英国旅游高花费让本土游客望而止步

Britain is crammed¹ with overpriced restaurants, plagued by expensive hotels and let down by overrated tourist attractions, according to the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Guide.

根据《孤独星球指南》的最新版本，英国到处是高价饭馆和昂贵的酒店，英国旅游景点的价值也被高估了。

In a warts² and all（不掩盖地） review of the country as a holiday destination the well-known travel bible concludes it "has had its day" especially for cash-strapped natives.

"If you're on a tight budget, there's no getting away from it -- Britain ain't cheap," said lead author David Else who dispatched contributors to every corner of the land in search of good deals, but found few.

While some places are deemed to be "fantastic" finds and the country was still "one of the most fascinating places in the world to explore" many destinations simply didn't cut it.

"Public transport, admission fees, restaurants and hotel rooms all tend to be expensive compared with their equivalents（同等设备） in many other European countries," Else said.

"Unfortunately at a time when everyone is in desperate need of a great value summer getaway some of Britain's tourism industry just doesn't deliver," he added.

The picture was particularly bleak³（阴冷的，荒凉的） for Britons hoping to forget the government's austerity-driven budget cuts, underlying⁴ inflationary pressures and a battered⁵（破旧的，磨损的） pound.

The guide says some good value deals can be found if families do their homework, but many may, in the end, regret opting⁶ for a "staycation（居家旅游） ." London was singled as being particularly over-priced when it came to dining out.

"You're often better spending five pounds on a top-notch curry⁷ in Birmingham (central England) or a homemade steak-and-ale pie in a country pub in Devon (southwest England) than forking out 30 pounds in a restaurant for a 'modern European' concoction⁸（混合，调和） that tastes like it came from a can."

Overseas visitors, however, are undoubtedly⁹ the winners, flocking to the island in the last couple of years to take advantage of the weak pound.

Must-sees included Canterbury in the southeast which "tops the charts" when it comes to English cathedral cities, the city of Cambridge whose leafy green meadows "give it a far more tranquil¹⁰（安静的） appeal" than its rival Oxford¹¹, Glasgow a "byword（谚语，俗语） for chic¹²" and London with "endless reserves of cool".

Less flattering reviews were saved for the county of Surrey, close to London, "made up of uninspiring towns and dull, sprawling¹³ suburbs," while the city of Cardiff in Wales was slated¹⁴ as "a prodigious¹⁵ boozing town."