The Ultimate United Kingdom Travel Guide: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go

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If you’ve ever dreamt of traveling to the United Kingdom to visit London or Edinburgh, this is your sign to start planning that trip today! Your sign and your ultimate travel guide to planning an amazing, worry free trip!

Traveling to another country (especially for the first time) can be intimidating and overwhelming, so I completely understanding any hesitation. I didn’t travel out of my own home country (the USA) until I was 29 years old. I just recently traveled to the UK with my husband and it was the most amazing trip! We learned so many dos and don’ts about traveling internationally. Specifically about traveling to the UK and what we wish we knew before heading over there. Although, I can honestly say learning as we went was half the fun.

To save you at least some of the trouble of learning on the fly while in the UK, I wanted to write this blog post covering many of the super important things you should know before packing your bag to head to London or Scotland.

I’m going to talk about different essential gadgets you should make sure to bring, nuances of being in a different country, and different items you may or may not be a able to buy while you’re abroad.

Preparing for Your Trip to the United Kingdom

Traveling thousands of miles requires thorough planning and research if you don’t want to run into problem after problem once you’ve arrived to your destination. Who wants to spend the majority of their time traveling dealings with issues that could have been avoided?

You deserve to enjoy every minute of your trip to the United Kingdom, so let’s talk about the things you will need to consider, research, plan, and prepare before heading to the airport. Let’s talk about a few of the most important foundational bits of information that you will need to have considered and got in line before you can move on to the more fun parts of planning your trip. I’m talking about necessary paperwork/documents and when in the year you intend to travel.

Documents & Entry Requirements for UK

This post will cover the specifics of traveling to the United Kingdom from the United States of America.

As for necessary documents for traveling out of the country, it’s pretty straight forward. All we needed were our valid drivers licenses and passports. I did bring a few “just incase” documents as well though, and have listed those document below.

• Social security cards
• Digital copy of marriage certificate
• Photocopies of our licenses and passports (in case of the unfortunate event of a physical copy going missing while traveling.) *Be very careful that you do not misplace these while abroad*

Now you might be wondering about Visas and whether you would need one for your trip or not. If you are a new traveler like I was, you’ve probably heard of Visas being needed for over seas travel, but not of any specifications of when they are needed.

Visas are official documents that are needed when you re staying in a foreign country for an extended period of time. Such as for work, school, or even leisure if you are so lucky. A person only needs a Visa to be in the United Kingdom when traveling from the United States, when their stay will be 6 months or longer.

Currency & Money Exchange

Definitely plan ahead when it comes to the funds you will have prepared to spend in the UK. I’m not just referring to budgeting for your trip, but preparing for the ways in which you will pay for things in the UK.

The currency used in the UK are “pounds sterling” or “pounds”, similar to the American dollar. And their change is “pence”. The exchange rate when we traveled in June of 2024 was 1.3 American dollars to 1 pound. I went to my banks local branch (I bank with Bank of America) and asked them about exchanging some money for foreign currency. They directed me to use the app, because everything is on apps now a days 🙄. I was in fact able to order some currency through the app. It took funds from my account and after about a week I was notified that my funds were available for pick up from my bank. I ordered about $650 worth of pounds, just to have adequate cash for traveling.

The best thing that I did for our trip was to get a travel credit card. We put all of our travel expenses on this, which helped us to keep track of our spending as we went along. Racking up the points that this particular card offered as we went. The card I got had a bonus offer available when I first got it, that if I spent $1000 in the first month, I would get 25,000 bonus points. Which is equal to $250. Needless to say, $1000 is easy to spend when traveling over seas. So we had that to look forward to at the end of our adventure, to help cushion the blow of all of our spending.

The best perk about travel credit cards is that there’s generally no foreign exchange fee, like there would be if you used your regular debit or credit card while over seas.

We saved hundreds in fees that we didn’t have to pay while traveling, with our travel credit card. Credit cards are also easier to work with if you got hit with fraud while away. Easier to dispute the transition and have it canceled, rather than losing your funds and waiting ages for the bank to possibly get them back.

One last perk I need to mention regarding a travel credit card before I move on. There are lots of perks that come with travel credit cards that they don’t tell you up front. Perks such as travel insurance. Not all cards will have this, or have the same level of insurance, but definitely something to be aware of.

Communication & Technology

Another incase you didn’t know section.

