In the UK, up and down are terms used by the railways. The up line generally heads towards a big city (London for much of the UK), and down heads away. Seems

In the UK, up and down are terms used by the railways. The up line generally heads towards a big city (London for much of the UK), and down heads away. Seems like this is the case in some other countries too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_directions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_directions To some extent the terminology has crept into general use. I grew up just north of London, but we always went up to London.