Airlines for Flying to Britain
We generally always recommend traveling to Britain with British Airways as they have the most routes to and from the USA to Britain. We’ve flown with them 10 times now and have had a good experience every time. Some people may disagree with us about British Airways, but for transatlantic travel, they’re great. We flown in all classes on BA including first class and if you want to splurge, we recommend World Traveller Plus (aka Premium Economy) as there is much more leg room. I know a lot of people prefer Virgin Atlantic, but we’ve never had a chance to fly them because they only fly out of Chicago 3 months of the year and are always more expensive. Even if you prefer to travel on another airline to Britain, BA is a good baseline for finding the best fares to London.
British Food in the USA
Our partner, Spencer’s Jolly Posh in Chicago offers up authentic British Sausages and Bacon through their online store. They also have a British Grocery Store located on Chicago’s North Side offering up the best of British food in the USA. Their online store also features a great selection of gift baskets and other meats.
British TV in the USA
There are several options to get British TV in the USA. The first is the cable channel BBC America, though they don’t often air much actual British TV and when they do show the same shows over and over. PBS also shows some great British TV during Masterpiece Theatre as well as through local affiliates. A great way to see classic British TV shows is through Acorn TV – a Netflix-like streaming service from Acorn Media that offers up the best TV from their archive. It only costs $2.99/month.
If you want the full British TV experience, we recommend TheTelly.net which broadcasts your own British TV feed live from the UK and allows you to get British TV as if you were actually in the UK.
UK Themed Magazines
There are 3 magazines in circulation in the USA about Britain that we can recommend.
Britain Magazine – The ‘official’ magazine put out by Visit Britain. This is a magazine worth reading. Printed in the UK. Click here for Subscription info.
Discover Britain (formerly Realm) – Another great British Magazine worth reading. Printed in the UK. Click here for Subscription info.
British Heritage – Another British themed magazine made by Americans – it’s not as comprehensive as the other two, but it’s usually worth a read. Click here for Subscription info.
UK Lodging
We’ve stayed in quite a few places in the UK from hotels and B&B’s to self-catering cottages and flats. We’ve put together a list of all the places we can personally recommend to stay.
Guidebooks
Looking for guidebooks to plan your trip to Britain? Then we heartily recommend our own guidebooks:
Moving to London
If you’re planning a move to London, we recommend getting in touch with London Relocation Services. They’re the people to contact after you’ve gotten a visa. They will help you locate a flat based on your requirements and then work with estate agents to secure it for you. They’ll also help you set up bank accounts and anything else you need to get your life setup in London.
UK Immigration
Like most Anglophiles, we’ve harbor the dream of one day living in the UK. Despite the dream, it’s something that’s actually very difficult to do in practice (which is why we haven’t been able to live there yet). That’s why we highly recommend Migra & Co for all your UK visa and immigration needs. They’ll help you navigate the whole process and ensure your application’s success.
British Newspapers
For the ‘British’ Experience, we recommend the Times of London and the Sunday Times. We don’t really care about their ‘slant’ but it’s a good newspaper even if it leans towards the right of the political spectrum. The Daily Mail is good for trash reading and the occasional gem but try not to take anything they publish too seriously.
Save Money in London
If you’re visiting London and want to save money, we recommend purchasing a London Pass which will get you free access to many of London’s top attractions.
Travel Connectivity
When you’re traveling to Britain – one of the biggest problems you’ll have is using your Cell Phone while in Britain. If you turn on international roaming – this can cost you a fortune. So we recommend using a service like Celluay Abroad – you pay a flat fee and they provide you with a UK Cell Phone or WiFi dongle and you can stay connected back home cheaply and easily.
Traveling or Working Abroad
We have already said that many Anglophiles have a dream to one day make the step to living out their dreams and since we know that many of those dreams involve sunnier climates and a change in scenery in a new country, we would like to remind you that there are regulations that you need to following to make the thoughts become a reality. Since we know that a stress-free life is definitely one of the reasons that you would consider selling up and moving away from the UK, GlobalVisas.com have assured us that they can help you with everything that you need to be able to travel or work abroad, making the visa process a pain free, relaxing one for you.
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas in 2007 in a closet in Chicago. Anglotopia is for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia is now our full time jobs and we spend our time working on the site and planning our yearly trips to Britain. Join us as we explore Britain and everything it has to offer!