A study by travel company, Expedia.co.uk, has found that Britons flock to cultural destinations while on holiday, but shun those on their own doorstep.

A survey of more than 1,000 people found that 23 per cent of people never visit museums or historic buildings in Britain and a further 25 per cent make just one visit a year, but when abroad, 31 per cent visit more than one cultural destination and a further 13 per cent visit more than six.

Despite this, respondents named London as 'the world's most culturally interesting city', against cities such as Paris, New York and Florence. Buckingham Palace beat the Grand Palace in Pavlovsk, Russia and the Palais de Versailles in France to top the list of historic palaces people would most like to visit and the National Gallery was chosen above the Louvre and New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Sydney Opera House topped the list of places most people would like to see a theatre show, but London's Shakespeare's Globe was second.

Dermot Halpin, managing director of Expedia.co.uk, said: 'We recognize Britain is a rich, culturally diverse place to live, but it takes the excitement of going somewhere different to spur us into action.'