When we first started planning our trip to the United Kingdom, I had no idea that you couldn’t go there with your cell phone as is, and just use it as normal. Sure, you CAN, but it would cost you a ton of unnecessary money on your next phone bill.

You have a few options when it comes to making your phone usable in another country such as the UK. You could take the SIM card route, and remove your phones SIM card and replace it with one from another country that would give you access to their cell towers, for a cost that would be less than the roaming charges you would face otherwise.

Your other option, the route that my husband and I took, was to go to our phone dealers store (AT&T in our case) and add on an international data plan. Not sure how other carriers work, but with AT&T we would pay a max of $100 ($10/day for up to 10 days), for international cellular service. Service that would only activate once you are in another country and the foreign cell towers are connected to your phone. Otherwise we don’t pay anything extra while home in America.

eSim cards for international travel are also an option. Not something that we attempted on this trip, but definitely worth looking into if you plan to travel internationally and your phone service provider doesn’t have a great international cellular plan available.

Best Time to Visit the United Kingdom

Depending on your preference of weather, any time of year can make for an amazing trip to the United Kingdom. When my husband and I traveled over there, it was late June into early July. I can honestly say there were some days that we experienced every season just in that one day. We had 70 degree days where a t-shirt and sunglasses were necessary, and then the next day we would be bundled up in layers of long sleeve shirts and even a scarf for 50 degree weather.

We chose this time of year because it is one of the warmer times of year over in this part of the world. We wanted to be able to see greenery and be able to be outside, not in constant intolerable cold weather. The summer is also one of the more busy times of year to travel to the UK, as it is summer break so everyone has the same idea.

I will say, it wasn’t as crowded with other tourists as I expected it to be. I expected Disney World level tourist crowds, but it honestly wasn’t any more busy than any other cities that I’ve visited in the US in the summertime.

Keep in mind, that if you do travel to the United Kingdom in the summertime/aka tourist season, you will need to book your accommodations (hotels, hostels, airbnb, etc) well ahead of time. As places will book up quickly during this time of the year.

No matter what time of year you choose to travel to the United Kingdom, be prepared for rain! I got us these awesome travel mini umbrellas that fit perfectly in my cross body bag to carry while we went sight seeing.

Planning Transportation

So you’ll sit on an airplane for 8+ hours (depending on where you’re flying over from), and then what? Let’s talk bout your different transportation options for once you’ve made it to the United Kingdom. One thing that you’ll learn fast once you get to the United Kingdom, is that they don’t joke around about wanting to protect the environment.

You will quickly notice that majority of cars that you encounter are either hybrid or all electric. You will also notice that there are plenty of taxi services, buses, and train options to choose from to get your from A to B. All of which help to cut down on the number of individual vehicles that are out on the road.

Let’s talk little more about each of those options. About the big points that you’ll want to know about before your airplane touches down in the UK.

Car Rental

Just like in the US, you can rent a car from one of the big car rental companies such as Enterprise or Hertz, and pick your car up right at the airport.

“Do I need a special license to be able to drive in the United Kingdom?”

The answer to that questions, is no, as long as the letters/words on your drivers license are in English, and not non-latin characters such as Japanese or Chinese.

Enterprise says “International Driving Permit required with any non-European License or when the driver’s license is in a language and/or in characters different to those of renting country.” Meaning, if you are traveling to the UK from the US like I did, and your drivers license is valid and written in English letters, you are all set to rent a car.

The rules of the road don’t differ much from the roads of the US, but as you might already know, they drive on the opposite side of the road in the UK. The drivers side of the car is on the left side instead of the right, also. Just a little something to be mentally prepared for before you arrive to the UK and rent a car. I definitely recommend taking your rental car for a little spin if you can, before hopping on any main roads if you’ve never driven on the opposite side before. Go here for more UK driving tips to help you prepare for your trip.

Public Transportation

Depending on where you’re traveling in the UK, you are likely to find an abundance of public transportation options available to you. Buses, trains, taxis, and in some areas even ferries.

If one of your destinations is London, the “Tube”, similar to the New York City subway system, will be one of your best modes of transportation. You will want to invest in an Oyster Card, the card that allows you access to the Tube. There are a number of different payment options when you get an Oyster card, depending on how much time you plan to spend in London. Check out this website for more information about getting an Oyster card as a tourist.

