By Air from the USA and Canada

Most transatlantic flights to England land at London Heathrow or London Gatwick; a few fly to Birmingham or Manchester. The main carriers listed below fly direct to England. The journey time from the east coast of America is 6-7 hours; from Los Angeles or Vancouver 10 hours (excluding stop-offs).

Ticket prices may vary madly; the round trip from New York costs around 600$-700$ in peak season, but can rise to as much as 1,800$ and drops to as low as 430$ in February. From Los Angeles, the round trip costs around 1,000$ in peak season, dropping to around 600$ in February. From Vancouver, round trip peak season fares cost around 1,500$; in February, 805$. The season of travel and how far in advance you book are the main factors determining the price of a flight. No single airline works out consistently cheaper than the rest and no single internet agent always comes in at rock-bottom prices. Comparison shopping is the only thing for it: get yourself a good travel agent, who will look at the complete fare picture ad suggest cost-saving strategies like switching airports and departure/arrival dates. It is then worth seeing if you can find something cheaper online, without going goggle-eyed with confusion.

By Air from the UK and Ireland

The main domestic carriers ad low-cost airlines, BA, bmi, bmibaby, flybe and Easyjet operate services connecting the major UK cities, the Irish Republic and the Channel Islands. The Irish national airline, EAR Lingus flies to Bristol, Leeds, London and Manchester. Budget carrier Ryanair offers a cheaper alternative for flights from Dublin to Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Luton.

Again, prices fluctuate wildly. An economy return from Dublin to London can cost you anywhere from 70£ to 300£. A return flight between Belfast and London might be as low as 20£. For cheap fares, fly off-peak and book early online rather than through a call centre. the no-frills, low-cost carriers such as flybe, Easyjet, Ryanair and bmibaby fly point-to-point at very low prices. Their best deals are online, with small discounts on standard fares, and frequent promotions if you book early. However, low-cost airlines do not guarantee departure and arrival times, and some of them really are no-frills: Ryanair has no customer service at all, to the extent that if you have ay problems at all with your flight (including flight cancellations or lost baggage) all you can do is fax the airline headquarters in Dublin, with little chance of response.

Internet Travel

It can be cheaper to book on the internet but travel agents are often able to undercut online companies – and know the ropes, saving you the headaches. You can however, make savings on the price of processing a paper ticket and may be lucky with last-minute offers and cheap deals. Having booked your flight, with a credit card, you will be emailed the confirmed details of your flight and a booking reference number. Your passport (or photo ID for domestic flights) is then all that is required to check in.

Discount Fares

If you are a full-time student and have an International Student Identity Card (ISIC), you can get often substantial discounts on standard flight rates and on buses and trains around Europe (and small discounts getting into cultural attractions). If you are under 26, you can get a youth card (IYTC) for similar discounts. Both Cards are provided on both sides of the Atlantic by the agencies specializing in student/youth travel below. The longer-in-the-tooth should inquire here for travel deals too.

STA TRAVEL: In the USA, 7890 South Hardy Tempe, Arizona 85284, tel 1800 777 0112, www.statravel.com. Around 90 branches in major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, and the main university towns. In the UK, Priory House, 6 Wright’s Lane London W8 6TA, tel 0870 1606 070. www.statravel.com. Branches in all main university towns and campuses in the UK, including several in London.

TRAVEL CUTS: 187 College St. Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1P7, Canada. tel (416) 979 2406, www.travelcuts.com. Owned by Canada’s national student organization, the Canadian Federation of Students; branches all over the country

