United Kingdom

Big Ben is the bell inside, not the tower itself. You need to be across the river — Westminster Bridge or the South Bank — to fit the whole tower in, and tours inside depend on whether Parliament is sitting. Westminster Abbey next door is a separate ticket.

Regularly confused with London Bridge; the one with two towers is this one. Lift times are published in advance, so you can time a visit to see it open. The upper walkway has a glass floor over the traffic below.

How and why it was built is still not fully settled. The normal visit follows a path at a distance from the stones; going inside the circle needs a separate booking. Around two hours from London by train and bus, and often paired with Bath in one day.

Built on volcanic rock, so it is visible from most of the city, and the road down from it becomes the Royal Mile through the old town. During the August festivals the whole city becomes a venue and accommodation prices rise sharply. It is windy and cool even in summer.

Tens of thousands of hexagonal basalt columns formed as lava cooled and cracked, stepping down into the sea. About ninety minutes by car from Belfast, and the coast road there is half the point. Wet rock is genuinely slippery — wear proper soles.

The lake country of the English Romantic poets, laced with walking routes. It suits a trip built around walking all day and a pub in the evening, and public transport is thin enough that a car helps a lot. It rains often; a waterproof is not optional.

An eighteenth-century city built directly on top of Roman thermal baths. The curved terrace of the Royal Crescent is its signature, and the place is small enough to cover on foot. An hour and a half from London by train.

The Crown Jewels are kept here and the queue is long, so arrive at opening. The free guided tour led by the Yeoman Warders is widely reckoned the best part. Tower Bridge is next door, so the two go together.

The narrow, tangled medieval town and the strict grid of the New Town face each other across a valley. Being able to walk from one planning philosophy into the other is why it is listed. Princes Street Gardens is the seam between them.

The line Rome drew to stop going further north; much of its 118 km survives. A waymarked path runs the full length and usually takes six or seven days. For a short visit, the Housesteads fort section shows the most.

Among the largest private houses in the country, and the house Churchill was born in. The grounds and lake are bigger than the building, so allow half a day, and it is a short bus ride from Oxford. Which parts are open varies by season.

Cliff strata laying out more than a hundred million years in order, with ammonites that genuinely turn up on the beach. Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove are the photographed formations, joined by a coast path. Cliff falls are a real hazard — stay on the marked route.

Permanent collections at the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum and the rest are free to enter. On the Underground and buses you tap a contactless card or phone straight onto the reader, and a daily cap limits what you can spend. Five days still will not finish it.

Four or five hours from London by train, ninety minutes by air. During the Fringe in August there is performance on every street, but book accommodation far earlier. Tours to the Highlands and Skye leave from here.

One to two hours from London each, so both work as day trips. College grounds have set opening hours and some close during exams. In Cambridge, punting on the river is the thing people come for.

Liverpool has the Beatles and a listed waterfront; Manchester has football and the residue of the industrial revolution. If a match is the point, the fixture list decides your dates — get the ticket first and build around it. The two are under an hour apart by train.

You can walk the medieval walls right around the city, and the narrow lane of the Shambles is its emblem. It is small enough for a day, which makes it easy to slot into a London–Edinburgh run. One very large minster sits at the centre.

A completely different trip from the cities: Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Isle of Skye. Public transport is sparse, so a hire car or a multi-day tour is the norm, and the weather changes several times a day. Midges are a real nuisance in summer.

Long days let you fit a lot in, and temperatures stay mild. Scotland, being further north, gets even more light. It is peak season, so rooms cost more, and Edinburgh fills completely in August.

Fewer people, lower prices and perfectly reasonable weather. Gardens open in spring; the countryside is at its best in autumn. Rain comes in every season, so the waterproof matters more than the month.

Short days limit outdoor plans, but they suit a museum-heavy London trip. Christmas markets appear in most cities, and on 25 December public transport all but stops — do not plan to travel that day. Scotland is dark by mid-afternoon.

Sun and rain alternating several times in a day is normal, which makes a hooded waterproof more useful than an umbrella. The west — Wales, western Scotland, the Lake District — is far wetter than the east. Read forecasts by half-day rather than by day.

The UK runs its own border separately from the EU and has been extending an electronic travel authorisation requirement to visitors who do not need a visa. Who it covers and how it works keeps changing, so check the official UK government guidance before you fly. It is not the same as entry rules for other European countries.

The UK left the EU and never used the euro in any case. Scotland and Northern Ireland issue their own pound notes, which are valid but occasionally refused in England. Contactless card payment is near-universal, so you barely need cash.

On the London Underground and buses you skip tickets entirely and tap a contactless card or phone, with daily and weekly caps applied automatically. Use the same card in and out or the fare will not calculate. Buses take no cash.

Junctions and roundabouts take the most getting used to on day one. Country lanes are often single-track, so one car pulls in when two meet, and city centres apply congestion and emissions charges. If you are only visiting cities, skip the car.

Police, fire and ambulance all answer on 999. The European common number 112 reaches the same operators. There is a separate line for non-urgent medical advice — worth asking your accommodation about.

The British Museum and most other national museums open their permanent collections free of charge. Special exhibitions are ticketed and often need booking. Some free sites still recommend reserving a time slot, so check before you go.