United Kingdom - Storbritannien

UK[1] is a country in Europe and which includes England, Wales and Scotland.

Planning before the trip

No visa is required to travel to the UK but a passport is required.

To take with you to the UK

Do not forget a converter for wall sockets!

To bring with you from the UK

Whiskey

Facts about the UK

History

The locals

Climate

Much can be said (and has been said!) About the weather in the UK, but there are several different types of climate. In general, it can be said that the weather tends to change quickly. The British themselves love to talk about weather, which for example can be practical for those who find it difficult to communicate in another language. Spring (late March-May) comes quickly and is often sunny and warm, but can sometimes offer a lot of precipitation. The temperature is usually between 6 and 11 degrees, up to 18 degrees. The summer (June-August) is hot to very hot and the temperature is usually between 14 and 30 degrees. Some days it can get even hotter. Autumn (September-November) has strongly varying temperatures between 7 and 18 degrees, but sometimes it is really hot. It is from this meteorological phenomenon that the expression is derived Indian summer. The winter (December-early March) is rarely particularly cold, usually around 1-5 degrees below zero. Snow is unusual except in Scotland and high mountain areas and it rains instead. The UK's climate is often humid, which means that it can be perceived as colder than it really is.

Holidays

Regions

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

Other territories in the United Kingdom

• Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Europe
• Anguilla, Caribbean
• Bermuda, North America
• British Antarctica (uninhabited; unilateral claim), including the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands, Atlantic
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands, Caribbean
• Cayman Islands, Caribbean
• Falkland Islands, South America
• Gibraltar, Europe
• Montserrat, Caribbean
• Pitcairn Islands, Pacific Ocean
• Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Africa
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Atlantic
• Turks and Caicos Islands, Caribbean

Cities

• Belfast - the capital of Northern Ireland
• Birmingham - the largest city in central England and the next largest in the whole of England
• Brighton - Victorian coastal city transformed into the UK's capital for nightlife
• Bristol - a historic city famous for its Georgian architecture and nautical heritage
• Cardiff - the capital of Wales and hosts many cultural events and other modern and historical attractions
• Edinburgh - the capital of Scotland, home to the largest art festival in the world and to a number of tourist attractions
• Glasgow - Scotland's largest city and former European Capital of Culture
• Liverpool - famous for the music that comes from there, including the Beatles
• London - the capital of England and the United Kingdom and the city most tourists visit
• Corduroy - Manchester is known for its industrial, sports and music history
• Newcastle upon Tyne - the largest city in the north east of England with a rich nightlife, a young cultural scene and Hadrian's Wall

Getting to the UK

EU citizens need a passport or national ID card to enter the UK. When flying from Sweden, only passports are accepted to board the plane.

Citizens of most other countries need a visa to the UK. Schengen visas do not apply.

Coach buses are the cheapest way to travel to the UK from France and the Benelux. Eurolines offers daily flights from Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels to London Victoria Bus Station. Daily night buses and limited day buses travel between the UK and Ireland. Connections are available to most parts of the UK via the domestic long-distance bus system National Express[2] and is for most destinations cheaper to buy when buying Eurolines tickets as discounts are available. The trips take about 8-14 hours. Eurolines also takes one to / from other major European cities. Having a budget flight is normally cheaper (but with a greater environmental impact), and the traveler saves a bus journey of 24 hours or more. Several other operators compete with Eurolines, mainly between Poland and the United Kingdom.

High-speed trains run from Brussels and Paris to London via the Channel Tunnel.