In London you can also choose to ride one of the iconic red, double decker buses around the city. They also accept Oyster cards, so having one for your trip would be incredibly advantageous!

As for Scotland, if you make your way up that way while visiting the UK, their buses accept contactless payment with what ever form of payment (debit or credit) that you choose. Buses are the primary way we got around Scotland while with our tour group. It’s important to be mindful of the times that they run, as most buses stop running sometime around 11-1130 at night. There are a few scattered night buses at times though.

I HIGHLY recommend the app called “City Mapper“. One of our tour guides recommended it to us, and it was an absolute time saver while we explored London and Scotland via public transportation.

RV Rental

Now here’s an option that not many people consider when flying over seas…renting an RV. My husband and I did this (sort of) on a whim for the last week of our time in Scotland, and man was it so worth it!

More or less, renting an RV is close to the same cost as renting a car and paying for multiple nights in various hotels and airbnbs through out the UK on your travels. The amount of time you save by staying in an RV instead of hotels is mind blowing. With an RV you’re eliminating the need to wake up early and pack up when you’re moving to another hotel, with the possibility of leaving something behind by accident. Not to mention all the time you’d spend traveling to different places each and every day.

We rented a pretty nice RV that had 2 full beds (we only used the one main one though), shower, toilet, small stove, and TONS of storage. There was also a table that had a bench seat where the driver and passenger seats could swivel around to sit by also. It was luxurious, to say the least. The whole thing wasn’t much bigger than say an amazon delivery truck.

By the end of our trip, we had covered hundreds of miles of Scotland in our RV. We started in Edinburgh where we picked up the rental and made our way up to Fort William to catch the Harry Potter train (aka the Jacobite). On our way north west we stopped in a teensy tiny town called Balquhidder, the ancient clan lands of my husband’s distant family. We had the amazing opportunity to meet some of the remaining clan members of the main family, including the daughter of the recent passed chief of the clan.

One tip for preparing to ride the Jacobite…get there early and bring cash!

They have a morning service and an afternoon service. Just before our trip in June 2024, the train had a shut down due to some maintainance issues with their doors. They are now playing catch up for those who had bought tickets for the time of the shut down and didn’t get to ride. Each day they sell tickets for any empty seats the may have available.

After Fort William we went to Inverness for a day and did little exploring there. The best part of about the RV rental though, was riding through the Highlands. You drive through hundreds of miles of the highlands when traveling from Edinburgh to Fort William or Inverness, and oh my gosh, it was something out of a fairy tale.

Scotland allows RV drivers to park and stay almost anywhere around their country, as long as it’s not in an obviously “in the way” spot. There are numerous spots along the highways of the highlands that allow for bigger vehicles to pull off and park, nestled right into the breathtaking surroundings. So there were a number of nights where we slept on the side of the road in the mountains of the highlands.

For those who are now wondering how we had water and electricity while parked in the middle of no where, let me explain. We made sure to rent an RV that had two batteries, one for driving needs, and one that powered things inside the RV when the engine was off. There was also a water tank for needs such as showering or flushing the toilet while parked. We did stay at an EV park for one night, with a gorgeous view of Loch Ness, so that we could charge that extra battery some, refill our water tank, and empty the grey water tank. So yes, there are times you would need to plug in, but if you pick the right RV you won’t always need to rely on RV parks.

My last tip about renting an RV in the UK is to be aware of your size. The RV will likely have your dimensions listed on the inside of the windshield on the drivers side, and you will see matching signs on the roads given you a warning of difference clearance restrictions, such as for narrow roads or bridges. We weren’t fully prepared for that at first, and got caught in a few sticky situations.

More Essential Information

This last section will just be final tips and good to know pieces of information to keep in mind when traveling to the United Kingdom. Such as information about tipping, essentials to be sure to pack, and a few safety/security tips.

Tipping Etiquette

I think we can all agree that the tipping culture in America has gone a bit out of hand in 2023-2024. We all dread the ipad screen being spun around at us at checkout of almost anywhere you shop. You can rest easy knowing that this fad hasn’t sprung up in the UK as well. Tipping in the UK is very different and much less pressured.

When we traveled to the UK we gave our biggest tips to the tour guides who spend hours walking and talking with us. Our tour guides in particular were phenomenal and deserved every cent, or pence, that we gave them. We also tipped a few of the drivers we had for some of our longer excursions.

