England

Quick Facts

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Capital

London

Population

50,431,700

Government

Constitutional Monarchy

Religions

Christianity (Protestant), Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism

Languages

English

Calling Code

+44

Currency

Pound sterling (GBP)

Nationality

English

Time zone

GMT (UTC0)

Summer (DST)

BST (UTC+1)

Introduction

Birmingham Wheel

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It couldn't be any more English: bright red double decker buses, cabbies, the Tube, tea and scones on a rainy afternoon, a pie and pint for dinner perhaps. Culture and history enthral visitors: from the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London to Stonehenge to the world renowned universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The Queen's country feels like a giant open air museum, where every valley reveals another cathedral or ancient ruin.

But 21st century England is not simply, or even mainly, about the heritage industry. Many tourist clichés are long obsolete: London no longer has 'pea souper' fogs; Manchester is no longer an industrial city; Englishmen don't wear bowler hats and you'll have to look long and hard to find a gentleman. Modern England is a vibrant and fast-growing economy dominated by the services sector. If it no longer make things that weigh something, it sells advertising, insurance and music to the rest of the world instead. And these days, it even eats well.

And some of the clichés were never true. In England, it rains frequently, but not very much. London's rainfall is about the same as that of Paris and about half that of New York City.

Brief History

There is obvious evidence that England has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Up until the 15th century AD, England was a dominion of other empires, including the Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Towards the end of the 15th century, England started to become a global superpower in its own right, thanks to the Reformation and successful reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Civil war turned the 17th century into a bloody one, with the long-running battles between Royalists and Parliamentarians finally ending in 1660 under Charles II. Since the accession of the Stuart dynasty in 1603, the kings and queens of England have also been the monarchs of Scotland, although the two countries only entered into political union at the beginning of the 18th century. Since then, England has formed a part of the United Kingdom. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, England became a world leader in manufacturing and engineering, growing its vast global empire.

In the first half of the 20th century, England suffered heavy casualties in the First and Second World Wars. During the second half of the 20th century, England, under the reign of current Queen Elizabeth II, recovered from the effects of war. It also granted independence to many of its former colonies. Over the last 15 years, England's economy has thrived, thanks in large part to the success of financial and hi-tech service industries.

Geography

The South East of England, particularly the Greater London conurbation, is densely populated and largely flat. Most of the South-West consists of gently undulating agricultural plains, with some areas of high moorland (particularly Exmoor and Dartmoor). Cornwall is the exception - a rough, ruggedly beautiful rural peninsula, with the sub-tropical Isles of Scilly beyond. East Anglia is extremely flat, with much fenland and some quiet stretches of coastline. The mountains of England are in the north, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Pennines, the Howgills and the Lake District punctuating the landscape.

Regions

England is divided into nine governmental regions.

• North East - Northumberland, County Durham, Tyneside and Teesside. The North East of England is colder and drier than the rest of the country. Attractions in this area include the port city of Newcastle, ancient cathedral city of Durham, the remote Cheviot hills, the Wear valley and Kielder Water.
• North West - Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire and Merseyside. The great industrial cities of Liverpool and Manchester can be found here, as well as the Lake District, the Howgill Fells, the Forest of Bowland and the cities of Lancaster and Carlisle.
• Yorkshire and the Humber - Covering the rural areas of the Yorkshire Dales and the Northern half of the Peak District, as well as the cities of Leeds, Sheffield, York and Hull.
• East Midlands - Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, covering the southern half of the Peak District and the cities of Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.
• West Midlands - Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Birmingham. Coventry, Warwick, Hereford, Worcester and the Malvern hills can be found here.
• East - covering the East Anglian area of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Cities here include Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge and Lincoln, much of the inland area is either flat agricultural land or fenland including the Norfolk Broads.
• London - the sprawling capital is so large that it deserves a region of its own.
• South East - the Home Counties and the South-East coast, including Kent, Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Berkshire. Cities here include Brighton, Oxford, Portsmouth and Reading, and there is some rolling countryside including the South Downs and the Chiltern Hills.
• South West - the large rural area west of Hampshire as far as Land's End, comprising the counties of Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. The Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks can be found here, as well as the cities of Bristol, Salisbury, Exeter and Plymouth.

