Three sights and experiences in and around Glastonbury feature in a new ranked list of the 500 most memorable, beautiful, surprising and compelling experiences to be had across Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, released by leading travel media company, Lonely Planet, yesterday (Tuesday 13 August).

For the first time, Lonely Planet's community of travel experts have chosen the best sights and experiences and ranked them in order of their brilliance in the new Lonely Planet's Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist book.

The "majestic, marvellous, mud-drenched musical extravaganza" Glastonbury Festival comes in at number 12, commune with the sunrise on Glastonbury Tor is at number 271, and take in the swirl of murmurations above the Somerset Levels making number 396.

Kevin Anderson, visitor experience officer for the Somerset Wildlife Trust/Avalon Marshes Centre, said: "We are very pleased to be included in this list.

"The annual starling murmurations which take place over the Avalon Marshes are breath-taking and demonstrate that you do not have to leave the UK to experience one of the world's most exciting natural wonders."

To create Lonely Planet's Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist, the Lonely Planet team compiled every highlight from the Lonely Planet guidebooks to Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Every sight, attraction and experience that had caught their writers' attention over the years were included.

Everyone in Lonely Planet's London office, plus 20 leading figures in the country's travel sector, were then asked to reveal their favourite spots and experiences before the voting began.

Everybody in Lonely Planet's UK community was asked to vote for their top 20 experiences. With hundreds of votes cast, Lonely Planet ended up with a score for each of the 500 experiences in the book.

Lonely Planet's vice-president of experience, Tom Hall, said: "Lonely Planet's Ultimate United Kingdom Travelist brings together the UK's most compelling sights and experiences, ranging from world-class museums and giant cathedrals to rollicking festivals, inky lochs and tiny pubs.

"South West England is home to some of the UK's most captivating spots so it's only right that a good number of the region's wonderful offerings feature among our favourites."

Number 1 spot overall went to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.