England: An Educational Travel Guide

Read on to find out some of the many reasons why England is one of our top travel destinations and take advantage of our tips, testimonials, reading list and more to help prepare you for your England travel adventure!

England Travel Tips

1. Travel by Train

The national rail service is brilliant, so make use of it! Travel by train in England can get you just about anywhere in the country and allows you to avoid having to drive manual on the opposite side of the road! Book trains in advance for the best deals, and be aware of etiquette on public transport, especially in London. Avoid eye contact, remove your backpack and have your tickets ready so you don’t hold up the people behind you. When you ride on the train, make sure to pick up delicious food from Marks and Spencer to enjoy on your travels — a Wensleydale and carrot chutney sandwich with a packet of prawn cocktail crisps is excellent train food.

2. Buy an Oyster card in advance

An Oyster card is a smartcard that can be used on various forms of public transportation in London, including buses, the Tube, trams and more. Order a pre-paid card before your London tour to avoid queues and confusion, and you’ll have the option to add money as you go. Rides are cheaper using the smartcard than single tickets or Day Travelcards, and you can even show them at restaurants, shops, galleries and more around the city for more discounts!

3. Get out of London!

London is a world-class city, and you truly can spend a week or more just scratching the surface of the sites and culture there. But England has so much more to offer! Be sure to make time during your tour of England to visit the university cities of Oxford or Cambridge or other larger cities like Manchester or Liverpool. Or head to the Lake District or the Peak District, explore the history of Bath or enjoy seaside towns like Whitstable or Margate.

4. Money Matters

A trip to England doesn’t have to be a pricey one. Many museums and art galleries are free to visit, so take advantage. Supermarkets usually have fee-free ATMs, while banks are more likely to charge. Another expert tip? Everything below a fiver is in coins, so don’t travel without big, strong pockets. And familiarize yourself with what the coins and bills look like in advance to save time and avoid confusion when you’re making purchases.

5. Make Restaurant Reservations

England hasn’t always been world-renowned for its cuisine, but that’s quickly changing! The food is no longer something to laugh at, so do some research ahead of time and choose a few great restaurants for your trip. If you’re not planning on setting up your American phone with international roaming, try getting a pay-as-you-go phone for a prepaid SIM to make all your restaurant reservations when you arrive.

6. Brush Up on the Language

Yes, they do speak English in England. No surprise there. But you may experience a little culture shock when you arrive and find the quirky accents, regional dialects and colloquialisms difficult to understand. (There are 18 different words for “bread roll” for example). The BBC’s “The English We Speak” or our very own “How's Your English?” video are good places to start for regular lessons.

7. Be Prepared for Weather

England has a reputation for being a little … drippy, to say the least. There’s always a chance that you could travel around the country for a week or two and have mostly sunny days! But you’re more than likely to see some rain at some point. Be prepared, but don’t wear rain boots. Nobody but farmers (and tourists) wear wellies, and they are too heavy to walk around in, not to mention pack! Dress in layers, and have a hood or packable umbrella at the ready wherever you go.

England Fast Facts

The United Kingdom, also called the U.K., consists of a group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe. These include England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The population of England is 65 million
England’s currency is the Pound Sterling
England is 93,635 square miles in total
England is famous for cricket, soccer, rugby, boxing, and golf - all of which were invented in England
England is known for its many great writers, including William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Robert Burns, and J.K. Rowling
English people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world

A Guide to English Culture

The popular television show Downton Abbey brought to light castles, aristocracy, the contrast between the rich and poor, and those unforgettable ballrooms! We continue to be fascinated by the rich culture and all things British.

Royalty: The most culturally British part of England is the Royal Family, which is now as much of a tourist attraction as a political institution. To get a glimpse of that modern-day fairytale, visit Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, Kensington Palace, Sandringham Palace, and the Tower of London.

Tea: The British people are known for their copious consumption of tea, drinking several cups of English Breakfast Tea each day. You may even spot a raised pinky while those Brits are drinking their “spot of tea,” keeping in line with those world-renowned English manners.

Food: There is no doubt that England has some of the best Fish & Chips in the world, traditionally wrapped in newspapers. English culture is also known for delicious scones and clotted cream, Cornish pasty, trifle dessert, beers, and crumpets.

Tradition: A very British ritual is the Sunday roast, which consists of roast vegetables and roast meat with gravy, and Yorkshire pudding. A full English breakfast includes bacon, sausages, eggs, toast, mushrooms, tomatoes, and tea or coffee.

Pub: Going to the pub (short for public house) is a very British pastime to socialize, have a beer (or two), and enjoy a pub meal. If you go to a pub with your friends, it is common practice to buy a round of drinks for those who you came with.

Gardens: Two things heavily ingrained into the English culture and landscape are castles and English gardens. There are an estimated 800 medieval castles and 1,500 country houses that speckle the countryside, some dating back a thousand years. English gardens rose to popularity in the 18th century with stylized groves, artificial lakes and ponds, dense paths of colorful flowers, and sweeping lawns.

