WE British are keen to travel almost anywhere except Britain, it seems.

A survey has revealed that more Britons have been to Barcelona than have been to Bath.

Four in five had never been to Liverpool, the European City of Culture for 2008, while 80 per cent had never been to Oxford.

I confess I am one of the 80 per cent who have not been to Oxford. Not unless you count skirting it on the A40, getting stuck in a traffic queue and witnessing the city's fabulous line of stationary Ford Mondeos.

I have visited Liverpool quite a few times and would certainly recommend it. But it's hardly surprising that most people haven't been there, since it has often generated the kind of publicity that makes it sound like Beirut with a Marks & Spencer's.

There are probably a host of reasons why people don't journey around the UK as much as they could. For one thing, it's often cheaper to go abroad than stay in Britain. What's more, people like to visit places where the chances of not being rained on throughout your stay are better than evens.

Perhaps more importantly, Britain's road congestion and lamentable public transport links mean it is often easier for a Londoner to visit France than Cornwall.

But I think big business must take some of the blame. For years, British towns have been becoming more alike. The big corporations have been ensuring all town centres have the same chain stores, the same chain pubs and the same American fast-food outlets and coffee houses.

If we're really going to enjoy travelling around Britain, the corporate world will have to stop trying to make every town we visit exactly like the one we just left. And we, the public, will have to learn that it's not a calamity to turn up in a strange town and discover there's no branch of Next.

Another news story this week showed a further attempt to stamp out diversity in Britain. Staff at Bristol council have apparently been told to stop addressing the public with local epithets such as "My lover".

I think one of the great things about Britain is that you can drive for a couple of hours, get out of the car and find people speaking in a completely different way from the people you just left behind. So why on earth would a local authority try to stop its employees from using the local vernacular? Wouldn't it be a good idea to relax and stop trying to make Britain the same all over?

Well, with that plea, I'm off to book next year's two weeks in Hemel Hempstead.