Traveling to England for the first time: advice?

[Sunspace]

@Filbert

Oh, and bring a waterproof

A waterproof what? Coat? Condom? Lunch bag?

@echoreply

And speaking of money, expect that everything will cost about the same number as it does in the US, just the currency changes. For example, a breakfast and coffee might be $12 at a US cafe, so it will cost about £12 ($18!) in a British cafe.

This. It can be horribly deceiving, and lead you to go through money much faster than anticipated. It was worse, though, when I was there: the price numbers were the same in Canadian dollars as UK pounds, and the pound was worth $2.50 Canadian!

@echoreply

The hidden gotcha is voicemail. This was the case several years ago, and probably still is. If your phone is on, and you let a call go to voicemail, that counts as your phone answering, and then forwarding the call to the US, so you get hit with double charges for as long as the person is leaving the message. If the phone is off, then there is no charge if a call goes to voicemail. Every time I’d go overseas I’d call AT&T and have them turn off my voicemail, so I could keep my phone on for text messages, but not have to worry about getting a big roaming bill.

IIRC, you can disable voicemail such that it never tries to find your phone, saving the double charge for attempting to find your phone and then sending the message back to the voicemail server.

Note that if you have an iPhone and Visual Voicemail, those Visual Voicemail messages are downloaded to your phone. Data charges! (This seems to imply that if you have data roaming turned off and aren’t on WiFi, Visual Voicemail won’t work. So be sure you know how to get to your voicemail the old-fashioned way, by hitting 1 on the speed dial or dialling the number, and then entering your password…

@echoreply

Even with the cost of international texts, $.45 or so, they are still a great of saying “I’m done at the museum and will be getting a pint in Eagle & Child” to your local host. If you have a smart phone, don’t even think of using roaming data. That will be incredibly expensive. As long as you can connect to wifi you should be good with your smarthphone, though.

:: nods ::
Texts are still the best way to go, even at those prices. You can get add-ons to your plan that supply quantities of data, text messages, or talk time at lower rates. In the iPhone, there’s a notice right next to the switch that turns on data roaming. The notice basically says, “IF YOU TURN THIS ON, YOU WILL PAY A LOT OF MONEY”. It has to be pretty bad for the OS maker to embed the warning right in their firmware…

Speaking of phone numbers, store all your phone numbers in your directory in the international format: plus sign, country code, area code, local number. A US number would be stored as +1 xxx xxx xxxx. A UK number would be +44 xxx xxx xxxx (varying length of area code and local number, still totalling 10 digits though).

This enables you to hit speed dial wherever you are, and the GSM system automatically figures out how to dial it. You don’t have to figure out, “do I dial 011 or 00 before the number”, “do I have to put in the area code”, and all that stuff.

Note that UK people always put the trunk dialling digit 0 before their area codes, but if you’re writing the number in international format, you leave the 0 off!

[PaulParkhead]

People have already advised about the relative lack of places that take Amex. This is true. But also be aware that nowhere at all in the UK accepts Discover.

[Baron_Greenback]

Re the phone thing. There’s a bunch of ways to make your phone work cheaply in Britain, assuming it works on the same GSM frequency. But it’s probably much easier just to get a disposable one from a supermarket. I saw one in Tesco recently that was £13.99, and it came with ten pounds worth of credit on the phone, so a very handy thing to have. Texts from the UK to the US are not expensive, even on pay as you go.

Also, when you get back, would you mind writing up a wee trip report?

[Quartz]

I’ll echo the ‘look both ways’ comments. Does no one remember the Green Cross Code?

Houses and rooms are small over here. IIRC rooms average about half the size they are in America.

When exactly are you coming? Spring starts in late March and ends in May, if not June. An inch of snow will make everything grind to a halt.

[Jennyrosity]

@Malden_Capell

Perhaps it’s a regional taste? I’ve never done it, and an American I had with me once told me she tried to tip a London cabbie who looked kind of bemused and embarassed when she gave him a five pound note as tip.

I’m in London and I always, always tip my cabby - they’d have to do something pretty bloody awful to not get something.

Five pounds is too much though, unless you’ve come a really long way, or been sick or given birth in their cab!

[brainstall]

Go to the pub, drink some beer. Everyone else has covered the practical stuff, don’t forget to have fun.

[Brynda]

See if your friends has any friends who would be willing to have you over for a meal or just to chat. It is so interesting to see the insides of houses in different countries.

