Warwick

Introduction

Warwick Castle, England

© Kiwis r us

Warwick is situated in the Heart of England near Stratford-upon-Avon, Leamington Spa and Kenilworth. The closest cities are Birmingham and Coventry.

The town is set amidst historic buildings, attractive parks and gardens and a range of cafés and restaurants. Famous for Warwick Castle, the town was founded in 914 AD by Ethelfleda, sister of Edward the Elder.

Sights and Activities

• Collegiate Church of St Mary is famous for its Beauchamp Chapel
• Warwick Castle is one of Britain’s greatest Medieval castle
• Warwickshire Museum has great exhibits on Archaeology, Geology and Natural History
• Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum has uniforms, arms, swords, sabres and selected silver with a military emphasis.

Getting There

By Plane

Birmingham Airport is located 24 miles/38 kilometres from Warwick.

By Train

Warwick railway station is a ten minute walk from the centre of the town. Trains serve Birmingham, London (Marylebone), [Leamington Spa]] and Stratford-upon-Avon.

By Car

From the M40 motorway, take junction 15 onto the A429, signposted Warwick.

By Bus

National Express provides regular services to the town. Bus services from Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon and Coventry are operated by Stagecoach.

By Boat

Warwick is set on the River Avon and the Grand Union Canal, giving the opportunity for visits by canal boats and small pleasure craft.

Getting Around

By Car

Parking the car in the town centre and then walking is the best option in Warwick.

By Foot

The main attractions of the town and within easy walking distance of each other.

Eat

• Catalan (6 Jury Street) – Fresh food with a Mediterranean twist.

Drink

• Crown and Castle Inn (2-4 Coventry Road) – Traditional English Inn.

Sleep

Upscale

• Lord Leycester Hotel – 40 bed, three star hotel

View our map of accommodation in Warwick

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés can be found in many cities and towns. All UK public libraries provide access, often branded as "People's Network", usually at no or little charge, though there is usually a time limit. Some hotels/hostels also offer internet access, including wifi, but most times at a cost. Using the internet on your personal phone can become expensive very quickly, with carriers charging 100's of times the local rate for data. To avoid these expensive roaming charges, you can hunt for wifi at a local cafe or hotel, or rent a mobile hotspot via several providers including DATAPiXY, and XCOM Global.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The country calling code to the United Kingdom is: 44. To make an international call from the United Kingdom, the code is: 00

In case of emergency, call 999 or 112 from any phone. Such calls are free and will be answered by an emergency services operator who will ask you for your location, and the service(s) you need (police, fire, ambulance, coastguard or mountain rescue). You can call this number from any mobile telephone as well, even if you do not have roaming.

Although the number is declining, you can still find payphones in many public areas, especially stations, airports etc. You can usually pay with cash and sometimes by creditcard or, for international calls, special phonecards are still available.

Mobile phones are heavily used. The main networks are T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange and O2. 3G data services are available, usually priced per megabyte and coverage is usually very good in the UK, however it may lack in rural areas. Roaming on your personal phone plan can be expensive. To manage costs, consider purchasing a local UK SIM card for your phone. Several companies offer local SIM cards including Telestial, and CellularAbroad.

Post

The Royal Mail provides postal services in the United Kingdom. The Royal Mail's store fronts are called Post Office and offer services ranging from sending letters and packages to foreign currency exchange. Use the branch locator to find the nearest Post Office branch. 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.
For sending packages overseas, it might be a good idea to check prices and services with international companies like TNT, UPS or DHL.