United Kingdom

The United Kingdom packs a great deal of variety into a relatively small island group. Four nations share it, each with its own identity, and the scenery changes quickly, from chalk downs and thatched villages in the south to the lakes of Cumbria and the mountains and sea lochs of the Scottish Highlands. Trains and roads connect it all, and English-speaking travellers will find it among the easiest places in Europe to explore.

London needs several days on its own: royal palaces, world-class museums, theatres and markets. From there, day tours reach Windsor, Oxford and Cambridge, Stonehenge and Salisbury, Bath with its Roman Baths, Canterbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. Further north lie York, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. In Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow are the bases for trips to Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Oban, while Inverness opens up Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye. Cardiff leads into Wales, and Belfast to the Giant's Causeway. Smaller places add a great deal: the Cotswolds villages, the Lake District, the white cliffs at Dover and the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born.

British food has changed enormously. Alongside fish and chips and a proper Sunday roast, you will find afternoon tea, Cornish pasties, Welsh rarebit, Scottish salmon and whisky distilleries, and some of the most diverse restaurant scenes in Europe in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

The UK is our largest destination. We offer UK day tours from London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Inverness, guided walks, Christmas market tours, photography sessions and city breaks. For longer journeys there are UK rail tours, private van tours across England, Scotland and Ireland, and several self-drive itineraries including Scotland and southern England. Rail works well between London, York and Edinburgh, while the Highlands, the Cotswolds and the Welsh valleys are best seen by road.