Airlines

From the USA and Canada

• American Airlines: USA tel 1800 433 7300, UK tel 0845 778 9789, www.aa.com. Flies to London and Manchester from Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco.
• British Airways: USA tel 1800 247 9297, UK tel 0845 779 9977, www.britishairways.com. UK’s largest scheduled airline flies from most major US and Canadian cities to London and Manchester.
• Continental Airlines: USA tel 1800 231 0856, UK tel 0800 776 464, www.continentalairlines.com. Flies to London, Manchester and Birmingham from Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Houston, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC and Newark.
• Delta Airlines: USA tel 1800 241 4141, UK tel 0800 414 767, www.delta.com. Flies to London and Manchester from Atlanta, Cincinnati and NY.
• United Airlines: USA tel 1800 538 2929, UK tel 0845 844 4777, www.ual.com Flies to London from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, NY, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and Washington DC.
• US Airways: USA tel 1800 622 1015, www.usairways.com. Flies to London Gatwick and Manchester from Charlotte, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston and NY.
• Northwest Airlines: USA tel 1800 447 4747, UK tel 0870 507 4074, www.nwa.com. Flies direct to London Gatwick from Minneapolis and Detroit. Northwest is in partnership with Dutch Airline KLM, giving you the option of flying via Amsterdam or Paris since KLM merged with Air France.
• Virgin Atlantic Airways: USA tel 1800 862 8621, UK tel (01293) 747 747; www.virgin-atlantic.com. Flies to London from Boston, Chicago Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, NY, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington DC.
• BMI: USA tel 1800 788 0555, UK tel 0870 607 0222, www.flybmi.com. Daily services into Manchester from Chicago and Washington DC and from other cities in conjunction with United Airlines. BMI also flies into London Heathrow from Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, St. John’s, Toronto and Vancouver.
• Air Canada: USA and Canada tel 1888 247 2262, UK tel 0870 524 7226, www.aircanda.com. Flies into London Heathrow and Manchester from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Halifax and Calgary. Flight-code-sharing-through-tickets are booked on BMI flights from Heathrow or Manchester to other UK destinations.

• Aer Lingus: Ireland tel 0818 365 000, UK tel 0845 084 4444, www.arelingus.com. Flies to London from Dublin, Shannon and Cork. High season (August) flights from Dublin to London range from 121euros to 230euros.
• BMI: UK tel 0870 607 0555, www.flybmi.com. Flies out of Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Teesside to London Heathrow, Glasgow, Belfast, Aberdeen and Edinburgh as well as the Channel Islands and mainland Europe. Formerly British Midlands.
• British Airways: UK tel 0870 850 9850, www.britishairways.com. Frequent flights around the UK, and to the other Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland.
• Scot Airways: Scotland tel 0870 606 0707, www.scotairways.com. Flies from Edinburgh and Dundee to London City Airport.
• FlyBe: UK tel 0870 567 6676, www.flybe.com. Based at Exeter International Airport, from where most of its flights to European cities begin; also flies to Belfast to London, Channel Islands to London and between the major UK cities. Formerly British European.
• Easyjet: UK tel 0870 600 0000, www.easyjet.com. Flies out to London Gatwick, Stanstead, Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool and Newcastle to destinations in Europe. Flights from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast, Edinburgh and Inverness into Bristol and London Luton. Recently merged with British Airways’ low-cost airline Go.
• Ryanair: Republic of Ireland tel 0818 303 030, UK tel 0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com. Dublin to London (Stanstead, Gatwick, Luton), Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Shannon, Cork, Derry, Kerry and Knock to London Stanstead. No frills, no customer service.
• Bmibaby: UK tel 0870 264 2229. www.bmibaby.com. BMI’s baby flies into East Midlands from Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh; and into Manchester and Teesside from Belfast.

Internet Travel Agencies

• www.orbitz.com
• www.travelocity.com
• www.expedia.com
• www.flights.com
• www.air-fare.com

• www.cheapflights.com
• www.trailfinders.com
• www.ebookers.com
• www.expedia.co.uk
• www.lastminute.com
• www.thomascook.co.uk
• www.airtickets.co.uk

Getting to and from UK Airports

There are trains and buses to and from all the international airports; otherwise, you can spend a little fortune on a taxi for the privilege of sitting in a traffic jam for hours.

London Heathrow is about 15miles from central London. The Heathrow Express to London Paddington takes 15minutes, with trains departing every 15mintues for around 20£. It is slower (about an hour) on the London Underground, but costs less (4£). Heathrow is at the western end of the Piccadilly Line, which serves London King’s Cross ad Euston mainline stations. Rail Air buses go from terminals 1, 2 and 3 to Reading where you can pick up trains westbound, avoiding London.

