Highclere Castle
Take a luxury barge cruise on the Thames and visit the beautiful Highclere Castle – the real ‘Downton Abbey’.

York Minster
The largest medieval cathedral in all of Northern Europe and one of the world’s most beautiful Gothic buildings.

London
Where do we begin! The Tate Modern is just one of London’s most amazing attractions, this outstanding modern and contemporary-art gallery. The unmissable Tower of London (actually a castle of 22 towers) offers a window into a gruesome and compelling history.

Welsh Castles
Wales offers four UNESCO World Heritage castles – Harlech is more dramatically positioned, Caernarfon is more complete and Beaumaris more technically perfect, yet Conwy is the prettiest!

The United Kingdom can be visited all year round but the most popular months are April – October.

Fortunate to hold a UK passport thanks to globe-trotting parents, I have visited the UK often and even lived there for a number of years. Most Kiwis will start in London, and what a city it is. Humming with activity and any number of iconic sights we Kiwis have grown up with – Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Changing of the Guard, Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, the list is endless. The country is so much more than London though, you only need to travel 20kms in any direction and suddenly you have to acclimatise to a whole new accent and that sort of goes for everything really…

I love so many different areas, it is almost impossible to choose a shortlist. I adore the west of Scotland with its wild coast, glorious lochs and mountains and virtually impossible to understand locals, the Cotswolds with its manicured sweeping farmland, stone buildings, narrow lanes and tiny pubs, the history and charm of Oxford and Stratford, the faded elegance of the beachside resorts of Exmouth and Bournemouth, the crashing coastline of Cornwall, the wild, tumbledown castles that litter the north east coastline between Newcastle and the Scottish border… I could go on forever.

For all that, the culture shock is negligible and Kiwis are welcomed with a great deal of warmth by just about everyone, so make your way to the UK!

Kate Couling

Currency Pound sterling

Language English

Why we love it The United Kingdom has so much variety! Landscapes that range from the sand dunes of South Wales to the snowfields of the Cairngorms, from the lush, quilted farmland of Kent to the naked limestone scarps of the Yorkshire Dales. We also love journeying through history, with over 2,000 years of history to be immersed in.

Weather The United Kingdom can be visited all year round but most the most popular months are April – October. The weather in the UK is very changeable over both short distances and periods of time and conditions are often windy and wet. British rain is world renowned, but it rarely rains more than two or three hours at a time and often parts of the country stay dry for many weeks at a time, especially in the East. More common are overcast or partly cloudy skies. In summer temperatures can reach 30ºC in parts and in winter temperatures may be mild, eg: 10ºC in southern Britain and -2ºC in Scotland.

Temperatures can vary quite considerably between north and south. Differences in rainfall are also pronounced between the drier east and wetter west. Scotland and north-western England (particularly the Lake District) are often rainy and cold. Alpine conditions with heavy snowfall are common in the mountains of northern Scotland during the winter. The north-east and Midlands are also cool, though with less rainfall. The south-east and east Anglia are generally warm and dry, and the south-west warm but often wet. Wales and Northern Ireland tend to experience cool to mild temperatures and moderate rainfall, while the hills of Wales occasionally experience heavy snowfall.

Social customs & quirks  Sports are a major part of British culture, with football and cricket the national games. The four nations which make up Britain each have their own distinctive cultures, folk tales, legends and a strong sense of nationalism and identity towards their own definitive heritage.

Festivals & events The trendy south coast resort town of Brighton holds its annual arts festival every May, with parades, fireworks, street performances, theater, music, literature, and the visual arts on display. The innovative Artists’ Open House sees craftsmen open their homes to visitors for the viewing and purchase of their work.

For a lively event in the UK, head to Belfast for St Patrick’s Day on March 14 with plenty of green clothes, giant parades and hitting the pubs in search of Ireland’s traditional black stout, Guinness. Northern Irish bands perform while community groups gather for traditional dress, floats and fireworks.

Health* There are no compulsory health requirements for a visit to the United Kingdom.

Notes *Please be aware that Health information is subject to change at any time and you should always double check these requirements at the time of booking and before travel.