I think you’ll be OK - after all, England has had coffee houses since 1652. 
Make sure you are able to tell the customs person (I don’t think customs is the right word - the person who checks your passport) at the airport all the minute details of your plans, including the address where you’re staying, and have a copy of your return itinerary. Don’t forget this part! It’s very important! They might even ask you the nature of your relationship with your friend and how you met. (I didn’t know to bring a copy of my return itinerary when I went, and apparently that is a serious newb mistake, but they did let me in!)
Don’t worry too much about phones and money - as long as you have someone meeting you at the airport and a credit/debit card or two, it’ll all work out. Well, worry about phones a little so you don’t get crazy roaming charges, but I was really nervous about those two things before I went and they really weren’t a big deal once I got there.
Keep a color copy of your passport somewhere where you can get to it if you lose you real one. Also put the address where you’re staying inside your luggage.
If you’re super sleepy the first day or two, or have no appetite, or just feel slightly oogy, it’s probably jet lag and it will go away. It probably won’t be as bad when you come back home.
Get up and walk around and stretch a few times on the flight over.
Take a lot of pictures!
You’ll be able to find pretty much everything, even coffee, hehe, that you would want. The only trouble I can think of would be if you are a VERY VERY picky eater who doesn’t like to try new things, you might end up eating at American fast food places, which there are plenty of. But when I was there I found the food to be really good. Shopping at the grocery store and trying new foods was a lot of fun. There’s an apple juice called Copella which is amazing, and the yogurt there is better I think. Also they sell strawberry flavored rice pudding next to the yogurt which I thought was pretty great. And Irish soda bread! Really, there’s a lot of good food; even though apparently I have tastes of a five year old.
Generally, we like American visitors a lot… despite how close we are (language, history, culture…etc) it is amazing how wide some of the differences are!
Just be yourself, try not to boast too much about all things U.S (yes, we know you have the best army, most money, greatest continent etc etc!!!) so best try not reminding everyone too often!! Seriously though, a couple of tips to help you enjoy your stay:
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if you go out for a beer or an informal meal, make sure you suggest going ‘to the pub’ (not bar/saloon etc)
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99% of Brits ALWAYS buy beer (or other drinks) in a ROUND - that is, each person takes a turn in buying the whole group a drink. The phrase is: “whose round is it?” or “o.k, my round now!” this can seem a bit expensive and tiresome if there are many of you, but trust me, anyone who does not take part, or offer, will get very strange looks!
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try to be accepting of things that are different; give things a go, and have broad outlook. Of course this works both ways, and can be hard. I remember trying to adjust when I first moved to the USA for a couple of years.
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At least in London, taxis are called cabs; the underground/metro is called the Tube; “the movies” is called going to the cinema; broiled is called grilled; route is pronounced “root”; football is never called soccer (just football); a car hood is called its bonnet; cell phones are called mobiles; phew I could go on forever!!! oh and yes, the last letter is pronounced ‘ZED’!!
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Welcome to the UK, have a great time, be yourself, and I’m sure you will find this a great, welcoming, memorable place!!
Originally Posted by Malden Capell
I would highly recommend reading this book, for entertainment and educational value
‘Third-ed’.
(is that even a word? but you all know what I mean!)
She’s not from China 
An exception to this is if you don’t drink/are not drinking any alcohol, then it’s considered perfectly acceptable (although you will get asked why you’re not - the concept of not doing so for no specific reason boggles a lot of Brits’ mind).
Buying drinks in rounds is common in smallish social groups for whom the pub is a regular focus of activity. Not quite so much otherwise. And if anyone expects you to buy a round for more than about half a dozen people, they may be taking advantage of you.
Despite this I would still urge you to get a ‘beater’ phone with a UK sim instead. A) you will almost certainly end up saving money, since international texts are the most expensive data comms on earth, so I’m told, and B) you will save him money by not making him text a US number. I do this in every country I visit and it saves me and my travelling companions a fortune.
Most of the stuff I would have mentioned has already been covered but as a pub going, beer drinking British cabbie who has worked behind a few bars in his time I think the tipping thing needs to be clarified.
Nobody tips bar staff. The “have one yourself” thing is fairly common but usually only occurs in a situation where a regular group of friends are drinking in their local pub and are on first name terms with the bartender. I do this at my local but wouldn’t dream of doing it in a pub I’d never been in.
It is customary to tip cab drivers. There’s no expectation of a certain percentage but rounding up is normal. If someone gets in my cab and the fare comes to £18.50 most people would hand over a twenty and say keep the change. Not everyone but certainly the majority. Likewise if the fare is £8-£9 give the guy ten. Believe me it’s very much appreciated. On the other hand if they guy’s a jerk give him nothing. It might teach him some manners.