London Gatwick is 27miles south of London with its own railway station. The Gatwick Express serves London Victoria, and takes about 30minutes (21.50£ return), or you can do the same journey slightly more slowly on South Central trains (16.40£). The Thameslink trains serve London King’s Cross Thameslink Station, about 200 yards from King’s Cross mainline station. There are direct rail services to Reading too, from where you can pick up westbound trains. Southbound trains take you straight to the seaside towns of Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings.

From London Stanstead, trains go direct to London Liverpool Street Station in 42minutes. Other trains head cross-country through Cambridge and Peterborough (connections to York and Edinburgh) to Birmingham.

London Luton is the hardest airport to reach other than by car. You can catch a Thameslink train to it from London King’s Cross, or a coach from London Victoria.

Birmingham International Airport has its own station on the main London to Birmingham route: 1hour 20minutes to London Euston or 10minutes to Birmingham New Street in the city centre.

Manchester Airport is served by quick and frequent train service to Manchester Piccadilly station in the city centre. There are direct services to Leeds, York, Blackpool, Windermere and Liverpool; if you are heading south to London (2hours 40minutes), change at either Manchester Piccadilly or Wilmslow.

By Trains

If you are travelling to England from mainland Europe, the Eurostar trains run from Paris, Lille, Brussels and (less frequently) Avignon through the Central Tunnel to Ashford International and London Waterloo International station, next to mainline Waterloo station. Since the high-speed rail link between London and the Channel Tunnel opened in September 2003, the Paris to London journey has been reduced to 2hours and 40minutes.

Eurostar: UK tel 0870 518 6186, France tel 0892 353 539; Belgium tel 025 282 828, www.eurostar.com.

By Boat

The main ports for ferry services to mainland Europe are Dover (Calais), Newhaven (Dieppe), Portsmouth (Bilbao, Cherbourg, Caen), Plymouth (Santander, Hull (Zeebrugge) and New Castle (Amsterdam). Ferries from the Channel Islands come into Poole, Weymouth and Portsmouth. Fro Ireland, you can come into Fishguard or Holyhead in Wales, and link up with a rail service to London from the landing dock, or into Swansea. Book direct with the ferry company or look for deals on www.ferry.co.uk or www.ferrybooker.com

Ferry Operators

• Hoverspeed: tel 0870 240 807, www.hover-speed.co.uk. Fast, frequent services between Calais and Dover, Dieppe and Newhaven.
• Sea France: tel 0870 571 1711, www.seafrance.com. Ferry services between Calais and Dover.
• Brittany Ferries: UK tel 0870 366 5333, France tel 0825 828 828, Spain tel 942 360 611, www.brittanyferries.com. From France and Spain to Plymouth and Poole.
• P£O Ferries: UK tel 0870 598 0980, www.po-ferries.com. Regular North Sea and Channel crossings from France, Spain, Belgium and Holland into Dover, Portsmouth and Hull, including night crossings from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.
• Irish Ferries: tel 0870 517 1717, www.irishferries.com. Dublin to Holyhead, fro where can catch a direct train into London Euston.
• Stena Line: tel (02890) 747 747, www.stenaline.com. Ferry services to Fishguard, from where you can catch the train to London Paddington, changing at Bridgend or Neath in South Wales; and Dublin to Holyhead where you can catch a direct train to London Euston.
• Condor Ferries: tel 0845 345 2000, www.condor-ferries.co.uk. Ferries from the Channel Islands and Britanny to Portsmouth, Weymouth and Poole.
• Cunard Line: In the USA, 6100 Blue Lagoon Drive, Miami, Florida, tel (305) 463 3000 or tel 1800 CUNARD, www.cunard.co.uk. From April 2004, the New Queen Mary II will be taking over the transatlantic voyage from the QEII. She will make one or two voyages a month between April and October from NY to Southampton. The voyage takes six days and Cunard can either book you on a cruise back or offer a return flight.

