# Traveling to England for the first time: advice? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959 "2012-01-09T19:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/121 "2012-01-12T04:42:19Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Actually I’d usually take pity on them and explain that all I’d done was remember say “A3, A349, B2046” (or whatever). I can’t recall any occasion when the signage let me down. I was also a courier for a year (3.5 tonne Merc truck operating out of Reading but with no driver’s mate). I agree - British road signage is exceptional and is the positive side of the often irritating “rules is rules” attitude of British culture. I also got to the point where I could roughly predict where in a town a place would be based on its address. I used to challenge myself to find it without a map - e.g. Church Road would likely be in the ancient heart of the town so I’d follow the architecture looking for mediaeval buildings and windy lanes; something Imperial like Chatham Avenue or Thesiger Road and I’d scan the roofs for Victorian terraces and drive to them; if it was something like Unit 7A Sputnik Way I’d look for 1950s prefab industrial buildings, probably on the outer 'burbs but within the ring road which would probably not have been built in the late 60s or early 70s. Etc. etc. Yes, I got really bored. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/122 "2012-01-12T04:54:50Z")
We are getting way off topic here, but I actually really enjoyed the work if the conditions were right. Mostly I drove on my own. I only had an offsider if we had something that was a two person lift to deliver or collect. Offsiders were usually bad news because I was older than the usual antipodean backpackers who took the role, and they would want top 40 or doof doof music on the radio. If I was on my own there was the Beeb, which usually had something interesting to say. Anyway, **jjimm** , shouldn’t you be in bed? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/123 "2012-01-12T05:04:39Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > If I was on my own there was the Beeb, which usually had something interesting to say. I presume you mean Radio 4, which I listened to obsessively, as well as carrying rather weighty tomes to read during breaks - which bemused many of the recipients who expected me to have Radio 1 blaring and a copy of the Mirror on the dashboard. > [@](#): > > Anyway, **jjimm** , shouldn’t you be in bed? 😉 No, it’s lunchtime where I am now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/124 "2012-01-12T05:10:08Z")
Or GLR, as it then was ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/125 "2012-01-12T05:14:18Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > I am so jealous! I miss my trips to the UK. Same here. I was in the UK a few times back in the 1980s, and not since; but I’m thinking I’ll have to get back there soon. Mmm … pubs, pies, and women with English accents. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/126 "2012-01-12T05:17:16Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Or GLR, as it then was Ah, that’s a Lunnun station for Lunnun types. Wouldn’t know anything about that, sor. I listened to Radio 4 which is the national BBC home of “intelligent speech”. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/127 "2012-01-12T05:22:19Z")
I’m well familiar with Radio 4 as I listened to that also. I am regularly reminded by certain whinging ex-pat poms of my acquaintence (to one of which I am married) how there is no Australian station of equivalent intelligence. It would be easier to argue with this criticism if it wasn’t, ahem, entirely valid. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/128 "2012-01-12T07:37:31Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I’m well familiar with Radio 4 as I listened to that also. I am regularly reminded by certain whinging ex-pat poms of my acquaintence (to one of which I am married) how there is no Australian station of equivalent intelligence. It would be easier to argue with this criticism if it wasn’t, ahem, entirely valid. I’m in the far east but I still stream it every morning. Bad addiction. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/129 "2012-01-12T08:04:43Z")
If you’re going to be driving around prepare for the biggest price shock to be at the petrol pump. Currently petrol is £1.38/litre and diesel around £1.42. At today’s exchange rate that works out to $7.98/US gallon. When you’re at the pub try some Twiglets. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/130 "2012-01-12T08:38:35Z")
I was going to write a bunch of stuff about food terminology, but there’s just too much of it - for example, “grilled cheese” will be an incomprehensible idea to most people in Britain - you’re actually asking them for: cheese on toast, or a cheese toastie they’ll be imagining: a slice of cheddar, on its own, melting and falling through the wire rack of a broiling tray, under an overhead heat source. There are any number of examples like this where terminology will just fail (not limited to food) - in the above case, it’ll get you a confused look and the opportunity to clarify, but in other cases, you’ll get _something_ - just not the thing you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/131 "2012-01-12T09:16:56Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Does one eat “toad in the hole” for breakfast luncheon, or dinner?😃 It depends on context 🙂 If you’re out and about, it’s a perfect “pub lunch” kind of food. But if you’re a guest in someone’s house, I wouldn’t expect them to go to all the bother of cooking that for lunch, you’re more likely to get a sandwich or leftovers, but they might then cook you toad in the hole for dinner. If you’re me, yeah, you’d nick any leftover sausages from it as a breakfast snack 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/132 "2012-01-12T10:52:11Z")
