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.

5-summer_trains-jacobite-train-scotland.jpg
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
What they might lack in blazing sunshine these beaches more than make up for with postcard-worthy scenery and opportunities for coastal adventures.
Celebrate good times at these places around the world.
These historic villas and apartments across England and Ireland evoke the romantic spirit of the hit Netflix romance series.
British luxury hotel group Maybourne has opened the Emory, London’s first all-suite hotel, next to Hyde Park.
Tracing its roots to a 19th-century duchess, afternoon tea is moving into the present with contemporary remixes while retaining the historic charm that makes it a favorite among visitors.
Omer Acar, the CEO Raffles and Fairmont, shares his vision behind the recent growth of both luxury hotel brands and talks about what great hospitality truly means. (Spoiler alert: It’s all about people.)
From a scenic Surrey garden to a sprawling palace in Oxfordshire, these are places where many scenes of “Bridgerton” were shot—and where fans of the hit Netflix show can frolic like 19th-century royals.
The best way to travel is by breaking a sweat.
London, Lapland, and Tanzania are on the cards in 2024.
AFAR’s picks for the 31 best new hotels in the world.