There are a large number of ferry lines in the UK from the European continent. Newcastle has a ferry service from Amsterdam to the Netherlands. Harwich has ferries from Esbjerg in Denmark and Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands. You can also get from Rotterdam in the Netherlands or Zeebrugge in Belgium to Hull. There is a regular connection between Ramsgate and Ostend in Belgium. There are 4 departures per day and prices range from € 50 to € 84. Dover is one of the UK's most popular passenger ports with departures from Zeebrugge, Dunkirk and Calais in France. The Dover - Calais route is particularly lively, with three companies competing and up to 50 departures per day. The ferry between Dover and Calais costs about £ 12-18 one way if you travel on foot or by bike, and around £ 80 for a car, even large discounts are available if the trip is booked in advance or with special offers. Passengers traveling from Calais and Dunkirk by ferry to the UK go through the UK immigration check after French exit checks and before boarding, UK customs checks still occur after arrival in the UK. On the south coast, Portsmouth has ferries from Le Havre, Caen, Cherbourg, St Malo and Bilbao in Spain and there are fast ferries between Dieppe and Newhaven. The other route from Spain is Santander to Plymouth, Plymouth also has ferries from Roscoff, Poole has ferries to Cherbourg and the Channel Islands. From Ireland there are the entry ports Pembroke, Fishguard and Holyhead and Swansea. There are departures from Dublin to Holyhead and Liverpool. You can also board one of the ships in the Cunard Line - they depart from New York every month or so. Prices start at around £ 900.

You must take the car by ferry, or by train via the Channel Tunnel.

You can take the bike by ferry, or by train via the Channel Tunnel. It is also possible to take the bike on the flight. It costs extra and must be booked in advance.

Relocation in the UK

• Transport Direct - public transport [3]
• National Rail [4], questions about travel, timetables, etc

Payment

Traveler's checks can be exchanged at most banks.

Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express are accepted by most shops and restaurants, although American Express is sometimes not accepted by smaller independent merchants, and it is worth asking if you are unsure, especially if there are long queues. Buying online from a UK company with a credit card can sometimes incur a 2-2.5% surcharge (this does not apply with a debit card). Since February 14, 2006, chip and PIN have become almost mandatory, few companies still accept signatures when paying by credit or debit card. Customers from countries without a chip in their credit card are supposed to be able to log in instead with a PIN code, but it is wise to have enough money if the retailer does not accept this. Although most small shops accept cards, there is often a minimum amount to spend (usually around £ 5). All below the minimum and they may refuse to accept the card, or charge a fee to process the payment.

ATMs, often known in the UK as Cashpoints, cash machines or informally as "holes in the wall", are very widely available and usually provide £ 10, £ 20 and sometimes £ 5 banknotes. Almost all of them accept foreign payment or credit cards. Be aware: some non-bank ATMs (easily identified, sometimes kiosk-style units, as opposed to fixed units in walls, and often at petrol / petrol stations and convenience stores) charge a fixed fee to withdraw money, and the home bank can also charge a fee. On average, the cost is about £ 1.75 per withdrawal, but the machine will always inform you of this and allow you to cancel the transaction.

Accommodation

Food and drinks

The UK is in many cases expensive in terms of food and drink. Here is a rough guide to what you can get for your money:

• £ 3 - a pint of real ale or house wine at a pub and a bag of crisps in addition
• £ 5 ("a fiver") - a couple of sandwiches and a soft drink. Fish 'n chips and other fast food are also in this price range.
• £ 10 - ("a tenner") - at an Asian restaurant you can get a main course or buffet and a beer for £ 10.
• £ 20 - there are plenty of restaurants in this price range. You get a good meal as well as half a bottle of wine.
• £ 40 - a nicer environment or a nice view costs money, although you might get just as good food elsewhere for £ 20. If you want to give a certain someone a nice evening, it's worth the money.
• £ 50 and up - provides the opportunity to go to the absolute finest restaurants. There is no upper limit to how much money can be spent on food, drink, the environment and service. Please note that restaurants in this price range usually require both table reservations in good time and formal attire.

Tips are usually not included in the price and should be about 10% of the sum.

Food

British cuisine is ridiculed by many for being non-existent or at best greasy and stale. That, of course, is not true. Britain has a rich food culture and thanks to its history as an empire builder, many different influences from around the world have come to influence the country's food culture.

