their own pages. The England route is the map for all of it.
Planning the route
This is a suggested route from the Old Route Retro atlas, not an official itinerary. Each leg works on its own — a few days for the West Country, a few days for London and the south, a few days for the north — and the three together make a generous first England trip rather than a fixed plan. Spring and early autumn are kind to the south; the Lake District is at its quietest outside school holidays.
Every stop in this guide is a real page in the atlas. Open the England route to browse every design currently filed under it.
How long does an England road trip take?
As a first route through the atlas's England, the three legs each work in a few days: three or four for the West Country, three or four for London and the south, and three or four for the north. Taken together they make a generous trip of a couple of weeks — or each leg stands alone on its own.
Where should I start?
Start wherever the atlas pulls you. The West Country leg is the gentlest and most scenic; the London leg is the easiest to reach; the north is the wildest. Each leg links to its own place pages, so you can begin with a single town and let the route grow from there.
What are the must-see places in England?
From the atlas's England, five places carry the strongest claim: Bath and Stonehenge in the west, London in the south, and York and the Lake District in the north — the heritage anchors of the three legs.