Pilgrim Fathers Trail (Self Guided), Plymouth

Back in the early 17th century, a group of English Puritans – nowadays reverently referred to as the Pilgrim Fathers – fled religious persecution in their homeland and established a colony in North America that later became known as Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims embarked on their perilous journey across the Atlantic from Plymouth, England in 1620 aboard a ship called the Mayflower, which today is famously remembered as the Mayflower voyage.

The memory of that epic crossing lives on in the English city of Plymouth where several sites associated with the Pilgrim Fathers are still in place and attract history buffs from all over the world to this day.

The historic heart of Plymouth's fishing industry – Sutton Harbour – is now a bustling waterfront area with a marina, restaurants, and shops. The located here Mayflower Steps are said to be the place from where the Mayflower set sail for America. A bronze plaque on the steps commemorates that event.

Another historic location, the 16th-century Elizabethan House, is where some of the Pilgrims lodged while their other fellows stayed at the nearby Island House awaiting their departure for North America.

The Plymouth Gin Distillery – the oldest working gin distillery in England – is where the Pilgrims enjoyed their final drink prior to boarding the Mayflower. The full story of the Pilgrim Fathers' voyage, including their struggle to survive in the New World, and their legacy in American history, can be learned at the Mayflower Museum located in Plymouth's waterfront area, not far away.

The fact that, upon their arrival in America, the Pilgrims chose to call their newly-established colony “Plymouth”, gives us reasons to assume that despite the years of persecution and the hardships they endured, the time they had spent in this coastal English town was something worth remembering in the new life awaited them on the new continent. To see what may have impressed the Pilgrims so much in Plymouth, UK, take this self-guided walk and find out.