England Travel Guide

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Are you heading to the UK for the first time? Not sure how to start planning? Here is our England Travel Guide, made just for you!

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Hi there! We are The Bourque’s Abroad. In 2019 we made our first trip to England and fell in love with the country. In 2021 we applied for a 5- Year Ancestry visa to live in England. We sold all of our belongings and in 2022 made the trip across the pond to live here for the long haul. After living here for almost 18 months we thought we would write an England Travel Guide to help others prepare for a trip to Great Britain!

(If you’re interested in our backstory, (give this article a read!)

England is an exquisite country. There are so many things to do and so many sights to see. Hopefully, with this guide, we can make your travel planning that little bit easier for you!

England Travel Guide: Cheat Sheet

Population: 55.98 million

Size: 130,279 km²

Currency: Pound Sterling (GBP £)

Climate: We can only speak to our experience with the weather here in England over the last year. But let’s face it, Mother Nature doesn’t care if we are on vacation or not! Last summer took a while to get going, but July, August and well into September were brilliant. Keep in mind that there have been record-high temperatures in the last year and air conditioning is not commonplace outside of businesses. In January we had a week of sub-zero temperatures, the lowest being -5 Celsius. Just like everywhere else in the world the weather is often unpredictable. Yes, it rains here but it’s manageable if you’re dressed appropriately. The overall climate in England is referred to as ‘maritime weather’.

Best Time to Visit: We believe the best time to visit England is either between May -June or September- October. The weather is pleasant throughout all 4 months, not overly hot or cold. Many of the tourist hotspots are less busy during those months as well.

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England Travel Guide: What to Pack

It has taken us multiple trips to perfect our packing skills, but we have finally got there (in December 2022, we took a 3-week trip to Germany and only brought one carry-on bag each, which is more than enough if packed properly).

Depending on what time of year you are travelling to England it’s a good idea to pack for most (all) seasons.

Our first and biggest suggestion for our Travel Guide to England is to pack in layers. If it’s a colder day or evening you can bundle up and if it gets warmer throughout the day you can take some of the layers off. Plan your outfits and make them interchangeable. If you can wear two or three pairs of trousers (for North American folk were talking about your pants!) with all of the shirts you are bringing, perfect.

Having more space in your luggage is beneficial for many reasons.

1. Your luggage won’t be as heavy to carry around with you on the plane/train/streets.
2. You will have more room to bring back souvenirs if you’d like.
3. Easier to organize and plan your days.
4. Makes you less likely to overpack.

Invest in a travel-size umbrella and bring your raincoat. A small packable umbrella and rain jacket are a must. Even if the forecast isn’t calling for rain, it can rain. It may only be for 2 minutes but being prepared could mean the difference between being nice and dry for the remainder of your day or soaked to the bone. Besides, wouldn’t you rather have an umbrella and not need it, than the other way around?

Bring comfortable shoes. You will be doing a lot of walking, wherever you are. We typically wear Tropicfeel footwear as they are the most comfortable and travel-friendly footwear but I have travelled with my trusty New Balance 608s as well.

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Travel Adaptors

England uses plug type G, which is the plug that has three rectangular pins in a triangular pattern (230V supply voltage and 50Hz).

North America predominantly runs on 120V appliances. Plugging a 120V device into 230V will almost certainly destroy it.

Check your favourite appliance to see if they are dual voltage. Typically found on the information label (every appliance should have a label). If it’s not dual voltage, consider buying a travel one to avoid carrying around a heavy inverter. If it is dual voltage you will only need a wall socket adapter.

Examples of devices to check before you leave; a Hairdryer, hair straightener, phone chargers, smartwatch chargers, etc.

Consider purchasing an adapter with USB charge ports. This way you will have a wall socket adapter for your dual voltage devices and avoid dragging around multiple chargers.

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Travel Insurance

Check the terms of your credit card, a lot of major credit card companies offer travel insurance on travel credit cards (we are covered through HSBC). That being said most travel agencies offer insurance as well. Do your research and make sure you go with what works best for you. As Trevor always says, “It’s better looking at it than for it”. Travel insurance is a must.

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Other things to pack for Your Trip to England

• Passport (duh! but an important reminder)
• Battery Pack
• Packing cubes (they make travelling so much easier!)
• Water Bottle
• Sunglasses
• Quality Camera & Photography Gear (newer smartphones are great too!)
• Swimsuit (depending on the time of year)
• Packable Backpack
• Travel Towel

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How to Get Around in England

Trains

Trains are our preferred way to travel around England. Unfortunately, over the last year, there have been train strikes that have caused delays and cancellations. This has made travelling by train less reliable. Train tickets have also increased in price as of late, much like everything else.