Drink

The British Pub (public house) is an absolutely world-unique phenomenon. The pub should be seen as the British's second living room and it is often more common to meet your friends at the pub rather than inviting them home. There are a very large number of pubs in the country and most are open 11-23, but a new law from 2005 means that several pubs are open longer. Most pubs serve both food and drink, but there are plenty of exceptions. When you are still in the country, take the opportunity to enjoy the British domestic beer, called real ale. It is available in lots of brands and flavors. Common to real ale is that it should be hand-pumped directly from the barrel and that it is significantly less carbonated than Swedish beer. There are of course beers of the Swedish lager type as well, but why drink something in London that you can pour in at home? Beer is served in pints, which corresponds to just over 0.5 liters. You can also order a half pint, ie just over 0.25 l. When you go to a pub, you do not do as in Sweden and only buy for yourself, but everyone invites the team around in turn. "Shared notes" in a company, as in Sweden, is considered quite rude behavior. If you are invited, you must be invited back!

For those who are interested in beer and pub culture, there is more to read at CAMRA's [5] website. CAMRA is an organization that wants to protect traditional beer and pub culture. Are you in London the first week in August every year you should take the opportunity to visit the large exhibition hall Earl's Court where the world's largest beer festival is held! The festival is organized by CAMRA and is a real attraction.

To see

To do

Work

Communication

The UK has well-developed telecommunications and data communications capabilities. There is very good coverage for GSM and 3G telephony, but if you want to avoid huge bills, it can be a good idea to buy a prepaid card while you are in the country. The most common prepaid cards are:

For GSM

• Vodafone [6]
• Orange [7]
• O2 [8], f.d. British Telecom, ie the British equivalent of Telia.
• Virgin Mobile [9]
• T-Mobile [10]

For 3G

• Vodafone
• 3 [11]

In English, prepaid cards are called Pay As You Go and a top-up card is called a "top up card". Consequently, it is called "top up" when you want to charge your card with money. You can buy coupons in the same way as in Sweden, but the most common is that you have a special plastic card, a so-called swipe card, to his prepaid card which has all the details. The plastic card is handed over to the store that draws the card and then the amount you want is charged. You can top up your prepaid card in most stores, e.g. Tesco Express [12], but the prepaid card itself usually has to be bought in home electronics or mobile telephony stores, e.g. Dixons [13], Phones 4 U [14] or Carphone Warehouse [15].

Security

Respect

Britain is considered by many to be a rather conservative country. This means that a behavior that you may not think much about in Sweden can be quite odd in the UK. Here are some examples:

• When you order something, or ask someone for something, the sentence always ends with "please". In Sweden you might go to the bar and order "a glass of beer" and do it without saying "thank you", but in the UK it is vital to add just "please": "A pint of Ruddle's beer, please". If you forget this, you are considered to be extremely rude.
• As a girl, you should not sunbathe topless. Also, do not sunbathe in a bikini or swimwear in the garden, in a public place or the like. The British may find this offensive. What you do on the beach is of course another matter, but even here the rule does not apply.
• Do not swear. Many Britons swear so it oozes, but they can themselves feel when it is appropriate or not. As a foreigner, you do not impress if you sound like a bully, especially in those circles where swearing indicates low education. Language is a clear societal barrier in the UK - bad language gives immediately low status.

Unwritten rules of conduct

• If a single girl suggests to a single guy that they should go to the cinema, drink coffee together or the like, for many it is tantamount to showing interest in addition to friendships. The outside world draws its own conclusions in a flash and anyone who does not want to spread rumors, whether you are a boy or a girl, is wise to think first.
• Eye contact, which we in Sweden consider to be completely natural when talking to someone, can in some situations also be synonymous with extra interest. This is especially true if you meet someone at a pub, bar, club or similar.

Problem solver

Emergency number: 112 (plus 999)

Other