up
‘up’
Up can be a preposition. You usually use it to show that someone or something moves towards a higher place or position.
I carried my suitcase up the stairs behind her.
The heat goes straight up the chimney.
Up can also be an adverb. It is often used in phrasal verbs to show that someone or something moves towards a higher place or position.
The coffee was sent up from the kitchen below.
Bill put up his hand.
You also use up as an adverb to show that someone or something is in a high place.
He was up in his bedroom.
They live in a house up in the hills.
‘up to’
You can say that someone goes up to a higher place.
I went up to the top floor.
You also say that someone goes up to a place when it is further north than the place they started from.
I thought of going up to New York.
Why did you come up to Edinburgh?
British speakers sometimes use up to instead of ‘to’ for no special reason.
The other day I went up to the supermarket.
We all went up to the pub.