The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is an island nation in northwestern Europe. It is best known for it’s history, landscapes and nature. There is so much to see and do across the UK, you will be spoilt for choice. Whether you enjoy visiting stately homes or shopping in a city – you won’t go bored. It feels a little bit weird writing up a guide to your own country and nation, but this will benefit international readers.
Ambleside Lake in Lake District, England.
Beda Fell in Lake District, England.
Intro & Culture
The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is an island nation in northwestern Europe.
You may have also heard of the name Great Britain – this consists of England, Scotland and Wales – and doesn’t include Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.
England – birthplace of Shakespeare (Stratford Upon Avon), Charles Darwin (Shrewsbury) and The Beatles (Liverpool), It’s capital, London is a globally influential centre of finance and culture. England is also home to the site of Neolithic Stonehenge, Bath’s Roman spa and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge. Also home to the mountain Scafell Pike (one of the 3 peaks).
Scotland – famous for its whisky distilleries, bagpipes, lively music culture, and beautiful lochs across the country. From its stunning landscape and architecture to its hearty food and legendary golf courses, Scotland is a popular destination for travelers from all over the world. It is also home to the mountain Ben Nevis (one of the 3 peaks).
Wales – famous for its rugged coastline, mountainous National Parks including Snowdonia (one of the 3 peaks) and not forgetting the Celtic Welsh language. It’s a pretty cool country to live in or to visit. Firstly, not only does it have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, the Welsh people are known as one of the friendliest.
Northern Ireland – famous for its scenic coastlines, towns, and villages along the shoreline. Most of these coastline towns are located in the west of Ireland, mainly in the province of Munster. The most famous landmarks in Ireland are the Cliffs of Moher.
Do not get Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland confused – they are next to each other but are separate countries. In 1921, there was a government ruling to split the two apart to have their own government – this was called the Partition of Ireland.
CURRENCY
In the UK, we mainly use British Pounds (Sterling) but in the Republic of Ireland, they use the Euro. I would definitely recommend looking into a card that doesn’t charge you for payments or withdrawals abroad. I use Monzo which is an app based bank account and contactless card (there are lots of similar ones to choose from though), it also alerts you once you’ve used the card and also gives you the current exchange rate on purchases too.
Top Tip: Download the app “Currency Plus” to get currency conversions on the go. It updates daily and when connected to WiFi or Network to give you the latest conversion and you can have multiple currencies shown in one go.
Download here: Apple App Store // Google Play Store
LANGUAGE
In the UK, we speak English but different parts of the UK have their own dialect. In Ireland they will speak Gaelic, Newcastle have their own phrases called Geordie. And in Wales they will speak Welsh but everyone in the UK speaks the same English language.
TIMEZONE
The time zone in the UK at summer time is BST British Summer Time (GMT +0:00) and in the winter it is GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +1:00).
CUISINE
Food and eating out in the UK is amazing. There are so many different restaurants across the UK which cater for different cuisines and tastes – everything from Indian, Italian and American etc. London is perfect for checking out the old traditional English pubs for the all famous “pub grub” especially fish and chips or the loved English roast dinner. Weirdly, the UK is one of the few places apart from India that is famous for it’s curries.
Following World War II, curry became even more popular in Britain owing to the large number of immigrants from South Asia. Curry has become an integral part of British cuisine, so much so that, since the late 1990s, chicken tikka masala has been referred to as “a true British national dish”.
Budget Tips
Suggested Daily Budget – 115-120 EUR / 100-115 GBP This is a suggested daily budget if you are spending time in London due to city prices being more than another location around the UK. Any other location around the UK, your daily budget will probably be half of this but not always. This daily budget isn’t including accommodation or excursions.
01. Make the most of happy hours – Around the UK’s cities, there are a lot of bars and restaurants that have happy hours where most drinks will be half price. If you are into that kind of thing, make sure you make the most of this offer. You can also have happy hour offers for eating out but not all restaurants will have this offer. But do keep your eye out for eating deals especially near student areas of London.
02. When travelling on the Underground, use an Oyster or contactless card – Do not buy a travel card ticket from a machine as you will always get caught out by peak travel fares. Make sure you have a contactless credit or debit card or have an Oyster card for using the Underground. It will save you a lot of money – an average daily charge using a contactless is around £5 and a travel card ticket could be around £30.
03. In a restaurant, be sure to check for dishes of the day or a saver deal – Most of these deals will be around for students but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of a cheaper meal. Eating out especially in London can be quite expensive, but you don’t always have to fork out on a meal.
04. Leave taxi/Uber travel for when you have longer journeys or travelling with luggage – I wouldn’t want to be stuck in London traffic in a taxi or Uber as the metre will be running and wasting money. If you can, try to use the Underground and leave a taxi/Uber as a last resort especially if you are travelling with lots of luggage. You don’t want to carry heavy suitcases around the Underground.
Travel tips
VISAS
You won’t need a visa to visit the UK no matter where you are travelling from but you may need to fill in an immigration card.
Check if you need a Visa or other documentation here…
With iVisa, all of your travel document requirements are all in one place. They help give you that piece of mind when checking you have everything you need to enter a country without any hassle.
You can apply for everything from visas, tourist cards, invitation letters and health declaration forms for COVID-19 differently from their website. It’s very quick and easy to use and they are very fast at processing your applications, some things can even be FREE for whichever travel document you need. You can even pay for speedy processing and delivery if you are in a rush.
