United Kingdom

Plan United Kingdom trips with nation-specific routing, ETA-aware entry rules, rail-road tradeoffs, and practical local logistics.

When to Use

User is planning a United Kingdom trip and needs practical guidance beyond generic London tips: entry requirements, England-Scotland-Wales-Northern Ireland routing, rail versus car decisions, seasonality, costs, and on-the-ground execution.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/uk/. If ~/uk/ does not exist, run setup.md. See memory-template.md for structure.

~/uk/
└── memory.md     # Trip context and evolving constraints

Data Storage

• ~/uk/memory.md stores durable trip context, route decisions, constraints, and reservation timing for future United Kingdom planning.
• No other local files are required unless the user chooses to create their own planning documents.

Quick Reference

Use this map to load only the UK subtopic that changes the decision in front of you.

Topic	File
Setup flow	setup.md
Memory schema	memory-template.md
Entry and Compliance
ETA, visa, passport, border logic	entry-and-documents.md
Customs, food, cash, duty context	customs-and-border.md
Planning Backbone
Regions and route selection	regions.md
Sample itineraries	itineraries.md
Accommodation strategy	accommodation.md
Budget planning	budget-and-costs.md
Cards, cash, and tipping	payments-and-tipping.md
Transport
Rail, flights, ferries, urban transit	transport-domestic.md
Driving and road-trip strategy	road-trips-and-driving.md
Place Logic
London playbook	london.md
South England and Cotswolds playbook	south-england-and-cotswolds.md
North England and Lake District playbook	north-england-and-lake-district.md
Scotland playbook	scotland.md
Wales playbook	wales.md
Northern Ireland playbook	northern-ireland.md
Heritage and castle strategy	heritage-and-castles.md
Lifestyle and Execution
Food by region and meal style	food-guide.md
Nightlife strategy by destination type	nightlife.md
Traveling with children	family-travel.md
Accessibility strategy	accessibility.md
Safety and Conditions
Emergencies, disruptions, health basics	safety-and-emergencies.md
Seasonality and weather planning	weather-and-seasonality.md
Tools
Connectivity and practical apps	telecoms-and-apps.md
Official source map	sources.md

Core Rules

1. Route by Nation and Corridor, Not by Checklist

Keep one macro-cluster per week: London plus South England, North England plus Scotland, or one nation-focused loop. UK rail and road networks are strong, but packing all four nations into a short trip still degrades quality.

2. Confirm Entry Logic Before Booking Non-Refundables

Use entry-and-documents.md first: ETA versus visa, passport validity, border flow, and any Ireland or Northern Ireland crossover complexity.

3. Match Transport to Geography

Always offer at least two movement models:

• Rail-first for London, major English cities, and Edinburgh/Glasgow corridors
• Car-first for Cotswolds, Cornwall, Highlands, Snowdonia, or coastal-rural loops

4. Distinguish Great Britain from Northern Ireland

Do not collapse the whole UK into one operating pattern. Payments, transport, geography, and cross-border considerations differ when Northern Ireland is involved.

5. Budget for the Real Total

Price the full trip, not the room headline:

• Rail yield pricing and advance-fare risk
• Hotel breakfast, parking, and city-centre premiums
• London transit and airport transfer costs
• National trust, castle, and parking day spend

6. Make Every Plan Season-Aware

Use weather-and-seasonality.md before promising island hops, Highlands driving, coastal hikes, or festival-heavy city weekends. Rain, wind, short winter daylight, and bank-holiday crowding materially shape good routes.

7. Deliver Actionable Plans

Every final output should include:

• Base strategy by city or region
• Day-by-day flow with realistic transfer windows
• Reservation deadlines
• Rain or disruption backup options
• Safety and emergency quick notes

Common Traps

• Treating the UK as "London plus a few easy day trips" and missing nation-level tradeoffs.
• Combining London, Edinburgh, Highlands, Wales, and Belfast in one short trip.
• Renting a car for London-centred itineraries where rail and transit are superior.
• Assuming Ireland and Northern Ireland entry rules are interchangeable.
• Forgetting that rail fares can rise sharply without advance booking.
• Underestimating how much rain, wind, or short daylight can cut outdoor-heavy plans.
• Tipping or tax assumptions copied from the United States instead of UK norms.

Security & Privacy

Data that stays local: Trip preferences in ~/uk/

This skill does NOT: Access files outside ~/uk/ or make network requests.

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• travel - General trip planning and itinerary structure
• booking - Reservation workflow and confirmation hygiene
• car-rental - Better rural and multi-stop rental strategy
• food - Deeper restaurant and cuisine planning
• english - Language help for bookings, menus, and service interactions

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star uk
• Stay updated: clawhub sync