England and Scotland

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    England

• Intro: The land of King Arthur, the Beatles, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare and the Sex Pistols has an unbelievably diverse range of attractions, and enough to keep a traveller occupied for months or years. London, the capital, is one of the most diverse and stimulating – and expensive - cities in the world, with an unequalled range of culture and entertainment.  The famous cathedral and university cities of Oxford, Cambridge, York and Durham and the Roman settlement of Bath are also on many travellers’ itineraries, as is Shakespeare’s city of Stratford-on-Avon and the iconic Stonehenge. Plus the beaches of Cornwall are not too bad... if, like the rest of the country - the weather holds out.

• Highlights: London: its diversity, museums, parks and general buzz. Cathedral and university towns (Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, York, Durham). Cornwall, the Lake District and Brighton.

• Lowlights: Midlands and Northern industrial cities, food (outside London) and the prices!

• Visa strategy: All EU and EEA citizens can live and work in England for as long as they like.  Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders receive six months free on arrival and Americans three months.  Working visas are available for young Canadians, Australians, South Africans and New Zealanders and indeed with the current strength of the pound, many have taken advantage of this opportunity.  British ancestral visas are worth considering for those with a British grandparent.  Almost all other nationalities require a visa.

• Typical tourist trail: The vast majority of visits start and end in London, and indeed many never leave as the capital has so much to offer.  Most visits that explore the rest of England at all include some combination of Windsor, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge, Cambridge, York, Cornwall and the Lake District. Brighton (debatably England's San Francisco) due to its proximity with London is often visited.
  
  Often ignored over the many attractions and bright lights of London, the two major Northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool are not without attractions and a much better example of 'real' England than the parts of London most tourists will only ever see. Obviously a must for music fans and some soccor(football) fans, others will find the pace less rushed and people more accommodating (if only harder to understand). If visiting only briefly, it is easily possible to see both cities in one day although you wouldn't get to see that much. A train from Manchester to Liverpool city centres take only about 45 mins. Equally, a high speed trains from central London can have you in Manchester or Liverpool in less than 2 hours (although you need to travel outside of rush hour and if possible book in advance on the internet to get a reasonable ticket price).

• Dangers: No exceptional dangers, other than a small risk of violent crime. Many shopping streets in city centres are best avoided when the pubs are closing.

• Hot/cold, wet and dry: England has a mild, fairly damp, temperate climate, which gets colder the further north and wetter the further west you go. It rarely drops much below freezing in the winter, or rises much above 27C in the summer. It is, however, famously unpredictable, and what starts off as a nice sunny day can turn damp or thundery without warning, and then change back again.

• Costs: England is currently one of the best value countries in western European and the developed world. With huge public debt and job loses as a result of the banking crisis in 2008, came a big move down for the long strong GBPound meaning you now get many more Pounds for your money than in recent years. You still pay over the odds for virtually everything in London, but it is much better than before. Unless camping, it is difficult to get by on less than USD 50-70/day, and easy to spend much more. London is more expensive than the rest of the country for accommodation, though can be cheaper for eating out as competition can keep prices low and quality high, plus many excellent museums are free to enter.

• Money: ATMs are everywhere, and most don’t charge a fee. All banks take travellers cheques and you can find many Amex offices which cash them commission free.

• Getting around: England is relatively small and heavily populated, and almost everywhere is accessible by public transport.

  • Train tickets, like plane tickets, are more expensive the closer to the date you buy them, so that £10 ticket to York a month in advance can become £80 if bought on the day. However, Euro rail passes are not valid. Megabus does some inter-city bus journeys for as little as £1.
    Internal flights are not really worth it, except between London or Cornwall and the far north.
    If heading for rural areas such as the Cotswolds and/or hitting many places in a short space of time then car rental can be considered as rates are not too bad and there are practically no toll roads (although note a charge for driving in some parts of central London and some bridges/tunnels. Nevertheless, the cost of fuel is among the world's highest.

  • For those using public transport in London, the transport for London website is really the holy grail. It provides the best routes from A to B combining the underground, buses, trains and trams. Also up to second travel information is available and route plans are adjusted when problems occur. A tip for those planning to use the underground at weekend, repairs and upgrades area always done on weekends so anyone travelling on the underground at weekend must check that there are no closures to there line. You will usually get a replacement bus service but this can easily double your journey time in central London.
    
    People who stay for longer than a few days would be advised to get a Oyster card, it a little plastic top up card that is used instead of cash fares and can hugely reduce the cost of getting around in London. They can be picked up for a refundable 3 pound deposit at all manned ticket booths. Final tip anyone travelling on the underground should make sure to stand to one side so people can past, as most people are in a hurry. Tourists blocking escalators and standing back view of direction signs on the underground is a pet peeve of many people, as even after years of use most tunnels look very similar so can be hard to be sure the right direction to go.
    

