THE UNITED KINGDOM
Big Ben to the Highlands, and everything in between.
Four nations on one small island, from the royal palaces of London to the lochs of the Highlands. The castles, cathedrals, city walks and day trips worth your time across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Only in Britain
Magic, monsters and the genuinely haunted.
Plenty of places have castles and cathedrals. Only Britain can hand you a wizarding world you actually walk through, the most famous monster on earth, and ghost stories told on streets old enough to mean it. Start the trip with the three nowhere else can offer.
The Wizarding World
Walk straight into Harry Potter
The whole saga was dreamed up, written and filmed here, so the magic is the real thing. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross, the studio north of London where the Great Hall still stands, the Oxford colleges that played Hogwarts, and the Edinburgh cafes where it all began. Nowhere else can hand you the Wizarding World as a place you actually visit.
- 1 From London: Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour
- 2 Magical London: Harry Potter Guided Walking Tour
- 3 London: Warner Bros. Studio Harry Potter Tour & Branded Bus
Into the Highlands
Loch Ness and the glens
The most mythologised stretch of water on the planet, set among the empty mountains of Glencoe and the viaduct at Glenfinnan. Day trips run deep into the Highlands from Edinburgh and Inverness, past castles standing in the lochs and the dark water where the legend refuses to die.
- 1 Edinburgh: Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Scottish Highlands Tour
- 2 From Edinburgh: Loch Ness, Glencoe & Scottish Highlands Tour
- 3 From Edinburgh: Glenfinnan, Glencoe, and Highlands Day Trip
After dark
Jack the Ripper and the haunted lanes
Britain tells ghost stories better than anyone because the streets are genuinely old enough to carry them. Follow a guide by lantern through the East End alleys where the Ripper worked, down into the buried vaults beneath Edinburgh, and past the pubs that have been pouring since long before America existed.
- 1 London: The Original Jack the Ripper Walking Tour
- 2 Edinburgh: Haunted Underground Vaults and Graveyard Tour
- 3 Edinburgh: Comedy Horror Ghost Bus Tour
The Scottish Highlands
Where Britain turns wild.
North of Glasgow the towns give out and the Highlands take over: glens, sea lochs, single-track roads and castles standing in the water. Day trips run from Edinburgh and Inverness out to Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Glenfinnan viaduct, deep into the emptiest and most cinematic corner of Britain.
Explore the Highlands →Start in London
If you only do one thing in the capital.
The most-booked sight in London, and the easiest way to get your bearings on a first trip to the capital.
The classics
Britain's Most Popular Experiences
The London Eye, a Thames cruise, Edinburgh Castle, the Tower of London. The sights that top every first trip to Britain.
By region
Pick your part of Britain.
London for the palaces and the West End. Edinburgh for the castle and the Old Town. The Highlands for Loch Ness and the glens. Each corner of Britain is its own trip.
By experience
Or pick the kind of day out.
A walking tour for the stories. A river cruise for the city from the water. Ghost walks after dark, the Wizarding World by day, museums, cathedrals and the great day trips, all in one place.
One island, four nations
Which Britain did you come for?
England for the history and the capital. Scotland for the castles and the wild north. Wales for the mountains and the coast. Northern Ireland for the Causeway and the legends. Four countries on one small island, no border to cross between them.
Crowns, castles & standing stones
Standing stones, Roman baths, royal castles.
An hour or two from London sit three of Britain's biggest names: Stonehenge, the five-thousand-year-old circle on Salisbury Plain; Bath, with its steaming Roman springs and honey-coloured crescents; and Windsor, the royal castle that is the oldest still lived in anywhere on earth. Most travellers take in all three on one very full day out.
- 1 Windsor Castle Admission Ticket
- 2 Stonehenge Admission Ticket
- 3 London: Full-Day Windsor, Stonehenge, and Oxford Tour
On the river
The Thames and the Tower.
The Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, all strung along the same stretch of river. Walk it, or see it from the deck of a cruise. Here are the three we would book first.
Scotland's capital
The castle, the closes, the vaults.
One volcanic ridge, a castle on top and a maze of medieval closes tumbling down to Holyrood. Add the haunted vaults underneath and the climb up Arthur’s Seat for the view. Three Edinburgh tours worth clearing space for.
The rest of England
Beyond London.
The dreaming spires of Oxford and Cambridge, the medieval walls of York, Beatles Liverpool and the honey-stone villages of the Cotswolds. England is at its best an hour or two outside the capital. A few favourites to get you started.
Plan the trip
A first trip to Britain, in three stops.
Never been? This is the route most people take their first time: a few days in London, a run north to Scotland, and the classic English country looped in between.
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