E

ngland is packed with architectural treasures, so whatever floats your aesthetically-pleasing boat, you can find something that’ll have you reaching for the camera.

Check out Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul's Cathedral for example, where you can huff and puff your way up the 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery. If the friend who’s with you is getting on your nerves, this is not the place to nag about them; as the gallery’s name suggests, you can whisper at any point along its wall and the sound will travel around the dome. Whoops…

On the other hand, if you’re after something more expansive, head to the Avon Gorge and marvel at Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge – all 214 metres of it. The towers were meant to be finished with Egyptian sphinxes but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your stance) they ran out of money before building them.

However, Great English architecture is certainly not stuck in the past – as you’ll find out if you head to Manchester. Ian Simpson has transformed the city’s skyline with Urbis, a triangular-shaped building of curved and mirrored glass that’s set to become the home of the beautiful game with the relocation here of the National Football Museum. Meanwhile, across the city you’ll find its sister, Beetham Tower, a 47-storey skyscraper with views out across 10 English counties and a buzzy bar on the 23rd floor.