• Guide book: You’re spoilt for choice. Rough Guide or Lonely Planet both produce weighty, worthwhile tomes. If you are on a European tour it might be worth getting a European guidebook, all of which include England (just!). If you are just sticking to London, there are numerous capital specific guides.

• People vibe:

  • Locals: Mostly friendly and welcoming, except sometimes in central London.  Aggressive drunkenness is a real social problem on Friday and Saturday evenings in town centres.

  • Other travellers: The full range. You never know who you’ll meet next in London or on the British backpacker trail. A disproportionate number of Commonwealth citizens, many of whom are on working holiday visas.

• Tourist factor: 8/10

• Accommodation: Very expensive and generally poor quality for what you pay.

  • Hot water: Universal.

  • Average cost: at least 30 USD for a bed in a basic hostel, much more in London.  Many hostels still have curfews and lockouts.  A double room in a one or two star hotel can be 80 USD and up, much more than that in London.

• Communications: Internet cafes are everywhere in major towns, most public libraries have free Internet.  As in many other countries, payphones are being replaced by mobiles.

• Food: In addition to the famous fish and chip shops and the universal fast food chains and pizza and pasta places, Chinese and (especially) Indian restaurants are hugely popular and ubiquitous.  In London the variety and quality of restaurants are stunning, but the rest of the country can be disappointing. 

  • Vegetarians: Fine

• Hassle and annoyance factor: None

  • Women alone: No exceptional hazards.

• Drugs, cigarettes and alcohol: England has adopted many American customs, but Prohibition has never stood a chance. The traditional centre of male (and increasingly female) social life in England has always been the pub, and indeed it can be difficult to socialise without drinking. Tobacco is extremely expensive and smoking in public areas is banned.
  The police increasingly turn a blind eye to soft drugs use, however contrary to many reports, Marijuana use was never decriminalised. It was briefly downgrades from a class B to class C, meaning lighter penalties but is again a class B drug. Like in much of Europe, you are unlikely to be arrested if you are caught with it on you but if caught smoking in public especially in areas nears children i.e. playgrounds and schools it is highly likely that you will be. Besides, there is no traveller drug culture that you might come across as in Africa/Asia.

• Rating: 7/10

Miss at your peril: London, without a doubt, one of the world's great cities - 'Highlight of Independent Travel'

    Scotland

• Intro: Scotland's a country with a reputation of friendly people - full of superb countryside and scenery. Public transport is generally very good, allowing you to get to almost any area using train, bus, plane (hardly required for internal transport) and post bus in remote areas (where you share a lift with the postal delivery). There has been a recent revival in the traditional patriotic nature of the Scots with the introduction of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers.

• Typical tourist trail: Typical tourist trails will involve a visit to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Skye and Mull with the more adventurous heading to Aberdeen and outlying islands known as the Outer Hebrides, or further up the west coast. A brief introduction to each area is providing by joining the minibus tours such as the Haggis tours: http://www.haggisadventures.com, MackBackpackers: http://www.macbackpackers.com, or Rabbies trail burners: http://www.rabbies.com. These provide hop on, hop off itineraries

• Dangers: No real dangers to speak of. Although petty crime will happen, there is not generally the same risks as in some other western countries.

• Hot/cold, wet and dry: Four seasons in a day. Generally cold and wetter in the winter months, but not as cold as other countries lying this far north. Summer can vary from beautiful hot days to snow on the mountain tops. Sometimes all this happens in a day. Be prepared for damp weather any time of year, particularly if you venture more into the hills or the west coast. The Scottish Midge can become very prevalent in the countryside in the summer, and some people say 100% DEET won't even repel them. Don't be put off adventuring but buy a midge net if camping on a non windy day in summer. Avon "Skin so Soft" comes as an unusual recommendation to ward them off from the outdoor community!

• People vibe: Generally Scottish people are renowned throughout the world as being friendly as shown by the national football (or soccer!) team's following fan base The Tartan Army. The west coast are generally known as being a bit more friendly than the east, and in Edinburgh sometimes you'll think its been invaded by the upper class English. You will experience a huge range of dialects and accents spoken throughout the country, to the point you may wonder whether they are speaking a different language. There's a good social pub culture throughout the country and if you are in smaller west coast communities you could find yourself a lot more immersed in their traditions than in the big cities.

• Food: A wide variety of foods for all tastes and budgets are available. A sandwich will cost £2-4, main courses £6-15 on average. Look out for pre-theatre and Bring Your Own Booze restaurants to limit the cost.

• Hassle and annoyance factor: Compared to other western regions there are not any significant dangers. The most chance you'll have of getting hassled is in the early hours of the morning when the nightclubs kick out.

• Rating:7/10

For sheer diversity considering the size and population, its a winner, although be prepared to go off the beaten track, and enjoy the outdoors, to experience the most of the country and its stunning character. Plus have the cash to do so.

Scotland Mini Guide: © Darren Craig -  subs 'at' darrencraig.com

"Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power”

Benjamin Disraeli - (British Prime Minister, 1804-1881)

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