British Isles Travel Advice

Posted by Mike Gerrard Feb 18, 2007

Continuing my series listing the official tourist office websites for the UK and Ireland, this seems a good place in which to explain what the different names of this region mean.

Great Britain means England, Scotland and Wales, and the Isle of Wight is part of England.

The United Kingdom's full title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so it's Great Britain, as above, combined with Northern Ireland.

The British Isles means the United Kingdom, plus Ireland, and the offshore islands like the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man.

All the countries (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland) are independent countries.

Ireland is not part of Great Britain, but is part of the British Isles, though the description isn't always popular because of the links with Great Britain, from which Ireland is a totally independent nation.

If you need a visual explanation of all that, there's a good map on Wikipedia: click here. And don't worry if you get it wrong - so do many of the people who live here!

Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Isle of Wight Tourist Boards

Guernsey: http://www.ghtf.co.uk

Isle of Man:http://www.gov.im/tourism

Isle of Wight:http://www.iwight.com

Jersey: http://www.jersey.com

Check the list of England's Tourist Boards by clicking here.

Check Scotland and Wales Tourist Boards by clicking here.

Check out the UK and Ireland National Tourist Boards by clicking here