Introduction
The sun may have set, but England's dusk is full of stars. Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside.
From Stonehenge and Tower Bridge to Eton and Oxford, England is loaded with cherished icons of past eras. But it also does modernity with a confidence and panache left over from its days in the never-setting sun. Fashion, fine dining, clubbing, shopping - England's rates with the world's best. 'In England, wit is at least a profession, if not an art.' - Friedrich Von Schlegel
Geography:
England is no more than 29km (18mi) from France across the narrowest part of the English Channel. Much of England is flat or low-lying. In the north is a range of hills, known as the Pennines; to the west are the Cumbrian Mountains and the Lake District. South of the Pennines is the heavily populated Midlands, and the southwest peninsula, known as the West Country, has moors with granite outcrops, good dairy farming and a rugged coastline. The rest of the country is known as the English Lowlands, a mixture of farmland, low hills, an industrial belt and the massive city of London. England's national parks cover about 7% of the country and include Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Lake District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors, the New Forest, the Broads and Northumberland. English national parks are not all wilderness areas - they contain roads and villages - but they provide the perfect antidote to the hectic pace of many cities.
Destination Facts
Capital: London
Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Government: constitutional monarchy
Time zone: GMT 0
Area: 129720
Population: 51000000
People: Anglo-Saxons, Scots, Welsh, Irish, West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians
Languages: Perhaps England's greatest cultural export has been the English language, the current lingua franca of the international community. There are astonishing regional variations in accents, and it is not unusual to find those in southern England claiming to need an interpreter to communicate with anyone living north of Oxford. Church of England, Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Hindu.
Currency: Pound Sterling ( £ )
GDP: Approx. £ 1900000000000
Major industries: Banking and finance, steel, transport equipment, oil and gas, coal, tourism
Major Trading Partners: EU (especially Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland), USA
Daylight Saving: From late March to late October
Country Dialing Code: 44
Getting There
Anyone who spends any extended period of time in England will sympathise with the locals' obsession with the weather, although in relative terms the climate is mild and the rainfall is not spectacular. The least hospitable months for visitors are November to February - it's cold and the days are short. March and October are marginal - there's more daylight but it can still be pretty chilly. April to September are undoubtedly the best months, and this is, unsurprisingly, when most sights are open, and when most people visit. However, July and August are the busiest months, and best avoided if at all possible. The crowds on the coast, at the national parks, in London and popular towns like Oxford, Bath and York have to be seen to be believed.
Getting there and away
London's Heathrow and Gatwick are the two main airports for international flights, although some do go direct to Manchester and Birmingham.You can get a coach and/or ferry from mainland Europe, or a very swift train through the Channel Tunnel.
Getting around
Getting around England is pretty easy if occasionally unpredictable in the larger cities under the strain of peak hours. Budget airlines fly domestically, and trains trail some picturesque routes the length of England and can deliver you very efficiently from one major city to another.Coaches and buses operate throughout the country, coaches being more expensive and a little faster.In cities, black cabs are a luxurious option - minicabs are cheaper. Drivers of EU-registered vehicles will find bringing a car into England fairly stress-free as long as you have all necessary papers. Think twice before hiring a car to drive in major cities - unless you're happy to drive all day and never park it.
Visa:
Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa do not need a visa for stays in the UK up to 6 months, but they are prohibited from working. Citizens of the European Union (EU) don't need a visa to enter the country and may live and work here freely.
Weather
England's climate is mild and damp, with temperatures moderated by the light winds that blow in off its relatively warm seas. Temperatures inland don't get much below freezing in winter (December to February), or much above 30 ° C (86 ° F) in summer (June to August). The north is the coldest area; London, the southeast and the West Country are the warmest. Rainfall is greatest in hilly areas and in the West Country. You can expect cloudy weather and light drizzle in any part of England at any time. Aside from the more obvious tendency of temperatures in the south to be a bit warmer than the north there is also some lateral variation in weather. The west is usually cloudier, wetter, warmer in summer and colder in winter than the east.
Places of Interest
Quaint and quirky to rowdy and rambunctious.
It may be small, but England boasts an astounding collection of busy cities, towns rife with history, quaint villages, looming castles, cathedrals, mansions and abbeys. Add to this wild moors and mountains, stark beaches and tranquil lakes, and you've got a wishlist a mile long already.
Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside. From Stonehenge and Tower Bridge to Eton and Oxford, England is loaded with cherished icons of past eras. But it also does modernity with a confidence and panache left over from its days in the never-setting sun. Fashion, fine dining, clubbing, shopping - England's rates with the world's best.
Events
For the sporty, the traditional Oxford/Cambridge University Boat Race is held in London on the River Thames in late March/early April; the famous but gruelling Grand National steeplechase takes place at Aintree, Liverpool, on the first Saturday in April; the FA Cup soccer final takes place in May; the Lawn Tennis Championships, complete with strawberries and cream, and tantrums by major players, take place at Wimbledon in late June; in the same month the champagne-quaffing set head for the Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames; and the Cowes Week yachting extravaganza pushes off on the Isle of Wight in late July/early August. Those uninterested in ball games and fast-moving animals should check out the Chelsea Flower Show at London's Royal Hospital in May; the Trooping of the Colour pageantry on the Queen's birthday in London in mid-June; the bacchanalian Glastonbury Festival music extravaganza which swamps Glastonbury's paddocks in June; and the riotous (in the best possible sense) Caribbean carnival in London's Notting Hill in late August.