Today, tourists come from around the world to view English gardens with their hedges and architectural centerpieces like bridges, rotundas, follies and temples.

Other customs of note in England are:

The British are quite punctual and if you are late, you may be considered rude.
In the UK, it’s customary to keep people at arm’s length otherwise you will make the person you are speaking with feel uncomfortable.
British people avoid extended eye contact.
If you are invited to the home of a native British person, it is customary to bring a small gift of chocolate, wine, or flowers.
The person who has invited you to dinner is typically the one who pays.

Best Times to Visit England

The climate in England can be varied and unpredictable, so always bring your umbrella when visiting England. Winter can be very cold, with windy and wet weather. The coldest month of the year in the UK is January, and December sees the least sunshine.

July and August are peak months to visit England, Scotland, and Wales, with very long days and nice, warm weather. During summer, the temperatures can reach up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. July is typically the warmest month of the year and June is the sunniest.

Traveling during Britain’s "shoulder season" (May, September, and early October) is easier and less expensive than in peak season. Plus, shoulder season travelers enjoy smaller crowds and better room availability.

“I loved the blend of the better-known sites visited as well as the off-the-beaten-path experiences... I came back with a much better understanding of the history [and the] current events of the UK.”

Diane from Ann Arbor, Michigan

— Class of 2012 | Program 12187 —

Recommended Reading

Books about England and by English authors are endless. There are far too many to choose from! If you’re traveling on a Road Scholar learning adventure in England, check out the reading list specific to your program for the best reading recommendations, but we’ve also put together a list of some more modern favorites from our England experts and locals we know!

White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith’s first novel is a comic take on life in North London. Follow WWII friends Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, an unlikely pair, as they navigate marriage, parenthood, religion and more among the racially charged backdrop of late-20^th-century London.

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Go back to university with Professor Dixon, a history lecturer in the English Midlands, as he pursues tenure, attempts to publish his first scholarly article and struggles with his love life.

Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Dive into the immigrant neighborhoods of East London where Nazneen has been transplanted from a Bangladeshi village after an arranged marriage to a much older man. Nearly imprisoned in a city housing project, Nazneen finds escape in an affair as her daughters struggle to find their place in a multicultural world.

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
Alan Hollinghurst’s social satire revolves around 20-year-old Nick Guest, who has moved into the attic of a wealthy, conservative Notting Hill MP and his family. Follow Nick as he learns about politics, money, love (or lust, we’ll let you decide), beauty and power — bookended by two general elections.

The English: A Portrait of a People by Jeremy Paxman
In this nonfiction exploration, journalist Jeremy Paxman attempts to answer the question: Who are the English? Through fascinating anecdotes, Paxman paints a portrait of English culture and attitudes with humor and wit.

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
This piece of historical fiction takes readers back to 1940s London, following the lives of three women and a young man and their secrets, loyalties and demons. The thrilling novel takes unexpected twists with WWII as its backdrop.

The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson
This is a list of modern English literature, but we thought adding an exploration of England from the point of view of an American and a professional traveler may help give some special context to your adventure. Join Bill Bryson on his quirky and hilarious travels off the beaten track in England.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Take the shotgun seat on a motoring trip through the countryside of 1950s England with Stevens, a career butler as he reflects on his decades of service, an unrealized love, two world wars and the time he has left.

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
This semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel follows the adolescence of Jeanette, an orphan who has been adopted by evangelists in central England, her religious journey and its juxtaposition to her sexuality.

Waterland by Graham Swift
Waterland tells the family history of four generations and the haunting past of Tom Crick, a 52-year-old history teacher being forced into retirement, through his fragmented narrative.

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Described as “enchanting, provocative and original,” this comic novel full of colloquialism begins in an English suburb in the wake of Thatcherism. Nearly autobiographical, it follows the teenage life of Karim, born to English and Indian parents, as he navigates life in suburbia, New York and London in the 1970s.

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell
This mystery begins in 1944 with a group of children who play in a network of underground tunnels they’ve discovered in Loughton, Essex, England. Seventy years later, construction workers discover that same network of tunnels, along with some skeletal remains. The children are reunited to help uncover the truth behind the buried bones.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
This captivating novel alternates between the points of view of Little Bee, an illegal refugee and victim of the Nigerian oil conflict, and Sarah O’Rourke, a recent widow, as Sarah harbors Little Bee in her home.

More authors to check out:

Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, Peter Robinson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, William Shakespeare, Henry Fielding, George Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, Anthony Powell, Muriel Spark, Iris Murdoch, Hilary Mantell, John Galsworthy, E.M. Forster, Henry Fielding, Ben Aaronovitch, Joseph Conrad, Ian McEwan, George Orwell, Charlotte Bronte, Agatha Christie, J.K. Rowling, Emily Bronte, Pat Barker, Colin Dexter, Alan Hollinghurst, Kingsley Amis, Dorothy L. Sayers, Colin Dexter, Julian Barnes and Graham Greene