Great Britain is a country of amazing beauty with a wonderful historical heritage, culture and centuries-old traditions, the birthplace of many outstanding historical characters. Family estates and castles, tranquility of rural landscapes, unique atmosphere of London, shopping in expensive prestigious boutiques or digging in junk at the "flea markets", famous historical sights - from Stonehenge and Oxford to the world-famous Loch Nesss Lake. Great Britain is diverse and everyone will find something for themselves here.

Sightseeing tours to the UK provide an excellent opportunity to visit famous English castles and palaces, famous cities that once played an important role in the history of the country and the whole world. Sightseeing tours to London with direct flights from Minsk are especially popular among Belarusian tourists.

London is one of the most impressive cities in the world with a rich historical heritage and active cultural life, one of the world's capitals of fashion, music and art. More than 300 museums and galleries and about 6,000 different restaurants will allow you to enjoy the special refined atmosphere of the city. The famous red double-decker buses, Big Ben, Tower Bridge are symbols of London familiar to everyone. Rest in London is a pleasure of a true aristocratic atmosphere.

Tours to England today are quite affordable for the budget of medium-income Belarusians. A trip to the UK is a great opportunity to see the cradle of the famous Beatles - Liverpool, visit picturesque Scotland and the most mysterious of all the lakes on the planet - Lake Loch Ness, see the legendary Cambridge, Windsor and Stonehenge or take part in the Five - o'clock tea ceremony.

Your impressions of your stay in the UK will be incomplete if you deny yourself the pleasure of visiting the capital of Scotland - Edinburgh. It will take only 4.5 hours to get high-speed train from London to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, like London, is a city with an amazing history and many attractions. Famous politicians and writers such as Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson lived here. You can visit Edinburgh Castle and Elizabeth II's residence Holyroodhaus Palace. The National Art Gallery of Scotland, the Scottish Museum of Modern Art and the Writers' Museum will open their halls for you. Let's not forget the tasting of whiskey at existing distillery. In this case, tours in the UK are longer and, accordingly, more expensive.

If the material capabilities are not so great, you can choose one of thematic tours to England - for example, a romantic day off in London, the program of which includes a cruise on the Thames with dinner, a visit to Soho and one of the London musicals.

UK hotels range from 1* to 4* luxury. Not all hotels have breakfast included in the price. In 1-3* hotels, the rooms are tiny, and the service is very modest.

Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Capital: London

Official language: English

Geography: The kingdom is located in northwestern Europe. It consists of England, Wales and Scotland, located on the island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland - in the northeast of the island of Ireland, as well as independent administrative units - the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west, the North Sea in the east and the Irish Sea in the west, in the south it is separated from the mainland by the English Channel and Pas-de-Calais. Great Britain has a land border with Ireland.

Climate: temperate, mild and humid. The weather is mainly formed by the warm oceanic current of the Gulf Stream. January is the coldest month (+3.. +7°C), July is the warmest (+11.. +25°C). The warmest areas of Great Britain are the area of London, southeast of the country and Westland.

Currency: British pound sterling, 1 pound sterling = 100 pence. Banknotes of 5, 10, 20, 50 pounds, coins of 1, 5, 10, 50 pence are in circulation. Import and export of national and foreign currency is not limited. You can change currency in banks that work from Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 15:30 (large banks are open until 17:30), as well as in currency exchange offices, which often work around the clock. It is worth assessing in advance the profitability of exchanging money in a bank or point, comparing the rate and commission fee.

Customs: it is allowed to import and export national and foreign currency up to 3000 USD without a declaration. Amounts exceeding this limit must be declared. Duty-free it is allowed to import up to 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco, alcoholic beverages with a strength of more than 22° - up to a liter, a strength of up to 22° - up to 2 liters, perfumes - up to 50 ml, eau de toilette - up to 250 ml, souvenirs and gifts Licensed medicines are allowed to be imported into the UK. It is prohibited to import into the country of obscene materials, meat (including poultry meat) and products made of them, all types of live birds and bird eggs, radio transmitters and plants. It is forbidden to transport antiques and antiques without the permission of the relevant organizations, as well as rare animal species. It is also forbidden to import unlicensed medicines (they may well be mistaken for drugs), knives, brass knuckles, telescopic batons and other bladed weapons. All pornographic materials with images of children, fake goods that violate the rights of registered trademark owners (for example, watches or CDs with "pirate" programs) are also prohibited. The import of firearms, explosives and ammunition, including stun guns and gas cartridges; fur, ivory, leather, stuffed animals or birds, plants, seedlings, seeds and bulbs, long-wave radio transmitters is restricted. To enter the country with a pet, you will have to go through a long quarantine.

Transport: the UK has an excellent railway connection. You can conveniently travel by train in almost any part of the country: the choice of routes, cars and travel tickets is huge. In addition, large cities are connected by a network of domestic airlines. The existing system of discounts for multiple trips in the UK allows you to save significantly compared to regular tickets. The conditions for purchasing discounted tickets are diverse: some of them are sold a week or two before the trip, according to the conditions of others, it is necessary to leave before 9:30 a.m., and others can only be used on a certain day of the week.

Shops, shopping: shops are mostly open from 9.00 to 17.30. All goods sold in stores are subject to 17.5% VAT. If purchases are made for more than 100 pounds, you can get a tax Free refund of 11% of the purchase price within three months when crossing the border. At the same time, appropriate receipts from stores are required. As souvenirs from the UK, porcelain and glass products, books, Sherlock Holmes-style tubes are brought. We also recommend buying real English tea with Kenyan bergamot and jasmine. Scots are known all over the world: plaids, bagpipes, plaid kilt skirts and, of course, Glenfiddich - single malt whiskey. It is given a golden shade by aging in oak barrels, and the characteristic taste of peat is a special distillation technology.