Travelling & Living Overseas
Travel advice and tips for British travellers on staying safe abroad and what help the FCO can provide if something goes wrong
Swine flu pandemic
- More about the virus and your travel plans may be affected
- Travel advice by country
Staying safe and healthy abroad
Everything you need to know to prepare for a stress-free trip abroad.
- Travel checklist
- Travel Health
- Travel insurance
- Driving abroad
- Travel money
- Eat and drink safely
- Tropical cyclones
- Terrorism abroad
- River and sea safety including piracy
How we can help if things go wrong
What if something goes wrong while you’re abroad? Find out how we can help, and what you should do next.
- Going abroad? Five reasons to take the British Embassy’s phone number with you:
- Information for forced marriage victims
- Sick or injured abroad
- Arrest or detention
- Victims of crime
- Rape and sexual assault abroad
- Coping with death abroad
- Missing persons
- Parental child abduction
- Joint appeal for the release of the men being held in Mali
Travel advice relevant to you
Different types of traveller need different advice so we've created some checklists aimed at specific groups of people.
- Travelling rugby fans
- Travelling football fans
- Backpackers
- Women travellers
- LGBT travellers
- Disabled travellers
- Winter, water and extreme sports
- Overseas weddings and civil partnerships
- Hajj pilgrims
- Visiting friends and family abroad
- Travelling abroad for medical treatment
- Cruise ship passengers
Be a responsible tourist
We'd like everyone to have care-free holidays but it's important to be aware of things for your own benefit and that of others.
Travel advice by country
In depth advice for every country in the world, updated regularly for all British travellers.
Passport and entry requirements
This page offers guidance on issues you might encounter at passport control - such as how much validity you need on your passport, and what kinds of things might impede you at the immigraiton desk.
Living overseas
Some advice on moving abroad including how the British embassy can help, and links to other useful web pages.
Births, marriages and deaths
Comprehensive information on the services we offer for registering births and deaths and information and forms for overseas weddings or civil partnerships
About the Know Before You Go Campaign
The FCO’s successful campaign to promote travel advice to British travellers. Includes a full list of KBYG campaign partners.
Our publications
Here you will find a range of information leaflets on offering advice on all aspects of travel.
Summer Blog
See us at Africa Oye 2009
The Know Before You Go campaign will be attending the festival on 20 June. Look out for our yellow Tro Tro!
Help & Support
For assistance abroad you can call our Consular Assistance team in London on:
020 7008 1500
or email:
More numbers can be found on our Contact Us page
Consular Feedback
We welcome your feedback.
What you say is very important in deciding where we take action.
We have two online questionnaires. Please complete the one that is relevant to the assistance you received.