As for restaurants, if we sat down to eat and had table service we would leave some sort of tip. It was never asked of us though. They literally had it listed as “optional” on their receipt, and were very modest about it when we inquired about tipping. If we went some place just for food or drink to go, we weren’t pressured to tip like we are in the US for every small thing.

Packing Essentials

I planned for what we would need to bring to the United Kingdom for at least a month or more. Let’s just say the Amazon delivery driver was probably getting sick of seeing our front door by the time we left for the air port.

I’m going to make this part easy for you and just list off the items that were the non-negotiables for us when we traveled to the United Kingdom. Some, they made life easier, some were absolutely necessary and hard to find in the UK, and others they just didn’t have there at all! Below are the exact items that I bought and used on our trip.

• Travel Adaptor– This adaptor came in handy for charging phones and laptops while in the UK. Do be mindful of what you plug into any adaptor you buy. I plugged my blow dryer that I brought with me in and it over heated immediately.
• Hanging Toiletry Bag with Jewelry Compartment – This bag is not only fashionable, but so handy for traveling. Especially in an RV
• RFID Blocking Crossbody Bag- I wore thing bag everywhere we went. Its large capacity held all of our essentials as well as a water bottle on the side, and kept them safe. (London is notorious for pick pocketing). I had this bag in orange so my husband could easily spot me in a crowd!
• Hydroflask Water Bottle– I had this water bottle because it fit perfectly in my crossbody bag’s side pouch for water bottles. It definitely kept our water cold all day.
• Waterproof Women’s Ankle Boots – I wore these babies every single day of being in the UK. They fit perfectly with most causal outfits, and definitely stood up to the almost constant rain in that country.
• Men’s Casual Leather Boots– I got these for my husband for both walking and being dressy with me, and they worked perfectly for both. He actually hiked up Arthurs Seat, a 1.5 hour hike, up a small mountain, wearing these and they faired very well! There were days that we walked up to 20,000 steps, and these boots were perfect for that.
• Women’s Casual Military Vest – This vest was perfect for those semi-mild days where it’s hard to choose between wearing a full jacket or just a light long sleeve. The many pockets came in handy too.
• Men’s Lightweight Cargo Windbreaker– I can speak from experience that this jacket was super comfy and kept the cool highland winds out. I may have stollen this jacket from my husband on a number of occasions when he wasn’t feeling as cold as I was.
• Apple AirTags – I had one of these in each of our suitcases, as well as in my cross body bag. I was able to track our checked bags to ensure they made it onto our airplane for each flight. 10/10 recommend for any travel!
• Silicone AirTag Covers– Waterproof covers for AirTags incase of toiletry leaks in checked bags
• RFID Blocking Women’s Wallet– Not only is this wallet stylish, but also another barrier against sneaky thieves who think they can swipe your information while you travel.
• Lonely Planet Travel Guide for Scotland– This little book fit perfectly into my crossbody bag, so I could easily access it and refer to pages that I had already marked ahead of time.
• Bug Repellant Lotion to Protect from Midges– Known as No See-ums here in America, these little bugs are especially ravenous during the summer, so it’s best to be prepared. This lotion lasts against these bugs for up to 14hours.

Many of the items above would make excellent gifts for your friends and family who love to travel, by the way. So if you know someone who will be traveling to the UK next year, use this blog post to get some Christmas gift ideas for them.

For more gift ideas for people who love to travel, check out my Gift Guide for People Who Love to Travel!

Safety & Security While Traveling

Whether you’re traveling alone, with your significant other, or with a group of friends, safety should always be a consideration. I will say the UK was over all a very safe place to travel to. Not too many concerns were apparent to my husband and I. But I will tell you about a few safety tips that I did learn about during our trip.

Pick pockets are apparently a common issue in certain areas of the United Kingdom. We were warned on multiple occasions by our tour guides, both in London and Edinburgh. Especially in the more heavily crowded areas. So being aware of your surroundings and the belongings that you have on your person are especially important. Carrying your bags in front of you and having them very secured are important steps to take while traveling. That includes keeping your phone in your bag rather than exposed in your back pocket.

Mobile Data & Wifi

At first I considered putting this section under the portion about technology and gadgets but then figured that wifi and data are more of a safety concern than anything while abroad. You hear it all the time, about how public wifi can be incredibly dangerous to connect to. Not just in America, but anywhere in the world.