It’s also customary to tip waiters but unlike in the States, again there is no expectation of a certain percentage. Rounding up is the norm, how far you go depends on how good the food and service was. Four of us went out for dinner a couple of weeks ago and the bill came to just over £100. I gave them £110 and was profusely thanked for it (I don’t think they were being sarcastic).
Regarding common words with very different meanings - if someone asks you if you’ve got any fags, don’t be offended. They just want a cigarette!
I hope you have a lovely time here and second the request for a follow up post after your visit.
Cheers!
I would, if I’d ordered a particularly big round or an awkward drink. Going on my experience working in pubs, that’s very common indeed.
Like I said in my first post - you sometimes say “one for yourself.”
Once the beer kicks in, don’t ask for directions to the bathroom. A bathroom is a place to take a bath; it will contain a bathtub, but not necessarily a toilet.
“WC” (water closet) or “toilet” will get you where you want to go … perhaps “loo” if you’re trying to go native.
I’m trying to remember issues that came up my first visit, and one that comes to mind was drinking water. Our UK posters can correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember being tripped up at first by “still” being used to describe non-carbonated or non-mineral water. I asked for water, and someone said “Is still OK”? Oh, and don’t expect ice with every drink unless you ask for it.
And, of course, a biscuit is a cookie.
Oh, and they don’t use metric to measure speed on the highways. The first time I hopped in a car and got on the A1, I purposely set myself to driving about 100 since 100k/h is about 66 mph. Needless to say, I found myself flying by everyone until I realized my mistake. :smack:
I also found it hard to adapt to use of so many coins. I never carry change in the US, but then we don’t have $2 coins here, either.
Going by the responses in this and the other specific thread I started on this topic, you are more the exception than the rule, and further most emphasise that this is something they do only in their regular, and/or with staff they know well.
In other words, mentioning buying “one for yerself” as if failing to do so may be an etiquette breach in a thread started by an American planning to visit is somewhere between inapt and outright misleading.
Is there some part of what she’s posted that you can’t see, even though you’ve quoted it? It’s the “if you were a regular at a pub” part I’m talking about. You can argue as violently as you want, but you’re actually agreeing with each other. The original point was that in the US it seems common to tip your bar person. Here, it’s not common at all, and would only appear in the form advertised by the section you so helpfully quoted and agree with: IF you’re a regular, you MIGHT occasionally offer the bar staff “one for yourself”. So we’re telling the American not to worry about tipping bar staff, because they won’t expect it. Hope that clears it up for you.
On cabbies: I’ve lived all over our fair island. I’ve always tipped cabbies everywhere. None of them have ever seemed bemused or embarrassed.
**Teacake **you need to read the first posts on this subject in this thread.
“IF you’re a regular, you MIGHT occasionally offer the bar staff “one for yourself””
is very different to:
“…bar staff sometimes” which was **SciFiSam’s **first post on the subject, not to mention “the ‘one for yourself’ rule” (my emphasis, courtesy of Malden Capell) or that the practice was “extraordinarily common” per Candyman74.
The “only if you are a regular” qualification was (apart from one comment from yourself) not at all apparent until I queried the position. I stand by what I just said. The correct advice to an American planning a visit is “you will not be expected to tip barstaff. Only regulars occasionally offer ‘one for yourself’”. Suggesting that “one for yourself” was a “rule” or “extraordinarily common” or that it was done “sometimes” was misleading in this context.
Just wanted to re-iterate, when you step into the street, look right. I have been to several countries where they drive on the left, and I find crossing the street harder than driving itself. Maybe its just me…
While I appreciate the lively discussion, I suspect that what I will probably do in the pub is ask my companion, “Could you get us another round?” and then I will smile winsomely and bat my eyes, and he can handle the tipping or lack thereof. 
Sucks breath in through teeth
One half of a couple assuming they are exempt from the round system because their other half is getting them is frowned upon, IME. Get yer round in!
Apparently, they spend a lot of time in England arguing over whether or not you tip the barman with a drink. Or so I’ve heard…
Oh I see. When you said “friend” you meant “friend”!
I think there is a sort of tourist’s fallacy that makes foreign countries seem more expensive than they really are. At home, you know the lie of the land, you instinctively know what places to avoid. As a tourist, you blunder into places that no local would go to, and are amazed at the prices.
At least, I can’t imagine paying £12 for breakfast and coffee in the UK in a mere “caff”. I would expect to pay up to about £8 for something that would reasonably fit that description. It would be more expensive in a hotel or some traveller trap like a station or airport.