[Mangetout]

@SciFiSam

I disagree about the way to look when crossing the road - always look both ways. We have too many single-lane one-way streets and arsehole drivers for it to be safe only looking one way.

Agreed - and cyclists often disregard the system - and they’re silent, but it hurts if you step out right in front of one.

[Mangetout]

If someone says ‘alright’ to you, the expected response is ‘alright’ (or you could respond ‘Hi’, ‘Hello’, or ‘Morning’ / ‘Afternoon’, etc). It’s just an informal greeting, not a question (a bit like the archaic ‘how do you do?’, to which the answer is not ‘very well’, but ‘How do you do?’)

[Cinnamon_Imp]

@Princhester

The “one for yourself” rule is exceptional though: I never heard anyone say this at all, ever, the entire time I lived in the UK.

I’ve only seen it in old man style pubs, usually said by the regulars (old men!) to the barman.

Or on Eastenders

[SciFiSam]

@Princhester

The “one for yourself” rule is exceptional though: I never heard anyone say this at all, ever, the entire time I lived in the UK.

Did you not go to the pub much? If you were a regular at a pub and never bought the staff a drink, you’d have come across like a real miser.

Malden Capell - not sure why you’re correcting me for saying that we tip bar staff (in cash), when I specifically said we don’t.

And cabbies do expect a tip on longer journeys, certainly.

Some of you people must only hang out with skinflints.

[Rayne_Man]

Nottingham - York is two hours by train, with one change at Chesterfield or Sheffield.

When you are in Nottingham don’t be surprised if you are called “duck”, especially by older people. It’s just a term of endearment, similar to “love” in other parts of the country. If your lucky you might even hear the full phrase “Ayup me duck”.

[Floater]

@Hippy_Hollow

I think Nottingham is about 2 hours from York. One of the most beautiful English cities, with plenty of Roman and medieval stuff to see!

Do take a walk along the city wall!

@Malden_Capell

I would highly recommend reading this book, for entertainment and educational value

Seconded.

[Leaffan]

@SciFiSam

Did you not go to the pub much? If you were a regular at a pub and never bought the staff a drink, you’d have come across like a real miser.
…

How does this work exactly? Does the barman pocket the money? Does he actually pour himself a drink and consume it while on the job? Does he bank it till after closing?

[MsWhatsit]

I will just follow my friend’s lead regarding pub customs, I think.

As for trip timing, it will be sometime in early-to-mid April. I’m still working out the exact logistical details, although I hope to have my ticket bought by sometime in February. Thanks for all the advice regarding phones and credit cards and the like. I’m going to ask my credit union if they have any specific information I need to know, and will just plan on using my phone for texting only while I’m there. (Which is exactly what my British friend did when he visited * me a year or so ago.)

Should I just expect to not have any coffee for the duration of my trip? I’m a sometime tea drinker so I think I’ll survive OK.

[Illuminatiprimus]

@MsWhatsit

I will just follow my friend’s lead regarding pub customs, I think.

As for trip timing, it will be sometime in early-to-mid April. I’m still working out the exact logistical details, although I hope to have my ticket bought by sometime in February. Thanks for all the advice regarding phones and credit cards and the like. I’m going to ask my credit union if they have any specific information I need to know, and will just plan on using my phone for texting only while I’m there. (Which is exactly what my British friend did when he visited * me a year or so ago.)

Should I just expect to not have any coffee for the duration of my trip? I’m a sometime tea drinker so I think I’ll survive OK.

We’re not quite that much a backwater that the fantastical potion called “coffee” hasn’t reached us. You can get it anywhere although if you’re expecting to get an actual brewed coffee from beans make sure you clarify that before you order it - if you’re in an average cafe or train or something you’ll probably get instant.

[Jennyrosity]

Why would you expect that? There’s a Starbucks on pretty much every corner here.

[MsWhatsit]

Because I’m a stupid idiot, I guess. Thanks for the information.

[Mangetout]

Espresso-based coffee is now very much the norm for anything you’ll find in a halfway-decent cafe, transport station, etc.

Instant is only probably more popular (overall) than the real thing for people to make at home, and in situations where the real thing can’t practically be made (food and drink trolleys on board trains being the only example that springs to mind).

Most pubs serve decent coffee now - either from a filter jug, or sometimes from small fully-automated espresso machines.

[MsWhatsit]

To answer the question less snarkily, I vaguely recall hearing other Americans mention after a trip overseas that it was tough to find coffee, although now that I think about it, that may just have been people talking about availability of coffee machines in hotels. Anyway, I’m not really that worried about it either way.