BBC News - UK Direct

23 June 2012Last updated at 14:34

The alternative map for 2012 visitorsTourism in the UK faces a massive year. Non-British born Magazine readers offer their alternative must-see spots

From KwaZulu-Natal to Bangor

South African businessman Glynn Orchin celebrates his adopted home of Bangor, Northern Ireland

Hymn to the birds and treesNovelist Xinran discovers the England she learnt about from her childhood in China

Looking for winter waves in PorthcawlCalifornian surfer and writer Michael Kew discovers the joys of surfing in Porthcawl, Wales

To Cromarty, with loveAustralian novelist Helen FitzGerald eulogises a far-flung spot

The real Downton AbbeyFans of the hit British TV show are coming to the UK to see the luxurious location

Stratford: One Square Mile of the UKUK Direct travels to Stratford in east London, an economically deprived part of the capital

Working Lives UKA series looking at the lives of six different Britons living in the city of Leeds

From BBC Travel

Best of Burns
Celebrate Scotland's iconic writer with song, poems - and a dram or two
Make for the lakes
Breath-taking views and inspiring hikes in England's Lake District
Potter country
Tracking down the film locations from the Harry Potter films
Winter wanderland
The best of the UK's walks for a brisk day

UK in facts and figures
All the must-know information about modern-day Britain
India Direct
Delving deeper into the world's biggest democracy
Taiwan Direct
Analysis and features about a country at the crossroads
Malaysia Direct
The background stories from an Asian powerhouse
Indonesia Direct
Behind the headlines in the world's most populous Muslim nation
Ukraine Direct
A look behind the headlines at life in Ukraine