Language · 1 published
Country guide
The United Kingdom is 244,376 km² holding 69,281,437 people, and it is four countries rather than one: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast as their capitals. Three of the four run parliaments of their own over devolved matters, and the law splits three ways — England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland. A visitor meets that in small practical things rather than at a border. London alone holds about 9.1 million of the total, which is why so many trips never leave it, and why the ones that do feel like arriving somewhere else.
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Ilya Grigorik · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Daniel Nisbet from Manchester, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
7 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
The National Gallery is Britain's national collection of European painting, standing on the north side of Trafalgar Square and free to enter.
Tate Modern holds the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, meaning work created from or after 1900, and it holds it inside a decommissioned power station on the south bank of the Thames.
The Scottish National Gallery, branded by National Galleries of Scotland simply as the National, is the principal gallery on the Mound above Princes Street Gardens.
Manchester Art Gallery grew from the Royal Manchester Institution, whose fine-art holdings transferred to the new municipal gallery in 1882.
The Whitworth is the University of Manchester’s art gallery in Whitworth Park, founded in 1889 in memory of industrialist Joseph Whitworth for the benefit of Manchester’s public.
Bridgewater Hall is Manchester’s purpose-built international concert venue, created to replace the Free Trade Hall as the city’s principal large orchestral space.
The Hunterian Art Gallery holds the art collections of the University of Glasgow, and it is one venue of several that together make up The Hunterian, Scotland's oldest public museum.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Ten to fourteen days can cover four or five days in London, two in Manchester, and two or three each in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Highlands, Lake District, or Welsh national parks need dedicated nights and should not be squeezed into London day trips.
UK document rules depend on nationality and trip purpose, and many visitors now need an Electronic Travel Authorisation before boarding. Check the linked UK government visa service for both visa and ETA status shortly before travel.
Intercity rail is the practical spine between London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, with advance fares usually distinct from flexible tickets. Each city runs its own local fare system, so London's contactless cap is not a nationwide travel pass.
May to June and September are useful planning windows for this route, but conditions vary between southern England and Scotland. Festival dates in Edinburgh and rural transport in national parks can matter more than the national seasonal label.
The United Kingdom uses pound sterling (GBP). Contactless payment is widespread in major cities, but keep another payment method for rural services or terminals that do not share London's payment arrangements.
Use 999 or 112 for emergencies in the United Kingdom. Type G sockets supply 230 V, and mains tap water is recorded as safe; save rail disruption information as well when the itinerary depends on several city-to-city journeys.
.jpeg){kind=link}
