London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom. The city stands on the River Thames in the south-east of England. London is one of the world's most important global cities and has been called the world's most powerful, most desirable, most influential, most visited, most expensive, sustainable, most investment-friendly, and most-popular-for-work city. It exerts a considerable impact upon the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism, and transportation.

London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. London has four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church, and the historic settlement in Greenwich. Other landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. London has numerous museums, galleries, libraries, and sporting events.

London has a temperate oceanic climate. Summers are generally warm, sometimes hot. London's average July high is 24 °C (74 °F). Winters are generally cool with little temperature variation. Heavy snow is rare but snow usually happens at least once each winter. Spring and autumn are pleasant. As a large city, London has a considerable urban heat island effect, making the center of London at times 5 °C (9 °F) warmer than the suburbs and outskirts.

London's universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe, and London is home to highly ranked institutions such as Imperial College London in natural and applied sciences, and the London School of Economics in social sciences, King’s College London, London Business School, Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, are some of the top-ranked universities of London.

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham is commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom. Birmingham's economy is now dominated by the service sector. The city is a major international commercial center and an important transport, retail, events, and conference hub. Birmingham is also known as the 'first manufacturing town in the world' and was hailed as the 'City of a Thousand Trades' due to the number of businesses that chose to base themselves in the area, mainly due to its vast water network.

Its universities make it the largest center of higher education in the country outside London. The universities in Birmingham include Aston University, University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, University College Birmingham, and Newman University. Birmingham's major cultural institutions, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the Library of Birmingham, and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts enjoy international reputations, and the city has vibrant and influential grassroots art, music, literary and culinary scenes. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors.

Birmingham has a temperate maritime climate, like most of the British Isles. Like most other large cities, Birmingham has a considerable urban heat island effect. Birmingham is a snowy city relative to other large UK conurbations, due to its inland location and comparatively high elevation. Extreme weather is rare, but the city has been known to experience tornadoes.

Birmingham is home to many national, religious, and spiritual festivals including a St. George's Day party, The Birmingham Tattoo, The Caribbean-style Birmingham International Carnival, The UK's largest two-day Gay Pride is Birmingham Pride (LGBT festival). The city's largest single-day event is its St. Patrick's Day parade. Other multicultural events include the Bangla Mela and the Vaisakhi Mela, The Birmingham Heritage Festival. The Birmingham Wholesale Markets remain the largest combined wholesale food markets in the country, selling meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and flowers.

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. The city is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs, and transport connections. Manchester is well known as a city of sport. Two decorated Premier League football clubs bear the city name, Manchester United and Manchester City. Manchester city is famous and known for, the oldest English-speaking library in the world which was also opened in Manchester, as far back as 1653. Manchester Victoria station one of the oldest stations in the world to continuously operate since opening, and is still the second largest in the country.

There are three universities in the City of Manchester. The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Royal Northern College of Music. The University of Manchester is the largest full-time non-collegiate university in the United Kingdom, Manchester Metropolitan University was formed as Manchester Polytechnic on the merger of three colleges.

Manchester has a temperate oceanic climate like much of the British Isles, with warm summers and cool winters. Summer daytime temperatures regularly top 20 Celsius, quite often reaching 25 Celsius on sunny days during July and August in particular. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Manchester has a relatively high humidity level. Snowfalls are not common in the city because of urban warming.

Often cited as the world's first industrialized city, with little pre-factory history to speak of, Manchester is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom after London and Edinburgh and is a major center of the creative industries. The culture of Manchester is notable artistically, architecturally, theatrically, and musically. The cuisine of Manchester is also influenced by the culture and traditions of the city. Manchester’s most famous and must-try dishes include Lancashire hotpot, Manchester Tart, Rag Pudding, Pasty Barm, Manchester Caviar, Eccles Cake, Bury Black Pudding, The Big Manc Burger, Butter Pie, Tripe, Manchester Egg, Black peas and Gravy, and many other dishes.