Bucket lists. We've all got one – things we want to do before we pop our clogs; or reach an important age milestone. Whether we fulfil them in our lifetime or not, personal bucket lists push us to be greater and achieve more. Usually, bucket lists involve places and things that are seemingly exotic or remote to us - like seeing the Seven Wonders of the World; or swimming with Dolphins in Florida. But what about the UK? We have such a huge variety of awesome activities and places right on our very own doorstep. So we asked our Cool Places readers: what's the one thing you want to do in the UK before you finally hang your hat to rest for good?
Our top 50 favourite answers:
- Complete a triathlon of air sports in one day: paraglide in the Lake District, then ride a hot air balloon and parachute off of it
- Take a gypsy caravan pulled by horses through Scotland
- Pan for gold in the Welsh mountains
- Explore the closed and forgotten stations and tunnels of the London Underground
- Have a picnic in a rowing boat on Derwentwater dressed in full Victorian costume
- Streak at London Fashion Week
- Sleep in a working lighthouse on a cold winter's night
- Visit every county in the UK
- Sing with Vera Lynn at the White Cliffs of Dover
- Go to Madame Tussauds dressed as a celebrity and randomly pose in a room
- Throw a pin on a map of the UK and go wherever it lands
- Go on a foraging holiday and live on and with nothing but nature
- Run the length of Hadrian's Wall
- Explore the UK in a VW Campervan
- Cave trampolining in Blaenau Ffestiniog
- Take a selfie at John O'Groats and Land's End
- Drive the Coastal Causeway Route
- Whale-watching in Scotland
- Walk the Penine Way
- Have a canal boat adventure
- Rock climb the Old Man of Stoer
- Island hop the Scottish Isles
- Hitch Hike to Stonehenge
- Hydro Zorbing
- Do a skydive
- White water rafting in Wales
- See the Puffins on Lundy, Skomer or Staffa Island
- Take part in the Highland Games
- Swim with the Loch Ness Monster
- Ride a helicopter over London
- Surf the Severn Bore
- Do the Chiltern 100
- Catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights in Scotland
- Go to Glastonbury Festival
- Do the largest zip wire in Europe at Zip World in north Wales
- Sail from Scrabster to Orkney
- Try bog snorkelling
- Complete a marathon
- Complete the Coast to Coast walk either on foot or by bike
- Stay in a tree house
- Take a selfie with a Highland cow
- Visit Bridges Park forest in Ireland
- Learn to surf
- Take a month off and walk the entire Wales Coastal Path
- Drive an F1 car around Silverstone
- Stay overnight in a castle
- Celebrate Burns Night in Edinburgh
- Complete the Three Peaks Challenge
- Abseil down the Marquis of Anglesey Column
- Go glamping
Big thanks to everyone who submitted their top UK bucket list wish - and a special thanks to Carrie Lou Talbot-Ashby who submitted this fantastic poem for her bucket list suggestion. Hopefully – like us – you're now inspired to go out and make some of your bucket list wishes happen.
**Congratulations to Jenny Bown, who submitted the winning bucket list suggestion (no.1 above). Jenny has won an adventure weekend break in Wales for two. She'll stay at the beautiful Hidden Valley Yurts for three blissful nights, cooking over the campfire under the stars, and she'll also enjoy an adventure day out in the Wye Valley with Inspire2Adventure - open water canoeing, rock climbing and abseiling.**