One thing you can do to protect yourself against the potential dangers of connecting to public wifi is to utilize a VPN. “Virtual Private Network” or VPN is a great utility to use anytime you are out and about with your phone or even laptop. Having a VPN gives you the security of knowing that your personal data is protected and hidden from potential threats. Want to learn more about VPNs and maybe even purchase one for yourself? Check out Nord VPN, one of the more popular and well reputed VPN services.

If you’re traveling with someone who has a mobile hotspot that runs off of their data plan, that could also be an option for safe web browsing while you are over seas. Just be sure that their mobile data plan supports the use of a hot spot in international territories and that they are were of any extra fees that may or may not be applied.

Costs & Budgeting

Budgeting for a trip looks different for each person and their lifestyle. As well as what they are able to afford or even what they want to do. So this isn’t going to be a topic I delve deep into on this blog post. I will share one of the biggest tips that I could give you for traveling and being smart with your money.

Book tours and have them paid off ahead of time. By booking tours with highly rated tour guides/groups, you are going to make the most of the money you are putting into your trip. Rather than wandering around aimlessly in a country you’ve never been to before, have someone take you to all of the best places to visit in that country. Some of which you probably wouldn’t have even thought to go to on your own.

We booked our trip through a company that I had been keeping tabs on for a few years now. Knowing that they would be who I booked our big Scotland trip through. This company’s name is EF Ultimate Break.

They are geared mostly toward young travelers 18-35 years old. College travel, friend group travel, etc. Our group had quite a few single women in it, since it’s so much safer to travel with a group than by your self as a female. A lot of nurses and teachers in particular were in our group actually. The teachers were on their summer break, and making the most of it!

The great thing about booking with EF is that EVERYTHING was included in the price! We booked their “plus” version of the London & Scotland Getaway, so that my husband and I could be in the same hotel room. If we had booked the “essential” package, we would have been separated into hostels, by gender. Totally worth the extra cost, not just for the room we got to share. We got a few extra perks, but won’t divulge those on here!

When I say EVERYTHING was included, I mean everything. Out plane tickets, hotel stays, breakfast every day in the hotel, at least 3 different 3 course dinners with drinks, and 90% of transportation cost. They arranged and handled every little detail. We didn’t have to worry about a single thing, other than showing up where we needed to be, on time. Best of all, the way they set up the payment plan (interest free), your trip is paid off a month before you go on your trip. Other than what you spend on extra food or souvenirs, you come home from your trip virtually debt free if you budgeted for the extras.

Food & Drink

It goes without saying that if you like seafood that you have to try fish and chips while in the UK! *chefs kiss*

I was all about the chips while we were in London and Edinburgh. The food over there is hands down better than anything we have in America. Likely due to the lack of preservatives and low amounts of sugar used in most things. Unlike all the foods we have in the US. I just felt GOOD after eating. Never bogged down or as if food was sitting heavy in my stomach.

You cannot go to the UK without trying a proper English breakfast either. without a doubt my favorite meal while traveling. For those who haven’t had a proper English breakfast before, this meal consists of over easy/medium eggs, sausage (like none I have ever had in the US), tomato slice, bacon (English bacon is very different from what we have in the US), hash brown, beans, and of course a cup of tea. I usually had coffee, but tea is the hot drink of choice in the UK.

Important to keep in mind that most places close rather early in the UK. By 6pm in the afternoon most restaurants are closed down. Sometimes you can find a pub that stays open later, but you should plan accordingly for your meals each day while traveling in the UK.

If you have any food allergies, there’s no need to hesitate to mention it to your server when they come to take your order at a restaurant. We encounters many restaurants that were actually very conscious of food allergies . More often than not we would be asked about any food allergies that they should know about, before taking our order back to the kitchen to be prepared.

Conclusion

This blog post certainly doesn’t scratch the surface of all of the different adventures we had while traveling in London and Edinburgh, but it does cover many of the things we learned about traveling to the United Kingdom. A lot of things that we wish we knew before going over there. So to save you the learning curve that we faced, I’ve created this travel guide so that you can start planning your trip to the UK now and feel prepared!

Are you planning your trip to the UK now, or have you already gone there before? Did you learn anything vital about international travel that I didn’t include in this travel guide? Please tell me about it in the comments below!