How to Get Around United Kingdom

Getting in. Heathrow is the main hub, with Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and several others serving long-haul and European routes. Eurostar runs from London St Pancras to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Trains reach most of the country and are the pleasant way to travel. Fares are complex: booking in advance can be a quarter of the walk-up price, railcards give a third off for various categories, and split-ticketing sites often find cheaper combinations on the same train.

Coaches — National Express and Megabus — are far cheaper than trains and considerably slower.

Driving. On the left. Motorways are free apart from a few crossings; rural roads in Wales, Cornwall and the Highlands are narrow, hedged and often single-track with passing places, where the etiquette is to pull in and to acknowledge the driver who does.

In London. Tube, buses, Overground and the Elizabeth line, all on contactless card or phone — just tap in and out, with a daily cap applied automatically.