The sun may have set, but England's dusk is full of stars. Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside.
From Stonehenge and Tower Bridge to Eton and Oxford, England is loaded with cherished icons of past eras. But it also does modernity with a confidence and panache left over from its days in the never-setting sun. Fashion, fine dining, clubbing, shopping - England's rates with the world's best. 'In England, wit is at least a profession, if not an art.' - Friedrich Von Schlegel
Geography:
England is no more than 29km (18mi) from France across the narrowest part of the English Channel. Much of England is flat or low-lying. In the north is a range of hills, known as the Pennines; to the west are the Cumbrian Mountains and the Lake District. South of the Pennines is the heavily populated Midlands, and the southwest peninsula, known as the West Country, has moors with granite outcrops, good dairy farming and a rugged coastline. The rest of the country is known as the English Lowlands, a mixture of farmland, low hills, an industrial belt and the massive city of London. England's national parks cover about 7% of the country and include Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Lake District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors, the New Forest, the Broads and Northumberland. English national parks are not all wilderness areas - they contain roads and villages - but they provide the perfect antidote to the hectic pace of many cities.
Destination Facts
Capital: London
Queen: Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Government: constitutional monarchy
Time zone: GMT 0
Area: 129720
Population: 51000000
People: Anglo-Saxons, Scots, Welsh, Irish, West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians
Languages: Perhaps England's greatest cultural export has been the English language, the current lingua franca of the international community. There are astonishing regional variations in accents, and it is not unusual to find those in southern England claiming to need an interpreter to communicate with anyone living north of Oxford. Church of England, Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Hindu.
Currency: Pound Sterling ( £ )
GDP: Approx. £ 1900000000000
Major industries: Banking and finance, steel, transport equipment, oil and gas, coal, tourism
Major Trading Partners: EU (especially Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland), USA
Daylight Saving: From late March to late October
Country Dialing Code: 44
Getting There
Anyone who spends any extended period of time in England will sympathise with the locals' obsession with the weather, although in relative terms the climate is mild and the rainfall is not spectacular. The least hospitable months for visitors are November to February - it's cold and the days are short. March and October are marginal - there's more daylight but it can still be pretty chilly. April to September are undoubtedly the best months, and this is, unsurprisingly, when most sights are open, and when most people visit. However, July and August are the busiest months, and best avoided if at all possible. The crowds on the coast, at the national parks, in London and popular towns like Oxford, Bath and York have to be seen to be believed.
Getting there and away
London's Heathrow and Gatwick are the two main airports for international flights, although some do go direct to Manchester and Birmingham.You can get a coach and/or ferry from mainland Europe, or a very swift train through the Channel Tunnel.
Getting around
Getting around England is pretty easy if occasionally unpredictable in the larger cities under the strain of peak hours. Budget airlines fly domestically, and trains trail some picturesque routes the length of England and can deliver you very efficiently from one major city to another.Coaches and buses operate throughout the country, coaches being more expensive and a little faster.In cities, black cabs are a luxurious option - minicabs are cheaper. Drivers of EU-registered vehicles will find bringing a car into England fairly stress-free as long as you have all necessary papers. Think twice before hiring a car to drive in major cities - unless you're happy to drive all day and never park it.
Visa:
Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa do not need a visa for stays in the UK up to 6 months, but they are prohibited from working. Citizens of the European Union (EU) don't need a visa to enter the country and may live and work here freely.
Weather
England's climate is mild and damp, with temperatures moderated by the light winds that blow in off its relatively warm seas. Temperatures inland don't get much below freezing in winter (December to February), or much above 30 ° C (86 ° F) in summer (June to August). The north is the coldest area; London, the southeast and the West Country are the warmest. Rainfall is greatest in hilly areas and in the West Country. You can expect cloudy weather and light drizzle in any part of England at any time. Aside from the more obvious tendency of temperatures in the south to be a bit warmer than the north there is also some lateral variation in weather. The west is usually cloudier, wetter, warmer in summer and colder in winter than the east.
Places of Interest
Quaint and quirky to rowdy and rambunctious.
It may be small, but England boasts an astounding collection of busy cities, towns rife with history, quaint villages, looming castles, cathedrals, mansions and abbeys. Add to this wild moors and mountains, stark beaches and tranquil lakes, and you've got a wishlist a mile long already.
Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside. From Stonehenge and Tower Bridge to Eton and Oxford, England is loaded with cherished icons of past eras. But it also does modernity with a confidence and panache left over from its days in the never-setting sun. Fashion, fine dining, clubbing, shopping - England's rates with the world's best.
Events
For the sporty, the traditional Oxford/Cambridge University Boat Race is held in London on the River Thames in late March/early April; the famous but gruelling Grand National steeplechase takes place at Aintree, Liverpool, on the first Saturday in April; the FA Cup soccer final takes place in May; the Lawn Tennis Championships, complete with strawberries and cream, and tantrums by major players, take place at Wimbledon in late June; in the same month the champagne-quaffing set head for the Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames; and the Cowes Week yachting extravaganza pushes off on the Isle of Wight in late July/early August. Those uninterested in ball games and fast-moving animals should check out the Chelsea Flower Show at London's Royal Hospital in May; the Trooping of the Colour pageantry on the Queen's birthday in London in mid-June; the bacchanalian Glastonbury Festival music extravaganza which swamps Glastonbury's paddocks in June; and the riotous (in the best possible sense) Caribbean carnival in London's Notting Hill in late August.
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