England vacations 2025 & 2026

For a small country, England packs a lot in and you can expect to experience everything from prehistoric stone circles to cutting-edge art and design. You can visit royal palaces and country mansions, villages where medieval cottages flank babbling brooks, and cosmopolitan cities with world-class museums and edgy nightlife.

For example, you could explore London on a Mini Cooper tour, visit Roman forts and ancient abbeys, take tea at Beatrix Potter’s cottage, or watch a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe. The studious quads and hushed lanes of Oxford and Cambridge cradle centuries of history, the majestic hills of the Lake District offer glorious walking, and local life brims with energy at London’s premier food market. Whatever your interests, you’ll find England has much to offer from the literary and historical to nature, art, and adventure.

England has a great range of places to stay, and you can choose anything from romantic castle escapes to stylish urban hideaways. In London, stay in a Regency-era townhouse with chic modern interiors or an art-filled hotel near the West End. In Liverpool, you can bed down in the Beatles-themed Hard Day’s Night Hotel, while in Bath, No. 15 sits on one of the genteel city’s most fashionable Georgian streets.

In more rural areas, expect large country manors, comfortable cottages, and tranquil retreats. In the scenic Cotswolds you can stay in a 17th-century manor set in landscaped gardens, and in the Lake District, a country pub with its own smokehouse and microbrewery. Just take a look at our collection of places to stay in England to get some ideas.

England offers great diversity and whether you choose to visit London, Liverpool, Oxford, or Cambridge, you’ll be able to pair urban delights with more rural charms. Visit world-class museums, trendy art galleries, and bustling markets in London, follow in the footsteps of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon, or delve into Roman, medieval, Georgian, and Victorian history in York. Rolling hills, striking churches, and exceptionally pretty villages await in The Cotswolds, while the inky lakes and misty mountains of the Lake District were beloved by the Romantic poets.

A direct flight from Toronto in Canada to London takes around seven hours. If you’re coming from further west, expect a flight from Calgary to take around eight and a half hours, or a flight from Vancouver, around nine and a half hours.

The time zone in England is UTC+1 hour. Daylight Savings Time is observed from late-March to late-October.

The best ways to get around England are by car and train. We can arrange a private driver to take you between destinations which gives you the freedom to travel when and where you wish. The rail network covers most of the country and is straightforward to use and can be a good alternative especially when going between larger cities.

The British train system runs to all corners of England. You can book tickets online in advance, but it’s a good idea to travel outside peak hours to make the most of reduced fares.

It may be worth considering buying a rail card, which gives you a further discount on prices, if you plan to travel everywhere by train. You can also buy tickets at the train station for last-minute travel. Otherwise, you’ll collect your tickets from one of the machines in the station, but in large cities be sure to check which station your train departs from as there can be more than one. Once you find your platform, check displays again as there can be trains going to several different destinations just minutes apart.

Most trains have a basic food service but taking your own food and drinks is often preferable.

Use our travel tool to find up-to-date visa and passport requirements for England. Enter where you’re traveling to and from (including any stopover destinations en route or flight layovers), along with your intended travel dates and passport details, for a full list of requirements.

• Entry requirements travel tool

You can check recommended vaccinations for England by speaking to your doctor. You’ll also find advice on the Government of Canada - travel vaccinations website. You should also check that you are up to date on all vaccinations recommended at home.