Getting to the UK

Whether travelling by plane, train, car, or ferry, getting to the UK is a snap. There are five airports in London alone: Heathrow is the busiest, but there are also other airports in London City, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. Gatwick and Heathrow offer regular bus and train shuttles to the city, and one can find either bus or train services from any of the airports in the UK. As well as their links to London, trains from Luton and Stansted also go north; while those from Gatwick also head south to Brighton. Airports in Manchester, Bristol, and Newcastle offer international connections, while Edinburgh’s international airport has limited inter-continental flights (no trans-Atlantic flights, however) and serves Glasgow. The train network links virtually every airport in London to almost every destination in the UK, as it does throughout all of the UK’s airports.

The Channel Tunnel, or “Chunnel” as it is often called, is not only an exciting way to get from London to the European continent; it was an amazing feat of engineering that connected England to Europe for the first time in history. Eurostar is one way to experience the Chunnel; it is a high-speed passenger service between London, Paris, and Brussels. Eurotunnel, on the other hand, offers Le Shuttle for cars, motorcycles, and buses between the ports of Folkestone in England and Calais in France.

There are a number of ferries servicing the UK, as well. One can get from Dover to Calais and Boulogne by ferry, or from Harwich to Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Germany. Newcastle and Scotland also have ferries that depart for the continent. Departure times are convenient, and there is normally a minimum of two sailings per day, easily connecting with rail services. Liverpool offers a ferry service that takes travellers to the Isle of Man. The ferries in Holyhead and Fishguard in Wales transport visitors to Ireland, which can also be reached by ferry from Stranraer, Scotland. The ferries from Portsmouth sail to France as well as the Channel Islands and the Bay of Biscay.