Getting around the United Kingdom without a car is easy: a dense rail network links the cities, coaches reach almost every town and the big cities have good urban transport. British trains are also notorious for high prices if you do not book ahead, but with a few tricks you can save a lot.
Trains
The rail network, the oldest in the world, has about 2,500 stations. From London, trains for every direction leave from different stations: King's Cross for York, Newcastle and Edinburgh, Euston for Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, Paddington for Oxford, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Cornwall, St Pancras for Eurostar, Sheffield and Kent, Waterloo for Southampton and Salisbury, Victoria and London Bridge for Brighton and Gatwick, Liverpool Street for Cambridge, Norwich and Stansted.
After privatisation in the 1990s, trains were run by various private companies. Since 2025 services have been gradually returning to public ownership, one after another as contracts expire, ahead of the creation of Great British Railways, the new national company that will run track and trains. For travellers little changes: tickets are valid across the network and can be bought on a single website or app.
Tickets and saving money
- Advance: reduced-price tickets for a specific train, on sale up to twelve weeks ahead. The earlier you buy, the less you pay.
- Off-peak: flexible tickets valid outside rush hours, much cheaper than Anytime tickets.
- Railcards: annual cards giving a third off, for young people aged 16 to 30, couples, families and seniors; they often pay for themselves in a couple of journeys.
- BritRail Pass: a pass for overseas visitors, to be bought before you leave, good value for those making many journeys in a few days.
- Split ticketing: sometimes dividing a journey into several tickets is cheaper, and some apps work this out automatically.
Coaches
National Express, Megabus and FlixBus coaches link cities at low prices, often much lower than the train, but with longer journey times. In Scotland the Scottish Citylink network also reaches the Highlands. In much of England single fares on local buses are capped at £3, and in Scotland buses are free for residents under 22 and over 60.
In the cities
In London the Underground, buses, the Elizabeth line and suburban trains are paid with a contactless card or an Oyster card, with daily and weekly caps that stop you overspending (see transport in London). Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Sheffield also have modern trams, Glasgow has a small circular subway and Newcastle a light metro network. Many cities have shared bikes and e-scooters.
By car
Hiring a car is the best way to explore the countryside, the Highlands, Wales and Cornwall. You drive on the left, limits are in miles per hour (70 on motorways, 60 on rural roads, 30 or 20 in towns) and roundabouts are taken clockwise, giving way to traffic from the right. Motorways are free, except the M6 Toll and some bridges and tunnels such as the Dartford crossing. In London you pay the congestion charge in the centre and the low-emission zone charge; many other cities have clean air zones. Country lanes are often narrow, with passing places, and in Scotland there are many single-track roads.
Ferries and domestic flights
Ferries link Great Britain to Ireland, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly and the Scottish islands, served mainly by CalMac on the west coast and by NorthLink for Orkney and Shetland. Domestic flights are useful for the most remote islands and long distances, such as London-Inverness or London-Belfast.
See also airports, itineraries and British cities.