Entry Formalities

Passport and Visas

Britain decided not to join the eight European countries practicing an open-boarder policy (the Schengen Group) so citizens of the EU need passports or identity cards, but not a visa. They can still breeze through Immigration in a separate queue. Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand must have a valid passport, don’t need visas and can expect slightly longer queues at Immigration. Other nationals may need visas; check with your nearest travel agent or British Embassy.


Customs

Coming into the UK from another EU country, you won’t have to pay tax or duty on any quantity of tobacco or alcohol that you can convince Customs is for your own consumption. If they think you are going to sell it, they will confiscate it, often along with your car at ferry ports. The guidelines are: 3,200 cigarettes, 200 cigars, 100liters of beer, 90liters of wine, 10liters of spirits and 20liters of fortified wine such as port or sherry.

The restrictions are tighter if you are arriving form outside the EU: 200cigarettes or 100cigarillos or 50 cigars, 2liters of still table wine, 1liter of spirits or strong liquors or 2liters of fortified wine, 66cc/ml perfume, and 145£ worth of other goods including gifts and souvenirs.

Returning from the UK, residents of the USA must declare everything that they did not take with them including gifts, purchases and duty-free items bought on the plane or boat. You can bring home 800$ of merchandise without having to pay duties including alcohol and tobacco allowances. Antiques more than 100 years old and fine art are duty free. Canadian citizens need to keep tabs on how long they have been away. If it has been longer than a week, they can take home CAN$750 worth of goods without paying any duties, including alcohol and tobacco allowances (200 cigarettes, 50 cigars, 200 tobacco sticks, 200 grams of manufactured tobacco, 1.5 litters of wine, 1.14 liters of liquor or 24 355ml cans/bottles of beer). There may be a minimum duty to pay on the tobacco products unless they are Canadian-made and marked CANADA DUTY PAID.

Customs Information

• Canada: tel 1800 461 9999, www.ccra-adric.gc.ca
• USA: tel (202(927 6724, www.customs.ustreas.gov
• UK: tel 0845 010 9000, www. Hmce.gov.uk

VAT Refunds

Value Added Tax (VAT) is included in the selling price of everything you buy in the UK. You can claim this back if you are travelling from outside the European Community (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland or UK and the Isle of Man) and leave the UK within 3months of your purchase. You need to complete a tax refund document from the retailer and present it to Customs at the air/ferry port on your departure. Do it before checking in your suitcases, because you need all the goods and receipts for inspection.

Getting Around - By Air

BA flies between London and Birmingham, Manchester, New Castle, Bristol, Southampton, Plymouth and Newquay but you won’t find many flights between England’s Regional airports. BMI flies between London Heathrow and Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Teesside. Easyjet has services between London Stanstead and New Castle, and Bristol and New Castle. Ryanair does a short-hop flight from London to Newquay, but you are better off catching the train, which is far less trouble and gets you right into the town centre.

Getting Around - By Train

Privatization in 1996 split up the railway network (formerly British Rail) into pieces, and those pieces are still being re-jigged. A non-profit making company, Network Rail now controls the track, stations and signals, having taken over from RailTrack, a private company which failed to invest in the groaning old infrastructure while its ‘fat cat’ company heads did very nicely. Another 24 private companies – First Great Western, First Great Eastern, Great North Eastern, Virgin, Anglia, Central, South Central and so on – operate the trains, overseen by a watchdog, the Strategic Rail Authority, which also hands out franchises. The train companies, partly subsidized by the tax-payer, pay Network Rail to use the track. In other words, both public and private money is circulating around the main and branch lines of the British rail network.

Fast, intercity trains run on the major routes – for example, the main north-south arteries, the West Coast Line and East Coast Main Line. The Southeast is the most overtaxed part of the network, and the train operating companies South Central, Thameslink, South West Trains and Connex South East have come under the heaviest public criticism. But arriving by car in some cities can be such as nightmare, you are well advised to take the train. The scenery out of the window on some lines is a bonus, for example, the journey into Bath gives a superb first glimpse of the town, and the First Great Western Line from London Paddington to Penzance is a long scenic tour.