Road signs on major routes like the A1 and motorways _will_ say north, south, east and west on them when joining the route. Further, it is _not_ established custom throughout the entire country to tip taxi drivers, unless they go above and beyond driving you from A to B. I very much doubt it will be the case in Nottingham that a tip will be expected. Just forget about tipping in pubs all together. You are not a regular, and even with regulars a tip is not expected for bar staff. The only time you will need to tip is if you go out for a meal at a restaurant with waiter service. Then, the expected rate in most parts of the country is 10-15%. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/133 "2012-01-12T12:56:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Apparently they don’t have much of a sense of humor either. 😕 Are you just on this thread to join Princhester in misrepresenting people? I mean, what you said was clearly a joke, but it was also kinda wrong, since the Brits are actually in agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/134 "2012-01-12T13:54:03Z")
I would emphasise as others have said already to ensure your cell phone has the appropriate SIM card- buy an overseas one or even get one there. The charges for using one from your home country can be horrific. My views may seem rather basic and obvious - and most have been mentioned already. Always be polite. If you are having coffee somewhere don’t splutter and say “The limeys can’t make coffee for shit!”. Even if it is shit. I wouldn’t get too hung up on tipping barmen or whatever unless you intend to go to the same pub every day. you will quickly learn what is expected then anyway. Driving in England - apart from the different side of the roads, the roads can be very narrow and depending where you are, full of suicidal sheep. Absorb all you can- the prospect of having cumberland sausages in a 13 th century pub is great. And, as mentioned, be polite. People there are normally very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/135 "2012-01-12T14:59:35Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’m in the far east but I still stream it every morning. Bad addiction. You can? I tried to listen to R4 on the iplayer recently when in Sweden and it wouldn’t let me due to being outside of the UK. Or are you using a UK IP address/IP blocker? ETA: R4 is NOT a bad addiction, it’s the very best kind 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/136 "2012-01-12T16:21:27Z")
On tipping, don’t get panicked by the ongoing row here, people have different tipping habits. The general rule is that we tip much less than Americans, so if you only tip in restaurants that’s fine (as is 10%). As you’re in Nottingham, make sure you visit one of the country’s pubs which claim to be the oldest: Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, an inn since 1189, built into the side of the Castle and so called as it was, apparently, a starting point for crusaders on their way to the holy land. There’s history for yer! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/137 "2012-01-12T20:43:53Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I was also a courier for a year (3.5 tonne Merc truck operating out of Reading but with no driver’s mate). I agree - British road signage is exceptional and is the positive side of the often irritating “rules is rules” attitude of British culture. I was astounded on the first trip I took to England where I did a lot of driving. I “just followed the signs”, and even when a road seemed impossibly wrong (like I was going down a blind alley), it turned out to be right. You could never trust that in the US except on the Interstates and maybe the US highways. Of course, being from New England the whole roundabout\* thing was pretty familiar. They would take some getting used to if you’re from the midwest where pretty much everything is on a grid. \*We call them rotaries, but same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/138 "2012-01-12T21:13:39Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > You can? I tried to listen to R4 on the iplayer recently when in Sweden and it wouldn’t let me due to being outside of the UK. Or are you using a UK IP address/IP blocker? > > ETA: R4 is NOT a bad addiction, it’s the very best kind 😉 All the BBC radio stations (apart from some live sport stuff for rights reasons) stream worldwide. I listened to R4 and others on my phone last year in France, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/139 "2012-01-12T23:42:35Z")
Weird - why couldn’t I do it in Sweden at new year then? A friend of mine tried to listen to something at the same time in Austria, so I’m thinking this is a recent development. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959/140 "2012-01-12T23:52:13Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Weird - why couldn’t I do it in Sweden at new year then? I used TuneIn Radio on the phone which worked fine, but I think that just uses the stream from the individual station, rather than going through the aggregate iPlayer? That’s just a guess though. **jjim** will give better advice I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/traveling-to-england-for-the-first-time-advice/608959.md?page=8)