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London Heathrow is the world's busiest international airport. Gatwick, London City, Stansted and Luton airports also serve the capital. Belfast City and Belfast International airports serve Northern Ireland; Cardiff International serves Wales and Scotland's main airports are at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
Liverpool, Manchester, Teesside, Leeds/Bradford, and Newcastle airports cater for the north of England. Birmingham International and East Midlands airports are in central England. In southern England, Southampton is the largest airport, while Exeter, Bournemouth and Bristol airports also offer some international services.
There are good transport services by bus, coach, rail or taxi from all UK airports.
BoatYou can come to the UK by ferry from Ireland, Spain, Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland; and by ocean liner from New York. Further services connect to other British islands - from the Scottish Isles to the Isles of Scilly.
Main southern arrival ports are Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth and Southampton. Central England is served by Harwich; northern England by Hull, Isle of Man, Liverpool and Newcastle; Wales by Holyhead, Fishguard, Pembroke and Swansea; and Scotland by Cairnryan, Campbeltown, Orkney, Shetland and Stranraer. Belfast is Northern Ireland's main port of arrival from Great Britain and the European mainland.
RailEurostar runs the UK's international high-speed passenger train service. Passing via the Channel Tunnel, there are daily Paris-to-London and Brussels-to-London services and also departures from Calais Frethun (France), Lille (France) and Avignon (France).
As an alternative to taking your car, coach, motorcycle or bicycle by ferry, Eurotunnel operates vehicle-carrying shuttles between Calais in France and Folkestone in England.
Bus & coachCoach travel is probably the cheapest way to get around the UK, particularly between the major towns and cities. National Express, Scottish Citylink and Ulsterbus offer daily services to more than 1,300 destinations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. National Express offers discount coachcards to students and young people aged 16 to 25; there is also a Tourist Trail Pass offering unlimited travel for a fixed period. The Scottish Explorer Pass covers coach services to around 190 destinations in Scotland. Coaches have toilet and washroom facilities and long routes usually provide videos and steward services offering snacks.
Tourist operators provide a great many special coach tours taking in local and regional sites. Coaches and minibuses are also widely available for corporate travel and group hire.
There are regular local and regional bus services operated by town and city councils throughout the UK. However, services to and from remote rural areas tend to be infrequent.
Car & motorbikeAll vehicles in the UK must drive on the left-hand side of the road. Motorcyclists and passengers must by law wear a helmet, and car drivers and all passengers must wear a seat belt.
There are car rental groups if you are interested in car hire. Self-drive cars are hired to drivers aged 21 and over. Chauffeur-driven cars and minibuses are also available; you can even hire a classic car.
A few motorways operate tolls. Tolls are not usually charged on roads, but often there are some on tunnels and bridges. Congestion Charging, designed to reduce traffic, operates in Central London.