Cities

London

London is a cultural melting pot where the world has found a home, a legacy of their colonialist past and a great contributor to its vibrant culture today. It forms a fabulous stepping stone to all that England has to offer.

Escaping London quickly takes one through tiny towns barely on the map and large cities with significant marks on history. There is no shortage of lush rolling hills, peaceful lakes and seaside cliffs to keep you entertained on the way from one borough to the next.

Others

• Birmingham
• Brighton is a fun, cosmopolitan seaside town with a café culture and good nightlife, less than an hour away from London by train.
• Leeds
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Oxford, home of the oldest university in the English speaking world.
• Portsmouth 'The waterfront city', with miles of sea views, centuries of maritime history and modern developments on the water's edge.
• Southampton
• Winchester, the former capital of England, is of particular interest to those with a fascination for history.

Sights and Activities

Throughout England, there are traces of history. An abundance of cathedrals, castles, ancient towns and scenic countryside is enough to keep any visitor occupied. Some of the very most popular are listed below.

• Stonehenge, a mysterious megalithic ruin near Salisbury.
• Lake District, a scenic part of the country located in the far North-West.
• The Roman Baths in the city of Bath offer a well-preserved glimpse into Roman life in Britain.
• Greenwich, home of Greenwich Mean Time and Longitude 0°.
• Hadrian's Wall on the border of Scotland was built in 122 AD under the orders of Roman Emperor Hadrian.
• Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament
• Tower of London
• Canterbury Cathedral

Events and Festivals

Weather

Getting There

By Plane

Airports
There are many international airports in England, with the busiest ones being those in London.

• London Heathrow (LHR)
• London Gatwick (LGW)
• London Stansted (STN)
• London Luton (LTN)
• London City Airport (LCY)
• Birmingham International Airport (BHX)
• Blackpool International Airport (BLK)
• Bournemouth International Airport (BOH)
• Bristol International Airport (BRS)
• Coventry Airport (CVT)
• Doncaster Sheffield Robin Hood Airport (DSA)
• Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME)
• East Midlands International Airport (EMA)
• Exeter International Airport (EXT)
• Humberside International Airport (HUY)
• Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA)
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL)
• Manchester Airport (MAN)
• Newcastle International Airport (NCL)
• Norwich International Airport (NWI)
• Southampton Airport (SOU)

Airlines
British Airways is the national carrier of the United Kingdom and flies to many main cities around the world. Apart from the national carrier, virtually all major airlines have England as one of their destinations. For those on a budget, there are also many low-cost carriers in Europe with destinations in England. Easyjet, one of the biggest low-cost carriers in England, flies into different parts of England from around Europe.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Plane

It is possible to fly between most major cities.

By Train

There is a fairly extensive train network serving all cities and most towns. However it can be expensive and at weekends trains are often disrupted by repair work. Big discounts are available through advance booking.

By Car

Cars can be hired from airports and near many stations. The road network is extensive and in good condition, so it is easy and convenient to drive around the country. Levels of car ownership are high, and congestion is a problem in most cities and most motorways, particularly in and around London and Manchester.

By Bus

There are buses serving all cities and towns and many of the villages. The services are fairly regular, however there are few buses after 11pm outside of major cities.

National Express and Megabus operate a coach network between major cities and airports. This is pretty much the cheapest method of transport to cover long distances.

By Boat

There are boat services to outlying Islands including the Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, the Scilly Isles, the Hebrides, the Orkneys and the Shetlands.

Red Tape

Money

The British Pound is the currency in England other currencies are rarely accepted outside of airports. You can change money from major currencies at most banks, Post Offices and some travel agents throughout the country. Nearly all shops, restaurants and hotels (but not Bed and Breakfasts) will accept credit cards, usually Visa and Mastercard, although some places do accept American Express you should not rely on an American Express card. ATM machines are located in all town centres and transport hubs and quite often petrol stations.

