An American Amigo in London

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I’ve taken on a small project that will have me in London a couple of times over the next year. Having never been out of the Western Hemisphere I’m quite excited. :cool: I plan on starting out by taking one of the double decker tours in order to see the area as a whole all at once.

Now a few questions. What’s the weather like in late March? Wool overcoat or raincoat season? I will of course bring an umbrella either way. Does the UK border people ask about things like DUI’s on your record (like Canada) and deny entrance? The websites I’ve seen are silent about this. Anybody know of any decent, non-tourist type pubs that I can mention to impress my guest by suggesting we check them out one night? I will be meeting up with a British national who works for my company there, he will either drive or I’ll take a taxi where I’m going. Unless of course someone wants to explain to me the public transportation system to me. :slight_smile: Lastly, do they take Euro’s there or is the pound still the preferred monitary exchange medium?

The plane has a connection in Amsterdam on the way back, thinking of spending a day or two there as well. The whole trip will take 11 days from start to finish, with only three days of actual work planned. Thanks in advance for helping expand my horizons. :smiley:

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Londoner checking in here…

[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
I plan on starting out by taking one of the double decker tours in order to see the area as a whole all at once.
[/QUOTE]

A good start.

[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
Now a few questions. What’s the weather like in late March? Wool overcoat or raincoat season? I will of course bring an umbrella either way.
[/QUOTE]

Well, the biggest problem with weather in England isn’t the rian, or the cold, it’s the unpredictability. It certainly shouldn’t be that cold (actually, it’s been a pretty mild winter all told, yay for global warming). I suggest it’ll be more like raincoat season, but don’t shoot me if it’s other. Pack layers!

[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
Does the UK border people ask about things like DUI’s on your record (like Canada) and deny entrance? The websites I’ve seen are silent about this.
[/QUOTE]

'Scuse my ignorance. What’s a DUI?

[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
Anybody know of any decent, non-tourist type pubs that I can mention to impress my guest by suggesting we check them out one night?
[/QUOTE]

London’s a BIG place. Where will you be staying and working? To be a true local, you need a local pub, not one 5 miles across town.

[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
I will be meeting up with a British national who works for my company there, he will either drive or I’ll take a taxi where I’m going. Unless of course someone wants to explain to me the public transportation system to me. :slight_smile:
[/QUOTE]

I’d be surprised if your British colleague will do much driving in Central London, what with traffic, congestion charging and parking nightmares. Be brave now, our Tube system is one of the best in the world and usually much faster than driving or taxis. Read up on the joys of the Oyster card on tfl.gov.uk

[QUOTE=Si Amigo]
Lastly, do they take Euro’s there or is the pound still the preferred monitary exchange medium?
[/QUOTE]

Tsk tsk, you need to read up more. We’ll be clinging onto our Great British Pound for years to come yet. I’m afraid you’re in for a shock on the current GBP/Dollar exchange yet.

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Definitely raincoat weather. It’s changeable though, so make sure you wear layers. Late March will never be what you might call warm, though. It will rain.
Doubt they’ll be too concerned about DUIs but can’t guarantee it.
I’ll leave proper Londoners to recommend pubs.
The public transport in London is really easy to work out. The London Underground is, anyway; buses are always a bit challenging in foreign parts. If you’re in London it’s unlikely your coworker will drive, though. And taxis are expensive, though if you’re on an expense account you won’t notice - but often the Underground is about 10x faster than a taxi anyway.
The pound sterling is still the currency here. £1 = $2 almost exactly these days.

We count ourselves in “The West” too, but I guess the hemisphere bit might be a geographical distinction that we don’t share.

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[QUOTE=jjimm]

We count ourselves in “The West” too, but I guess the hemisphere bit might be a geographical distinction that we don’t share.
[/QUOTE]

Take it to mean the North American continent and the Caribbean. At least I think that’s what we consider the Western Hemispere, but that’s another thread. :smiley:

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[QUOTE=jjimm]
We count ourselves in “The West” too, but I guess the hemisphere bit might be a geographical distinction that we don’t share.
[/QUOTE]

Yup. Some of us are east of the meridian, don’t forget :slight_smile:

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I will, as usual, recommend the Big Bus Company for a double-decker tour of the Smoke, which is operated by my cousins. They’ve been going for over 15 years so are reasonably reputable.

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One thought: don’t admit DUIs in normal English society. There’s an extreme moral reaction to the subject that might not be what you’re used to in the US (this is a gross assumption about attitudes where you’re from, but DUI - we say “drink driving” - is severely frowned on here).

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Oh and I went on seosamh’s cousins’ bus tour and it was excellent; you can get a combo ticket for the bus and the boat trip down the Thames from Westminster Bridge, which is seriously good. If it isn’t pissing down with rain.

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This one seems better suited to something other than General Questions. Moved to MPSIMS.

samclem GQ moderator

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I travelled to London in August (there’s a thread around here where I asked for similar advice, somewhere). The customs man didn’t ask me about a criminal record, but he did want to know who I knew in London, where I’d be staying, how much money I had, etc. If you’re going on business the questioning might be shorter. I also flew about a week after the big terrorism bust in London, so that might have had something to do with it as well.

I also recommend the Tube and the Oyster card (which is good on buses as well). Get a London A-Z guide and there’s a Tube map on the back. I didn’t have time to see everything I was advised to see, but I saw the Foundling Museum, the Hunterian Museum (or the Museum of Pickled Pathology Specimens), part of the British Museum and the Tower of London.

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[QUOTE=SanVito]
I’d be surprised if your British colleague will do much driving in Central London, what with traffic, congestion charging and parking nightmares. Be brave now, our Tube system is one of the best in the world and usually much faster than driving or taxis. Read up on the joys of the Oyster card on tfl.gov.uk

[/QUOTE]

Yes - the subway system is awesome there! You can get anywhere you want to go in London quickly and efficiently. Definitely check it out. One thing you have to watch out for, though, is that they don’t run all night, so if you want to stay out late you’ll need to keep that in mind (London seems to be a city that tends to roll up their sidewalks around midnight or so, unlike New York).

And if you will be spending time with a Brit, ask him which pubs are the good ones.