TRAVEL IN UNITED KINGDOM

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 64.1 million inhabitants. It is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. Its capital city is London, an important global city and financial centre with an urban population of 10,310,000, the fourth-largest in Europe and second-largest in the European Union.

Few places cram in as much scenery, history and culture as the United Kingdom. It’s a busy, eccentric and unique destination; a land of daft humor, tea-and-cake clichés and a thousand and one different personalities; a land where thrusting cities like London, Glasgow and Manchester share map space with the peaks of Snowdonia and the colossal slopes of the Highlands.

Four component nations make up the UK, and the end result is as many-layered as that fact would suggest. Its arts scene continues to be one of the most creative and successful in the world, its passions still run high on everything from politics to sport and its overall character is as modern as it is multicultural. Even the food’s good these days.

London remains the natural focal point. Its skyline, mixing medieval turrets with soaring steel, is a good marker for the place as a whole. From its markets to its museums, its pubs to its palaces, it’s a bona fide world city packed with diversity. But you don’t have to look far to find other great urban centers – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all home to richly engaging cities full of heritage, music and nightlife. Some, like Bath and Edinburgh, offer postcard-perfect medieval skylines. Others, like Belfast and Liverpool, are handsome in places but just as notable for their indelible personalities.

As a country, of course, the UK’s urban centers are just one part of its allure. Britain is often extremely beautiful. Seaside towns, national parks and honey-stoned villages still fill the guidebooks, and the scenic pull of areas like the Cornish coast, Giant’s Causeway and the Lake District is as strong as it’s ever been. Once you factor in the endless cultural associations that Britain throws up – from Henry VIII to Hogwarts, The Beatles to Brave heart, male voice choirs to Monty Python – it stands as a country very much its own.

United Kingdom Weather, climate and geography

Weather & climate

Best time to visit: 

There is never a bad time to visit the United Kingdom, but for the most reliable weather come during the summer months (June-August) when the days are long and warm. Temperatures can nudge 30°C (86°F), sometimes higher, but the threat of rain is ever present - pack waterproofs as well as the sunscreen. The southeast of England is generally sunnier and warmer than the rest of the United Kingdom, but resorts along the coast get crowded during the summer.

The United Kingdom is arguably at its most beautiful during the autumn months (September-November), when rural landscapes take on brown, red and pink hues as the leaves lose their pigment. Scotland and the north of England bear the brunt of winter (November-March), but snow occasionally blankets much of the United Kingdom bringing with it travel chaos. The mercury has been known to dip to -10°C (14°F), but those kind of temperatures are rare.

Required clothing: 

Waterproofing throughout the year. Warm clothing is advisable at all times, and is essential for any visits to upland areas.

Geography

The British landscape can be divided roughly into two kinds of terrain - highland and lowland. The highland area comprises the mountainous regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and North Wales.

The English Lake District in the northwest contains lakes and fells. The lowland area is broken up by sandstone and limestone hills, long valleys and basins such as the Wash on the east coast. In the southeast, the North and South Downs culminate in the White Cliffs of Dover.

The coastline includes fjord-like inlets in the northwest of Scotland, spectacular cliffs and wild sandy beaches on the east coast and, further south, beaches of rock, shale and sand sometimes backed by dunes, and large areas of fenland in East Anglia.

Note: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Although they form one administrative unit (with regional exceptions), they have had separate cultures, languages and political histories.

The United Kingdom section consists of a general introduction (covering the aspects that the four countries have in common) and sections devoted to the four constituent countries. The Channel Islands (Alderney, Guernsey, Jersey, Sark and Herm) and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the British Crown. These are included here for convenience of reference.