It is best to travel off-peak, both to get a seat and for the prices. You can buy through-tickets to travel with different train companies. Prices are universally high, but there are ways of reducing the expense. For longer journeys you can often buy a cheaper Advanced Purchase Ticket. These are sold in limited numbers for a specific scheduled train, which means that they go like hotcakes. Individual companies have different deals. For example, First trains (Great Eastern, Great Western, North Western) call advance purchase tickets APEX, and they must be booked at least a week in advance.

There are numerous Rover tickets available at railway stations for unlimited travel between certain times and places. Every region has its own version. In the Northeast, you can buy a 7day pass for 73£ which lets you travel by Aviva, Virgin, First North Western, Great North Eastern and Midlands Main Line. The FlexiRover lets you travel any 3 days out of the 7 for about 50£. The Cornish Rover lets you travel 8 days in 15 for 40.50£. The Cotswold Rover gives you 3 days in 7 for 25.50£. The Hadrian’s Wall Rover gives you 2 days in 3 for 12.50£ and the Freedom of Settle Rover gives you 3days for 35£ on the famous Leeds to Carlisle route with all its viaducts and moorland scenery.

BritRail Passes (www.britrail.net) are on offer to overseas visitors. They can be a money saver if you plan to travel a lot by train, with flexi-passes, consecutive-day passes and passes for special days out from London.

National Rail Enquiries: tel 0845 748 4950, www.nationalrail.co.uk. Train times and prices for all the different companies.

Traveline: tel 0870 608 2608. Information on how to get from A to B on train, bus, coach and ferry. This new national public transport enquiry service brings together the route and times of all public transport services.

Getting Around - By Bus

If you are keen to explore the backwaters of England at a snail’s pace, you will enjoy riding the buses, it is a soporific experience, in the course of which you may forget where you’re trying to go. Single-decker, double-decker and mini-buses are operated by countless different companies around the country, with services very infrequent outside towns. However, the buses penetrate places not reached by the railway or anybody without a car. In the National Parks, walkers are actively encouraged to dump their cars and use the buses.

The UK’s long-distance routes are operated by National Express coaches, including services to and from the major airports and larger towns. The major terminals are London Victoria, Gatwick Airport, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. Coach travel is much cheaper than the trains and if you are a student, aged 16-25, or over 50 years old, you get savings on many journeys.

• National Express: tel 0870 580 8080
• Traveline: tel 0870 608 2608

Getting Around - By Car

Car is really the best way of getting into the English countryside, although not for visiting towns and cities. Hellish ring roads, awkward one-way systems, expensive car parks or scarce parking spaces and financially crippling fines for illegal parking are enough to put you off taking your car into town centres and persuade you to use the Park and Ride services. These enable you to park cheaply out of town and catch a shuttle bus into the centre.

If you are travelling from any of the main English-speaking countries, you will not need an International Licence to drive in the UK, provided you can cope with manual-drive cars, and working the gears with your left hand. You will be driving on the left-hand side of the road in the UK, a custom that goes back to the old days, when travellers held the reins d their horse in their right hand and walked beside on the left edge of the road.

Get valid insurance before you leave if you’re bringing your own car and remember that seatbelts are compulsory, front and back. Speedlimits are in miles per hour: 30mph in built-up areas; 60mph on main roads; 70mph on motorways. If you are stopped by the police, you can be asked to show your driving papers at a police station within 5 days. Familiarise yourself with the British Highway Code (available in news agents) and take note of the strict drink-drive laws.

To hire a car in the UK, you must be over 21 (or sometimes 23 or even 25) and have at least one year’s driving experience; a valid credit card is often required to. It is best to pre-book for cheaper deals and to guarantee a car. The big car-hire firms have branches in the major airports. Basic hire cost usually includes unlimited mileage and insurance (with an excess of up to 600£ on any loss or damage). Prices vary, but as a guideline for a week’s car rental, the main companies ask around 150£ if you book early. This price goes down if you use a small, local firm but aftercare (breakdown service, replacement car) may be less reliable if you travel out of the local area.

