Travelling to England

Travelling to England can be as easy as stepping off a plane. Or it could mean arriving in England by ferry or boat as invaders, visitors and traders have done since ancient times.

And lately, getting to England has become even easier.

With the opening of the channel tunnel rail link, visitors can now travel to England from Paris or Brussels straight through to London St Pancras without ever having to leave their seat.

Drivers also have an additional option, as they can now drive their car onto a train and cross under the English Channel, travelling to England in comfort.

This page is meant as a quick reference resource for visitors. It gives numbers and - if known - email and web addresses for ports, airports and rail operators, plus a few other useful links I've turned up.

If there's any information you would like to see on this page, please let me know here. And if you want to keep up with any news and developments on the travel front, then simply subscribe to my monthly newsletter Essentially England News or keep an eye on the England Blog, which is now available vis RSS feed.

Arriving in England by Sea

Some of the earliest visitors - Saxons, Norsemen and Vikings - would have been travelling to England in boats like the ones depicted here, spreading panic and mayhem wherever they went.

Fortunately for us, most visitors these days catch their first glimpse of England from the deck of a cross-channel ferry or cruise ship. Not quite so "romantic", perhaps, but much more comfortable!

England has ports dotted all around its coast and most ferries accommodate cars. The table below gives contact and routing details for the largest ferry operators around the UK.

Arriving in England by Rail

Eurostar, the high-speed Channel Tunnel passenger service, links London and Ashford in Kent with Calais, Lille, Brussels, Avignon, Paris, Disneyland Paris and the French Alps.

From there you can reach the rest of Europe with Eurostar Connections.

Eurostar services are very popular and book out rapidly. And no wonder, as on the train you will be travelling to England in style from any number of European destinations, savouring breakfast, lunch or dinner along the way.

If you want to travel to England with your car, but don't fancy a ferry crossing, Eurotunnel will be a good option for you. An engineering project of almost unparalleled magnitude, the tunnel allows you to cross from Calais to Dover in just over 30 minutes.

You can call for information and tickets on the following numbers:

Arriving in England by Air

Travelling to England by plane is, perhaps, the most common way for visitors to arrive these days and England is well served with airports. And the airports in southern England are amongst the busiest in the world. But not all airports in England are in the south.

Regional airports serve charter flights and some scheduled connections. They also link to the international airports in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.

Airfares can make a hefty dent in your holiday finances, regardless if you're travelling to England from across the channel or from halfway around the world. To make sure that you're getting the best possible deals, I've put together some information about finding cheap flights to England.

Travelling to England is only half the adventure. Once you're here, you'll find yourself exploring ancient monuments and modern cities, stunning landscapes and deserted beaches. England simply offers something for everyone.