The sun may have set, but England's dusk is full of stars.

  Left, right, left - the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace

within England

→ Bath → Brighton → Cambridge → East Midlands → Liverpool → Manchester → Oxford → York

→ Birmingham → Bristol → Channel Islands → Leeds → London → Newcastle → Tees Valley

Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside.

From Stonehenge and Tower Bridge to Eton and Oxford, England is loaded with cherished icons of a past era. But it also does modernity with a confidence and panache left over from its days in the never-setting sun. Fashion, fine dining, clubbing, shopping - England's rates with the world's best.

 

When To Go

Anyone who spends any extended period of time in England will sympathise with the locals' obsession with the weather, although in relative terms the climate is mild and the rainfall is not spectacular. The least hospitable months for visitors are November to February - it's cold and the days are short. March and October are marginal - there's more daylight but it can still be pretty chilly. April to September are undoubtedly the best months, and this is, unsurprisingly, when most sights are open, and when most people visit. However, July and August are the busiest months, and best avoided if at all possible. The crowds on the coast, at the national parks, in London and popular towns like Oxford, Bath and York have to be seen to be believed.

There are new rules governing the carriage of gels and liquids in cabin luggage, as part of counter-terrorism measures. Liquids such as toiletries must be carried individually in containers no greater than 100ml, which in turn must be placed in a transparent, resealable zip-lock bag (no bigger than 20cm x 20cm). This will need to be easily removed from your cabin baggage (max 56cm x 45cm x 25 cm) and x-rayed separately. These requirements, in place for the forseeable future, will mean some delay and disruption at airports and travellers should plan accordingly. For more information about the restrictions visit the UK Department for Transport website www.dft.gov.uk/airportsecurity.

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Source: Lonely Planet