Getting Around - By Bike

Arm yourself with an Ordinance Survey (OS) map and a puncture repair kit and head out into the country’s network of bridlepaths, disused railway lines, forest tracks, country lanes and towpaths. Once out of the vacuum-pack of your car, you start to notice the small things, and soon you’ll feel sorry for anyone travelling over 30miles per hour. The National Cycle Network is the flagship project of Sustrans (a charity that promotes sustainable transport) and provides 7,000 miles of cycle routes in the UK, which should be extended to 10,000 miles by 2005. About one third of it is on paths free from motor traffic. Route maps are available from tourist information centres and cycle-hire shops. Some of the National Trails are suitable for bikes, including the Ridgeway and South Downs Way.

For cycle hire, see individual areas.
Sustrans Head Office: 35 King Street, Bristol BS1 4DZ, tel (0117) 929 0888, www.sustrans.org.uk. Route maps, mileage and so on.

Getting Around - On Foot

The network of long-distance foot paths across England includes National Trails (routes selected by the Countryside Agency for the best walking) and routes developed by local authorities or individuals, like Wainwright’s Coast-to-Coast Walk. They rage from 10 to 600 miles. The Long Distance Walkers’ Association (LDWA) produces a handbook featuring information on more than 500 of them. Some follow ancient or prehistoric trackways, such as the Ridgeway (85miles) through the Berkshire Downs, and the Peddars Way, which incorporates a Roman Road through Breckland.

Coastal paths are some of the most satisfying to walk, but almost all paths follow landscape features, whether rivers, coastlines or ridgeways or are in designated areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs).

The longest national trail, the Pennine Way (269miles) takes 16 days on average, climbs 2,500 feet at Cross Fell and traverse the backbone of England through three national parks. Some of the trails link up, for example the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path meet the Weavers Way and Angles Way to form a circuit of eastern Norfolk.

National Trails

Each trail has its own office. For general information and details of specific trail offices, contact the Countryside Agency: tel (01242) 521 381, www.countryside.gov.uk/nationaltrails or www.nationaltrail.co.uk, The National Trails Guide is published by Autumn Press.

• Pennine Way (269miles)
• Hadrian’s Wall Path (84miles)
• Cleveland Way (110miles)
• Wolds Way (79miles)
• Norfolk Coast Path (93miles)
• Offa’s Dyke (168miles)
• Cotswold Way (100miles)
• Thames Path (180miles)
• Ridgeway (85miles)
• North Downs Way (153miles)
• South Downs Way (106miles)
• Southwest Coastal Path (600miles)

Getting Around - By Boat

There are more than 2,000miles of canals, rivers and man-made waterways, built more than 200 years ago, to explore on narrow boats. Years of dereliction have been reversed by canal enthusiasts and charities devoted to getting the network up and running with pristine lock gates, navigable tunnels and restored aqueducts. The main canal system stretches from the south of England to Ripon in the Northeast and Wales in the West. The maximum speed on the canals is 4mph, roughly waling pace. This means you can cover about 20miles a day maximum. Narrow boats are usually available to hire from March to October. Prices are highest and queues for locks longest during the school summer holidays, mid-July to early September.

Canal Holidays

• www.canaljunction.com lists all the hire companies and gives information on the canals and routes.
• Leeds and Liverpool Canal: Pennine Cruisers, The Boat Shop, 19 Coach Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire. Tel (01756) 795 478
• Shropshire Union Canal: Chas Hardern Boats, Beeston Castle, Whard Beeston, Tarporley, Cheshire. Tel (01829) 732 595
• Kennet and Avon Canal: Foxhangers Canal Holidays, Lower Foxhangers Farm, Devizes, Wiltshire. Tel (01380) 828 795
• Grand Union Canal and River Great Ouse: Nationwide Narrowboats, 86 Wingfield Road, Tebworth, Bedfordshire. Tel (01525) 874 335
• Oxford Canal and River Thames: College Cruises, Comber Road Wharf, Oxford. Tel (01865) 554 343