What is solo travel? United Kingdom (20)

(15) United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a place rich in history, culture, and art, and the capital London is a popular starting point for backpacking in Europe and is a representative tourist country with affordable accommodation and transportation networks, as well as various tourist attractions such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the British Museum.

The United Kingdom is divided into two kingdoms, a British crown territory, and a British overseas territory, which is a United Kingdom of four regions: two kingdoms of Britain, a principality, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the island of Ireland across the sea.

There are also the Canal Islands, which are directly governed by the British King as the Duke of Normandy, and the Isle of Man, which is directly ruled by the British King due to complex circumstances, and the Gibraltar, Falklands, Bermuda, Pitcairn Islands, and other regions that exercise autonomy under British administration.

As for the language, British English is considered the standard as the homeland of English, but most of England speaks a dialect with a unique accent, and Scotland and Wales speak Celtic dialects with remnants of Scottish Gaelic and Welsh, so even the same English people may not understand it well.

Currently, there are four main ways to enter the UK, the first is to fly to airports in the UK, such as Heathrow International Airport. This is the fastest way to get into the UK, but it’s also the most expensive.

The second is to use the train, which uses the Eurostar to enter Paris Gare du Nord or St. Pancras station from Brussels, Belgium, and in terms of time, it is not much more advantageous than a low-cost flight between Europe and the UK, and the price is not cheap.

Still, it means that you pass through the world’s longest undersea tunnel, and it is also the safest way to enter the UK from the continent without being affected by weather conditions, so it can be said that it is the most popular course that is chosen the most.

The third option is to enter by boat, which is a ferry from France to England and from Calais to Dover, and although the ferry does not have much advantage in terms of time or price compared to the Eurostar, if you want the romance of traveling on board, you can choose an overnight stay on the boat.

The fourth way, which is theoretically the easiest way to enter the UK without going through the immigration process, is to cross the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The agreement between the UK and Ireland has completely opened borders, allowing entry into the UK without immigration.

However, entering Ireland may be more difficult than entering the UK due to geography and transportation, and you must first enter Ireland from a medium or larger airport in Europe by Dublin or Limerick.

And travel to the British mainland is mainly in the English region, especially in the southeast of England centered on London, and in the northwest centered on the twin cities of Liverpool and Manchester, and it is said that Scotland has recently become known among travelers.

In addition, Northern Ireland still has an image of being a disputed area, but security has stabilized a lot in recent years, and it is worth visiting if you only avoid the occasional riots in Belfast or Londonderry. The cost of living is also affordable, making it an attractive tourist destination for travelers with thin wallets.

The British Museum in London is famous, but many other art galleries in London and national museums in other parts of the world, such as Scotland, are also free.

Also, in cities other than London, you don’t have to use the subway very much, and most of the time you take the bus, but it should be noted that city buses in the UK are generally street-based, so you must tell the driver your destination and pay the fare.

And it’s a British dish with a lot of talk and a lot of hair, but it’s not serious enough for a short-term trip unless it’s a long-term nutritional problem.

 If you want to eat at a proper restaurant, not just buy a sandwich at a supermarket or eat a meal at a fast-food restaurant, you should expect more than 15~20 pounds per person, but the UK is the least cost-effective for eating out in Europe, so you shouldn’t expect much taste.

In addition, although the United Kingdom is a developed country, it can be said that security is not very good compared to the European average, and in the greater London area, the quality of life is significantly different between well-to-do neighborhoods such as Chelsea and slums, and if you enter the slum by mistake, you may be stabbed in broad daylight.

In particular, Asians have the problem of being racially discriminated against, and since there is a lot of racism among the poor like in the United States, and there are more crime zones than you think, racism among the poor in the UK is the highest in the world, and if you are going to travel to the UK, I would like to ask you not to go to the slums.

In this regard, more women than men go backpacking in Europe, and women are often disgusted by the poor security services and harassment and threats against Asian women, and in fact, there are quite a few cases where they are even pickpocketed by catcalling.

However, like the United States, the crime rate in the United Kingdom is low because the countryside is quiet and sparsely populated, as in the United States, cities in rural areas are generally friendly and have good security.

If you are preparing for an accident, keep in mind that 999 is the emergency call number in the UK, and the same number is the same for the fire department, emergency medical ambulance company, and the police. Once connected to 999, you can press a button to connect the police station and the fire station.

And since it is easy to use a credit card instead of cash for shopping and dining anywhere, whether in mainland England or in an overseas territory such as Gibraltar, you can pay for public transport and taxi fares with a card with a contactless payment function.

And there is no problem in bringing and using international credit or debit cards of Visa and Mastercard-centered international card brands, which can be convenient in many aspects such as exchange rates, fees, convenience, and security compared to bank exchange.

However, in remote areas and rural areas such as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, you may not be able to accept cards, so you need pound cash.