P is for Portmeirion

Portmeirion was designed and built by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis from 1925 to 1976, in the style of a Mediterranean village. He wanted to show how a naturally beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it. The results are truly spectacular.

The site has served as the location for numerous films and television shows (including Doctor Who), but is probably best known for being "The Village" in the 1960s classic television show The Prisoner.

The whole site is now a tourist attraction and is now owned by a charitable trust. It's located near to Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, North Wales.

O is for the O2

The O2 is a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London. It was built largely within the former Millennium Dome, thus The Dome remains a name in common usage for the venue.

The site comprises an indoor arena, a music club, a cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars and restaurants. The Arena alone has a capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, and is reportedly the busiest music venue in the world.

N is for Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. As the name suggests, it is home to some 80 million specimens, covering botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. That means it covers everything from dinosaurs to massive mammals, and even the smallest insect, so you really get a chance to explore the whole diversity of life on Earth.

The museum is recognised worldwide as a centre of research in these fields. However, remarkably, it does not charge an admission fee...

M is for the Millennium Centre, Cardiff

The Welsh Millennium Centre is an arts centre in Cardiff. The 7.5 acre site contains a 1,900 seat lyric theatre, designed for opera, large scale musicals, ballet and contemporary dance – as well as a studio theatre, a dance house and orchestral hall.

The Centre has made numerous appearances in film and television including Doctor Who, as the latest series is produced locally by BBC Wales. The spin-off series Torchwood also features the Centre - in seasons 1 and 2 of the series, the team had their headquarters underneath the Water Tower in Roald Dahl Plass.

L is for Llanberis

Llanberis is somewhere we only discovered last year. The village is right at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It's the home of the Snowdon Mountain Railway, a narrow gauge rack and pinion mountain railway that takes you right to the summit. It's a popular centre for walking, climbing, mountain biking and pony trekking as well as water sports.

However, my breath was taken away by the magnificent Llanberis Pass, a unique glaciated valley and world class climbing spot. The valley is narrow, straight and steep-sided, with rocky crags and boulders on either side of the road.

K is for Keswick

Keswick is located in the Lake District, a mountainous region in North West England, which is renowned for its lakes, as well as its forests and fells.

The town originally became famous for its association with the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. As you might expect, the town has since become a major centre for tourism, with a wide range of attractions for visitors.

J is for Jersey

Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, but that just means it's 9 miles by 5 miles (14km by 8km). Although not strictly part of the United Kingdom, it falls under UK jurisdiction and the UK is constitutionally responsible for its defence. It is self-governing, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems, and the power of self-determination.

It's situated off the coast of Normandy, and as such is closer to France - 14 miles (22km) - than England - 100 miles (160km). The island's official language is English, and the cash machines dispense sterling - yet the streets are named in French. The island is a fascinating mix of English and French culture, and that makes it such a fascinating place to visit. Places to visit include the Durrell Wildlife Park and the Jersey War Tunnels, a former World War 2 underground military hospital...

I is for Inverness

Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands, the northernmost city in the United Kingdom. It boasts a number of historic buildings and a good selection of shops in the town, the Victorian Market and the new Eastgate centre.

Dominating the City Centre's horizon, Inverness Castle (see picture) is impressively placed on the hillside, with the River Ness flowing immediately below it. There's been a castle on this site since the 12th century. The present castle is in fact used as a courthouse.

H is for Harrogate

Harrogate is a town in North Yorkshire. For centuries, visitors have flocked here to experience the local spa waters, a fact that has contributed significantly to the wealth of the town. Today, many also come to experience the local tea rooms, the scenery, the art galleries.

Something is obviously special about the place. Apparently, opinion polls have consistently voted the town as "the happiest place to live" in Britain.

G is for Greenwich

Greenwich has played a significant role in the history of navigation and astronomy. The town was originally the site of a royal palace and was the birthplace of many Tudors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The Royal Observatory that was established there in 1676 was commissioned by King Charles II for the special purpose of “rectifying the motions of the heavens and the places of the fixed stars and in order to find the desired longitude of places in order to master the art of navigation.”

The place gives its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and consequently to Greenwich Mean Time. The whole site is now maintained as a Heritage Centre and tourist attraction.

Being a mere 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the City Centre, Greenwich is now a suburb of Greater London.