We use TrainLine or TrainSplit to purchase our train tickets. Both can be purchased on the website or by downloading their apps.

• Buying your tickets in advance is cheaper.
• Book seats if you can, this will avoid you from having to stand on a busy train.

Rental Vehicles

You are allowed to drive on a foreign driver’s license in the UK for up to a year, providing the license you hold is valid. There is no need for a supplemental “International license”.

Remember, however, if you’re coming to England from North America you will be driving on the opposite side of the road. It does take a bit of getting used to. There are also different road signs that you should look into a bit before your trip (don’t worry, we’re working on a post to help you!).

One final tip, automatics are on the pricier side of rentals. It is about half the price to rent a manual car. But it may make your trips by car more enjoyable without adding a driving manual with your left hand.

They do make it really easy to rent cars here in England. You can pick it up at one location and drop it off at another. It is a great option if you’re looking to get out of the big cities and into the countryside (which we would highly suggest). The English Countryside is absolutely stunning.

Local Buses or Tram Routes

Most large cities have their own public transportation (London, Manchester, Sheffield, etc). Make sure you have a look, when you’ve decided where to go, and see what your options are. Most are affordable (Sheffield is £2 per trip or £5 a day).

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Currency

The currency in England is the GBP (£) also known as Pounds or Quid.

Most places accept cash & major credit cards (card only is not uncommon) but it’s best to have a little bit of cash on you at all times, just in case. The older large paper notes are no longer circulating and are only accepted at banks. If you travelled a while back and still have any old notes kicking around, take them to a bank to get changed into new plastic bills.

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Mobile Data

Check to see what your mobile provider offers for roaming charges. If they’re exorbitant, there are some options for SIM cards that are very reasonably priced. Giffgaff is one of these options. You can buy the sim cards right on Amazon anywhere in North America. You can get 30GB of data for $25.99 USD.

How reasonable is that?!

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What to make sure you eat in England

Growing up we were always told that England had a bad rap for bland and boring food. I’m not sure whether we heard that in the media, movies, or straight-up hearsay but that’s what we heard. We are happy to say that this could not be further from the truth. The food scene in England has evolved drastically and we have had some of the best meals here and want to make sure that you do as well. This is why we have added a “What to make sure you eat in England” to our England Travel Guide.

• Fish & Chips (aka chippy)

This is a staple for England and can be found at almost any Pub. There are so many designated Fish & Chip shops out there as well (10,500 to be exact).

• Pie

Oh, there is nothing better than a good ol’ English pie. You can find a pie with just about anything in it! Yes, you may know it as a meat pie, but don’t call it that!

• Full English Breakfast

A full English breakfast typically includes bacon, fried eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or buttered toast, sausages, black pudding (if you don’t know what that is, try if first and look it up after) and baked beans.

• Sunday Roast

There are so many places that put on a great Sunday Roast (you can have a roast any day of the week but traditionally it’s eaten here on Sundays). A typical Sunday Roast is roasted meat, mashed or roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and a side of veggies. .

• Culturally Diverse Cuisine

England has a wide array of culturally diverse food. Regardless of what you’re craving, you can find it. One of our favourite places in Sheffield is a Thai Street food restaurant. There are so many great local restaurants. Do your research and read the reviews, you won’t go hungry!

• Pub Food

The pub food scene in England is much better than in North America. It’s authentic, it’s local, and there are not as many knockoff chain pubs.

A final little tip about food and “tips” in England.

If you have a food allergy, worry not! England has strict rules about listing allergens on all food. Restaurants have allergen lists if they’re not already on the menu and all food bought in stores has them clearly in bold on the labels. You should feel confident in finding food that works for you.

Tipping is not as common in England as they are in North America. It is still appreciated if you have a great meal with excellent service, but do not feel pressure to do so.

VAT is the sales tax here. Most things are VAT included so the price you see on the label is the final price. The only time it isn’t, which is rare, it will say “VAT not included” and total the price below that.

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Thank you for reading our England Travel Guide.

If you have any questions that you’d like to ask us or anything you’d like to tell us about your travels to England, please feel free to leave us a comment below or email us at info@thebourquesabroad.com.

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(Ps. If you’re interested in heading to Scotland or New Zealand, give our friend Yvette at Wayfaring Kiwi a follow. She knows everything there is to know about Scotland especially and can help you plan a trip with ease!)