INJECTIONS
You do not need any injections to visit the UK, no matter where you’re coming from.
READ MORE: A Guide to Vaccinations And Visas Around The World
CAPITAL/CITY
The capital of the UK is London. We also have lots of big cities across the UK which include London, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool (England) Dublin, Belfast, Cork (Ireland) Edinburg, Glasgow (Scotland) and Cardiff (Wales) and many others which are too many to name but these are the most popular.
ACCOMMODATION
There are so many hotels and accomodation across the UK depending on where you are planning to stay. These can vary from major hotel chains, AirBnB’s, homestays or hostels. Make sure you check out AirBnB and also TripAdvisor for booking your hotel or hostel.
ACCOMMODATION I’VE STAYED IN
• Radisson Edwardian Blu Hotel, Canary Wharf, London (near the O2), England
• Danubius Hotel, Regents Park, London (near Lord’s Cricket Ground), England
• Native Bankside, London (near Borough Market), England
• YHA Ambleside Hostel, Lake District, England
• The Resident, Liverpool, England
• Bings Farm House, Whaley Bridge, Peak District, England
• Rathlin Cottage, Cambridge, Cotswolds, England
• The Unicorn Apartments, Stow-on-the-Wold, Cotswolds, England
• Rock Cottage, Minchinhampton, Cotswolds, England
• YHA Bryn Gwynant Hostel, (near Snowdonia), Wales
EXPLORE THE UK
Buckinghamshire | Brighton | Cotswold District | Derbyshire | Isle Of Wight | Lake District | Liverpool | London | Shrewsbury | Stratford Upon Avon | Wales
DRIVING
In England we drive on the left hand side of the road, with the driver on the right hand side of the car. It’s pretty easy to drive in England and also depends on where you are visiting to if you need a car. If you are visiting London, you will ideally need to use public transport or walk as the roads in London can be quite crazy with buses and other cars using the roads.
FLIGHTS
Flights to London can be from any major city across the world or from having a stopover in a major city if you are coming from somewhere smaller. Be sure to search Skyscanner to find your best time to fly to London or any of the other major cities across the UK.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
There is plenty of public transport around the UK to help you get around. You can travel via taxi/Uber, trains, buses, planes and boats. You can book your trains using Trainline, Great Western Railways or through National Rail. If you are travelling around London it would be best to use the Underground. You can either buy a travel card ticket from a machine or use a Oyster card or contactless credit and debit card. You can catch a ferry from either Liverpool, Southampton or Portsmouth to get to Isle of Wight and you can book your ferry through Red Funnel Ferries or WightLink Ferries.
Packing Tips
WHAT TO WEAR
You can wear pretty much anything in the UK, of course depending on the weather. In the UK we have very varied weather throughout the year so it all depends on what the weather is like and what you wear. It is always best to come prepared for all weathers because you never know what weather you are going to get. Sadly, nice weather is never guaranteed and can change instantly. One minute it will be lovely and sunny and the next minute it will be raining really hard!
WEATHER
As I said above, the weather in the UK is very mixed and can change at any point. So make sure you are prepared for the weather you’ll be visiting in. I would recommend always having a pair of sunglasses and an umbrella in your bag just in case.
April – June is pleasant and has a few cold days ; this is considered our spring and early summer. Our pretty flowers will be in bloom which include daffodils, bluebells and sunflowers.
July – September is our warmest weather ; this is considered our summer.
October – March is our coldest weather with rain, snow and temperatures as low as 0 or below ; this is considered our autumn and winter. The leaves will start to change colour and the mornings will be crisp with frost. We usually get lots of snow in January.
Activities
THINGS TO SEE & DO
There is so much to do in the UK depending on where you are in the country. In London there is all of your typical tourist attractions plus a few quirky corners of the city that not most tourists know about which I love. In the Lake District, Peak District or in Wales there are some amazing hikes you can do up Mount Snowdon or in the fells of the national parks.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE UK
- • Mount Snowdonia, Wales
- • Covent Garden, London
- • Soho, London
- • Go stand up paddleboarding in the Lake District
- • Visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare in Stratford Upon Avon
- • Visit the home of The Beatles in Liverpool
- • Shopping in Oxford Circus, London
- • Big Ben, London
- • Buckingham Palace, London
- • London Eye, London
- • Hyde Park, London
- • Kew Gardens, London
- • Windsor Castle, Buckinghamshire
- • Windsor, Buckinghamshire
- • Visit the Cotswolds and see the pretty cottages and villages
SAVE THIS TRAVEL GUIDE FOR FUTURE USE…
Solo Travel / Small Budget / 
This is a great guide for people visiting the UK for the first time. 😀
Sarah ???? || Boxnip
Thanks, hopefully it helps someone x
Love the photos and the Lake District
Thank you 🙂
I love travelling to different places in the UK, despite living here. There is so many great things to do and see x
I know right, I really need to plan more staycations and write more about the UK for Brits and tourists. I had a plan to visit Cornwall and the south coast via train (as I don’t drive) but haven’t got around to doing it yet. Hopefully sometime soon though x
I would think it was quite would be very useful for someone who didn’t live in the UK! 🙂 You don’t need anything else I would say this is a perfect guide.
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it and think it will be useful. It’s so strange writing about your own country for someone else to read and use aha. I’m more use to writing about other countries. I should write about the UK more often and do staycation guides for Brits and guides for tourists in the UK!