United Kingdom

A four-in-one destination (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), the U.K. offers beautiful, memorable, and accessible nature, some of the best museums in Europe, and a flourishing food scene far beyond mushy peas or beans on toast. Its landscapes are unparalleled and diverse—think craggy mountain peaks, ancient forests dripping with moss and ferns, and cool glassy lakes increasingly popular for wild swimming.

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Overview

Planning your trip

Use these articles, resources, and guides to plan and inspire your next trip to the United Kingdom.

Related Guides
READ BEFORE YOU GO
The just-opened Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration brings together thousands of examples of illustrations, including comic books, graphic novels, and documentary drawings.
HOTELS
The hotels on this list are as thoughtful about accessibility as they are about design, going beyond compliance to make travel more comfortable and intuitive for disabled guests.
Sleep under the world’s darkest, clearest skies across six continents at one of these 19 dark sky zone hotels.
From Victorian London to Boston and Pasadena, Langham hotels continue to define timeless elegance and modern hospitality.
Afar editors share the 2025 hotel stays they didn’t want to leave—and would happily return to.
Opening in February 2026 just north of London’s West End, the Newman takes cues from Fitzrovia’s bohemian history, balancing thoughtfully designed rooms with street-facing spaces meant to be shared.
Whether it’s a villa in Italy, a dude ranch in the U.S. West, or a luxury all-inclusive in the Caribbean, here are places where accommodations and experiences are ideal for large family groups with a wide range of ages.
The luxury hotel industry is changing fast. The Langham Hospitality Group CEO Bob van den Oord discusses how his brand is adapting—and what the future holds for high-end travel.
These are the 24 hotels we recommend most for wellness.
Open to the public who book hotel rooms and suites, the Twenty Two is also opening its second location in NYC this fall.
Sleek design. Hot chefs. Prime location. The alluring new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair is the first new hotel to open in this London neighborhood in a decade.
RESOURCES TO HELP PLAN YOUR TRIP
As of January 8, 2025, U.S. citizens traveling to the U.K. need to have an electronic travel authorization (ETA). Here’s how to apply, how much it costs, and how long it takes to be approved.
Nearly 300,000 air travelers who were scheduled to travel through London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday had their flights canceled due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Here’s what we know and how travel is being affected.
Set to launch in July 2025, Belmond’s 18-cabin Britannic Explorer will travel from London to Cornwall, northern England’s Lake District, and Wales in unprecedented style.
Italy isn’t the only place with awe-inspiring ruins from the Roman Empire. Avoid the crowds and see the broader picture of Roman history at these 10 destinations across Europe and northern Africa.
Great love stories don’t just unfold on the page or screen—they’re shaped by the places where they happen.
Austenites, assemble! Three counties in southwest England are hosting can’t-miss celebrations for Jane Austen’s 250th birthday.
Afar’s team roamed wide in 2024. These were our favorite spots from a year of exploring.
Mark our words: 2025 will be the year of crowd-free travel. Here are our picks for the world’s 25 most exciting, lesser-visited destinations to plan a trip to right now.
Discover some of the best places to go in Europe for your next trip in this video by Afar.
Highlights for the rest of 2024 include Adrien Brody at Donmar Warehouse and new offerings from Michelin-starred restaurant patron and chef Jason Atherton.