Blighty

With travel restrictions on British travelers to America being lifted next month, we should see a great opportunity to take a trip across the pond ourselves.

Although American citizens have been able to visit the United Kingdom for a while now, with full two-way travel reopening in just a few weeks there should be a sharp uptick in the number of available flights as the airlines seek to return to more normal patterns.

And this could provoke some cheaper flights as more seats become available for passengers, subject to a levelling in fuel prices.

This is a great time for Americans to take that big trip from the bucket list to Blighty as the exchange rate is still heavily in the visitors’ favor, giving you the best value for your buck in decades as a tourist.

We share much common history with the British, tea perhaps withstanding. Yet our cultures are very different and well worth visiting – Mark Twain was right when he notably observed we are two cultures divided by a common language.

But when visiting the UK – and there are four separate countries in the union to explore in the form of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – it is a good idea to remember the axiom that while Americans think of a hundred years as a long time, the British consider a hundred miles a long way.

You will be blown away by the history in every town and village – it is not uncommon for black-and-white Tudor buildings to still be in everyday use or to come across tiny rural churches that have been standing for the best part of a millennium.

But it may be best to consider ‘less is more’ in planning your itinerary for your British holiday, as they call vacations. The country is smaller than Ohio but home to five times the population, and with most towns and cities predating the car by hundreds of years, travel can be a little more time consuming than we are used to. 

And with so much to see in a small area, from museums, theaters, galleries and markets and arcades to breathtaking landscapes which change topographical features in just a short distance, one is well advised to plan to do more in a smaller area rather than try and visit London, Scotland, and Stonehenge in a week – you will spend a lot of time traveling.

When it comes to travel, unless you are set on exploring the rural areas and national parks such as the Lake District, Snowdonia or the Yorkshire Dales, it could serve you well to abandon the idea of hiring a car and take the train.

Driving in the UK is – famously – on the other side of the road, with mainly stick-shift transmissions, lots of roundabouts and faster drivers with much narrower roads, lots of double parking, eye wateringly high petrol prices and mainly paid parking,

Yet the country has an extensive train system, with good mainlines and large branch networks – the London to Manchester trip is just over two hours on a high speed train for example, with both cities having comprehensive bus and train networks as well as the London Underground and Manchester’s tram system.

Which is where planning your vacation through Unlimited Trips comes into its own – we pride ourselves on our local knowledge and can help put together a detailed itinerary with all the information you need in advance to make sure you can spend your hard-earned vacation time experiencing the delights of another country and culture. Call us today at 330 940 4321 and take your first steps to the trip of a lifetime.