Work

Study

Language

English is, unsurprisingly, the main language here and you will be able to speak that across the country. That said some accents can be difficult to understand. There is a small movement in Cornwall that is trying to revive Cornish as a language, but you are unlikely to encounter someone who doesn't speak English.

Eat

England has a reputation for dire food, and if you want to find it, you can. But things have changed beyond recognition in the last twenty years. Restaurants have undergone a revolution: master foreign chefs such as Raymond Blanc and Giorgio Locatelli have built careers here as they always have, but many of the best restaurants are owned and managed by home-grown chefs such as Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Gary Rhodes. Perhaps more importantly, the quality of the average restaurant has improve in leaps and bounds: the English just don't tolerate overcooked vegetables and leathery meat the way they used to. And pubs - which in the 1960s served beer to men - now make far fatter margins serving food to families. Over large swathes of England, and spurred on by the ban on smoking in public, the gastropub is replacing the local boozer.

Traditional English staples include:

• Fish and Chips - battered fish, usually cod or haddock, with thick cut, deep fried chips.
• Roast Dinner - traditionally eaten at Sunday lunchtime, a roast joint of meat with roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy, and sometimes Yorkshire Pudding (especially with Beef). Beef is served with horseradish, pork with apple sauce and lamb with mint sauce.
• Cornish Pasty - a pastry filled with mincemeat and vegetables.
• English breakfast - a cholesterol-inducing combination of bacon (fried or grilled); egg (scrambled or fried); sausages; black pudding (a sausage made from... don't ask); fried mushrooms; fried bread; fried or grilled tomatoes, and anything else that takes your fancy. Preferably accompanied with HP sauce.
• Pies - steak and kidney; steak and ale; chicken and mushroom.
• Cumberland Sausage - a curled (not linked) spicy sausage from the north of England. Other good sausages are Lincolnshire and chipolata.
• Ploughmans Lunch - a mixed plate of British cheeses, salad and bread.

Away from the hearty homecooked meals, some of the world's top chefs reside in England, particularly in London. Eating out at one of the Ramsay chain (Gordon Ramsay, Claridges, Maze, etc) is a great experience.

It must be said, though, that when they eat out (and very often when they cook at home), the English do not usually eat English food. The most popular food is "Indian" (which is usually in fact Bangladeshi), Chinese and Italian. Thai food is increasingly commonly found, not just in restaurants but also in pubs. It is said that the most common dish ordered in English restaurants - and therefore surely our national dish - is chicken tikka masala, a dish unknown in India and invented in the UK. This is not a new phenomenon: the taste for "curry" was brought back by Army officers and their wives returning from India in the nineteenth century. And after a night on the beers, when one's judgment is a little clouded, a kebab with extra chilli sauce is just the ticket.

Sleep

Drink

Traditionally England is the bastion of Real Ale and most pubs will have a suitable brew on tap. Cider is also widely sold, and is particularly good in the West Country where orchard conditions are at their best. Some good white wines, particularly sparkling whites, are produced along the south coast.

In reality, most Britains drink imported lager and spirits, expensive compared to most of Europe apart from Scandinavia.

Health

Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

There are internet cafés in most towns and cities and many coffee shops also have wifi connections if you have your laptop with you. The connection speeds are usually pretty good. In larger hotels it is also common to find wifi connections.

Phone

There are phone boxes in all towns and cities, usually you'll be able to quickly find one around the town centre or at a train/bus station. The traditional red phone boxes have been largely replaced by glass and steel boxes. Some boxes require use of a phone card (they will be signposted as such), but most accept cash.
If you are phoning the UK you should remove the first zero of the phone number.

Post

There will be at least one Post Office in any town/city and there are quite often post offices in larger villages. It's common for a Post Office to be incorporated into a grocery store, where there will be a small counter located at the back of the store for dealing with post related matters.
All Post Offices are marked with signs that say 'Post Office' in Red lettering. Post boxes can be found at any post office and standalone large red post boxes on the streets or red boxes in the sides of public buildings.