England, United Kingdom — Towns & Travel Guide

What is England known for?

England is the largest of the United Kingdom's four countries. Most travellers see it first. London is both its capital and its largest city, and the usual point of arrival for the whole union.

Its countryside is the other draw, with rolling hills and green fields inland and a rugged coastline along the edges. Scotland lies over the northern border and Wales to the west, while the North Sea and the English Channel frame the eastern and southern coasts.

Where is England?

England covers about two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, filling the south and centre of it. More than a hundred smaller islands lie off its shores. It is the largest and southernmost of the countries that share the island of Great Britain.

Scotland lies to the north and Wales to the west, the two other mainland countries of the island. London stands in the south-east, the capital and largest city. Every other edge of England is sea.

The North Sea lies to the east, the English Channel to the south between England and continental Europe, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. England reaches closest to continental Europe at its south-eastern corner, and only the narrow English Channel divides the two there. The coastline turns rocky and cliff-bound in places and low and flat in others, but it is never far off.

No part of the country sits far from a coast. Ireland lies further west again, across that water. That sea-bound geography has shaped England as much as any land border ever has.

What is England like?

England likes to picture itself as a green and pleasant land, and the countryside sits at the centre of how the country sees itself. That image is more than a slogan; it shapes what visitors come to see. Stately manor houses and landscape gardens dot that countryside.

The same land inspired generations of English writers and poets. Heritage shows up everywhere here. It is written into the architecture, the museums, the galleries and the monuments that fill the towns and the capital at London.

Music and art run strong alongside the built heritage. The common language is English, shared across England and the wider United Kingdom, and it carries a literature read far beyond the island of Great Britain. London draws much of it together.

The capital holds many of the great museums and galleries, but the country's culture is not only urban. Landscape gardens and old parkland belong to the picture as much as any gallery does. It lives in villages and country houses as much as in cities, spread across the whole of England.

Difference between town and country is part of the character.

What is the history of England?

The Kingdom of England dates to the year 927, when the separate early kingdoms of the land were first drawn together under one ruler. For centuries it stood as a state in its own right. Its later history is bound up with the island of Great Britain, as England, Scotland and Wales came to share one crown, and later one parliament, in the United Kingdom.

What began as a single early kingdom became one country within a larger union.

What is the climate of England?

England has a mild, temperate climate, wetter in the west and drier toward the east. The surrounding seas keep it changeable, and no single day's weather holds for long. Winters are cool and summers moderate, with rain spread through the year rather than falling in one season.

The North Sea coast in the east tends to run cooler and drier than the wetter western side facing the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea. Grey skies are part of the bargain.

How do you get to England?

Most visitors to England arrive by air, with London the country's main point of arrival. England sits on the island of Great Britain, so reaching it from abroad means either crossing water or coming overland from Scotland to the north or Wales to the west. Ferries and trains cross south to continental Europe.

The English Channel is the shortest sea between England and the mainland. Inside the country, road and rail link London with the coasts and the countryside.