Promoted | The new MINI Countryman: explore the best British culture

We’ve teamed up with the new MINI Countryman to help you scale up your next holiday adventure, picking some of our favourite inspirational ideas for destinations with a difference that help you supersize any UK staycation.

With room for five, up to 1390 litres of versatile luggage space, and plenty of ways to customise your MINI to make it even more stylish or even more practical, the new family-size MINI Countryman SUV is a real all-rounder. Add in the option of ALL4 all-wheel-drive or an efficient Plug-in Hybrid with 26 miles of low-impact electric range, and you’ve got true go-anywhere ability.

That’s why it’s perfect for exploring the best of British culture. With standout design, a wealth of customisation options, and advanced in-car tech that gives you more connectivity and more control over navigation, music and phone calls, the new MINI Countryman is perfect for finding the UK’s artistic and creative hotspots.

For more inspiring big British adventures or to find out more about the new MINI Countryman, head to minicountryman.whatcar.com

Supersize movie night at a drive-in cinema

Prompted by the popularity of innovative open-air cinemas which blend iconic films with stellar backdrops, drive-in cinemas that evoke iconic 1950s retro Americana have made a high-tech comeback in recent years. They’re a novel way to share movie night with friends and family, especially when you can comfortably seat five in the spacious new MINI Countryman.

Depending on the venue, they’ll give you a wireless speaker for the film’s audio, or you tune in to a local FM frequency – perfect for the new MINI Countryman’s six-speaker audio with DAB and FM radio, or the premium 360W 12-speaker Harman Kardon Hi-Fi system. Equally, its commanding raised SUV driving position gives you a perfect widescreen view of the action.

Goodwood – home to the Festival of Speed and the 1960s-themed Goodwood Revival – has joined forces with the team behind Secret Cinema this year to create a premium drive-in that uses Goodwood’s period backdrop to really dial up the retro atmosphere. For something even more tasty, the Drive & Dine Theatre in Cornwall has been blending classic films with amazing diner-themed dishes created by British Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth.

London has always offered a great cinematic backdrop, and the popular Rooftop Film Club has been running a drive-in for 2020 at the stunning Alexandra Palace. On the other side of town, the Sunset Cinema in Acton boasts the biggest outdoor screen in West London.

Established open-air after-dark film specialist Luna Cinema has created pop-up drive-in cinemas at a wealth of venues across the UK in 2020, and with the likes of Adventure Drive-In, Drive In Films, Nightflix, the Star & Mouse Picture Show, Great British Drive In and Cinestok offering a great selection of classic and current films at an equally eclectic range of venues, it’s clear drive-in cinemas are here to stay.

Finally, itison Drive-in Movies has established a great reputation for pulling off innovative outdoor cinema and drive-in events around Scotland – including Harry Potter in Glencoe, Jaws on Troon beach and a Valentine’s Day screening of Top Gun at Edinburgh Airport – so definitely keep an eye on what they have planned next.

For more inspiring big British adventures or to find out more about the new MINI Countryman, head to minicountryman.whatcar.com

Travel back in time

The UK has amazing history, but you don’t need to head to a stuffy museum when you can experience it first-hand at one of Britain’s many ‘living museums’ – immersive outdoor venues that blend period streets and costumed hosts to bring history to life around you. So, pack your friends and family into the five-seat new MINI Countryman and journey to another era.

Depending on your historical preference, the Beamish Museum near Newcastle, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum and the Black Country Living Museum in the Midlands, the Weald and Downland Museum in the South Downs, the Historic Chatham Dockyard in Kent and the Comeston Medieval Village near Cardiff all feel like you’ve stepped onto a film set as history comes to life around you.

Why not step back into the golden age of steam on one of the UK’s many heritage railways. The Bluebell Railway in Sussex is perhaps Britain’s best known line, while the North Yorkshire Moors Railways crosses stunning scenery on its way to Britain’s best fish and chips in Whitby. The Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales blends dramatic mountains and tunnels as it climbs 700ft from Porthmadog to Caernfaron, while the Jacobite is a steam train that takes in Scotland’s famed Glenfinnan Viaduct from Fort William to Mallaig.

You can explore the history of flight at the RAF Museum Cosford in the Midlands and IWM Duxford near Cambridge. Or you can reminisce about the cars of your youth at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire’s New Forest, the Transport Museum in Coventry, the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset or Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey.

For more inspiring big British adventures or to find out more about the new MINI Countryman, head to minicountryman.whatcar.com

Take in some art, outdoors

With 10 vibrant paint colours, contrast roof and mirror caps, five different bonnet stripes, 11 alloy designs and a multitude of interior trims, the new MINI Countryman offers a wealth of ways to customise your car to your taste. But getting artistic inspiration doesn’t mean you have to head into a gallery. There are plenty of great outdoor art installations around the UK.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the grounds of Bretton Hall is the UK’s most acclaimed sculpture park, with an ever-changing selection of 80 sculptures from the likes of Ai Weiwei, Angel of the North designer Antony Gormley, Barbara Hepworth, David Nash, Damien Hirst, Elisabeth Frink, Henry Moore and Julian Opie. Equally spectacular is Jupiter Artland in the grounds of Bonnington House, Edinburgh. It blends a surreal landscape of ridged hills, designed by architectural theorist Charles Jencks, with a wealth of provocative sculptures.

Antony Gormley’s 100-strong army of iron statues ‘Another Place’ provides an imposing site on Crosby Beach near Liverpool, while the Barbara Hepworth Museum in Cornwall and the Henry Moore Studios in Hertfordshire celebrate each pioneering artists’ work.

For an outdoor exhibit that’s truly out of this world, head to the Crawick Multiverse in the Scottish borders. This former open-cast mine has been transformed into a space-themed amphitheatre, with a ‘Comet Walk’ and winding hillside paths to represent the spiral galaxies of Andromeda and the Milky Way.

Elsewhere, the Kielder Art & Architecture walk boasts 22 sculptures on its 27-mile trail, while the Forest Of Dean Sculpture Trail includes ‘Cathedral’ (an enormous stained-glass window hanging amongst the trees). The Sculpture Park in Surrey brings together more than 600 works from 300 artists in its 10-acre site.

For more inspiring big British adventures or to find out more about the new MINI Countryman, head to minicountryman.whatcar.com