England

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yeahthatisneathuh

Trakanon Raider
265
584
VISA is accepted everywhere, I have a VISA and I live here.

If you want refills go to Nandos or Five Guys.

My girlfriend always asks for free tap water, I don't think that's a weird thing in the UK.

Pub Food and Fish/Chips is usually carbs with a side of carbs, go to a restaurant if you want something with nutritional value.

I want refills everywhere I go--strange, I know. I ask for free tap water everywhere, and they are always shitheels about filling it up or putting more than a single ice cube in it.

VISA is accepted everywhere, but for whatever reason using a card INTERNATIONALLY sometimes creates a problem because credit card processing still sucks and them bringing that cumbersome card reader to the table, and then sometimes it's asking for a PIN. My point was, carry cash. I had 3 credit cards flagged for travel and in one or two places per trip I had a problem where none of them would work at one restaurant or another.
 

Ossoi

Tranny Chaser
15,395
7,665
ery pretentious but all it's got really is nice views of the Brunel Suspension Bridge, I lived there for 2.5 years and considered jumping off it.

Liverpool has a fake anglican cathedral made of concrete on the inside...............even with a shitty modern art gallery


ROFL, idiot
 
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Maul

Dental Dammer
3,326
10,203
Just FIY the free refills and free water in restaurants is mostly unknown in Europe, there's actually been some talk of making it a legal requirement but for the moment you'll have to order (and pay) for bottled water by the glass. Some will do free tap water if you specifically ask for it but don't expect it.

Pub food can be pretty decent if you're not expecting haute cuisine, usually it's straightforward fare like a burger or fish and chips but it can be pretty good and not bad on price either compared to restaurants. Ask the locals too, they'll usually be able to recommend a pub.

VISA is fairly widely accepted, amex less so. Definitely carry some cash at all times.
All licensed premises in England and Wales are required by law to provide "free potable water" to their customers upon request. In Scotland a similar law applies, but specifies "tap water fit for drinking".

This means pubs, bars, nightclubs, cafes, restaurants, takeaway food and drink outlets, cinemas, theatres, and even village and community halls - so long as they are authorised to serve alcohol.
 

SeanDoe1z1

Avatar of War Slayer
7,198
18,543
How old is the kid? England has a lot of pretty good fun things to do for the younger ones. My kids loved Warwick castle. Most of the wealthy estates/castles are open in the summer to tourists to help pay for upkeep. Most don't disappoint, just look at scheduling as it can change.

UK cards are chip & pin based so some older US cards may not work in 100 % of the stores in older areas. Unless your card doesn't blow you're going to be paying 3 percent foreign tax on everything.

Seconded on Edinburgh. Bath is a really cool place too, I would usually double it up with Stonehenge (meh) for relatives. Do all the touristy crap in central london, grab some sausage rolls at Hyde park. London can be a fair amount of walking.

Brits asking if you're alright = Hey, how are you doing. Tube system is not complicated, try to avoid at peak hours. Day pass all zone is pretty inexpensive.

On the plus side the pound will probably crash with a hard brexit and everything won't be 1.5x as much
 

SeanDoe1z1

Avatar of War Slayer
7,198
18,543
You’re right , was late for me.

It’s the bacon rolls that are legit. Brits got cheddar and bacon on lockdown.
 
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Tholan

Blackwing Lair Raider
760
1,435
I've only been to Dublin, Edimburgh and London as a tourist and they all offer a lot to do, of course London is way ahead. Dublin is ok, Edimburgh is awesome.
Except if it's your cup of tea, the Speyside in Scotland isn't really worth it - it's a real tourist trap. You can't get lost, because on every tree there is a sign "NEXT BEST IN THE WORLD DISTILLERY 100M LEFT AFTER THAT OLD OAK".
I've been to the outer Hebrides (Harris & Lewis). Now this is wild and we had a great time there. Fly from Edimburgh to Stornoway, rent a car, and go around the islands. Best time we had there - its just fucking beautiful if you like looking at landscapes, beaches, sheeps.
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dizzie

Triggered Happy
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3,937
If you want to book train travel in the UK use this: Trainline | Search, Compare & Buy Cheap Train & Bus Tickets

Coach travel in the UK is a bit shitty if i'm honest - although it's very cheap.

One thing I didn't mention that I did a couple years back with some friends is rent a boat and hit up the Norfolk Broads.

Visit Broadland and the Broads

It's amazing if you get the weather. You don't need a boat to visit the area (car pretty much needed though) but you can hire something leisurely you can stay on like a small canal boat for a couple nights. You need to sort it in advance though as it's really popular.

It's one of the most beautiful area's in the UK and there's tons of historical places to see. Having a boat is fun as shit as there's real comradery between 90% of the people you meet, who are literally all fucking useless on boats.

Edit: The refill thing is becoming more popular loads of pubs and stuff will give you one if you ask.

If you want free water you just go into a place that serves booze, they are obliged by law to give you tap water free.
 
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Ranak

Molten Core Raider
214
382
Headed to the UK for the first time this week with just my wife (kids staying with family). Planning lots of touristy things, but open to additional ideas. Plan is London as a base for 4.5 days then up to Scotland for 3.5 days then 2 days of flex to wherever before heading to the airport and back home. Can split these 2 flex days, but need final destination to be within 1-2 hours of Heathrow to catch a 1:30 PM flight.

We'll probably do 1-2 day trips from London and the same from Edinburgh, but still deciding what we'll do. Any other advice for traveling in the UK? I've seen mention of bathrooms being difficult to find, different tip culture, food isn't overall that great etc.
 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
Headed to the UK for the first time this week with just my wife (kids staying with family). Planning lots of touristy things, but open to additional ideas. Plan is London as a base for 4.5 days then up to Scotland for 3.5 days then 2 days of flex to wherever before heading to the airport and back home. Can split these 2 flex days, but need final destination to be within 1-2 hours of Heathrow to catch a 1:30 PM flight.

We'll probably do 1-2 day trips from London and the same from Edinburgh, but still deciding what we'll do. Any other advice for traveling in the UK? I've seen mention of bathrooms being difficult to find, different tip culture, food isn't overall that great etc.

Different tip culture = no tipping at all. And yeah the food sucks for the most part, but the Indian cuisine is awesome. Go to Brick Lane for an overwhelmingly awesome Indian food experience.

For touristy things all the museums there are dope and it's wild they're free. The British Museum is an amazing collection of human history including epic items like the Rosetta Stone. The Natural History Museum is cool too with a shitload of complete dinosaur skeletons.
 
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Chris

Potato del Grande
18,033
-467
Headed to the UK for the first time this week with just my wife (kids staying with family). Planning lots of touristy things, but open to additional ideas. Plan is London as a base for 4.5 days then up to Scotland for 3.5 days then 2 days of flex to wherever before heading to the airport and back home. Can split these 2 flex days, but need final destination to be within 1-2 hours of Heathrow to catch a 1:30 PM flight.

We'll probably do 1-2 day trips from London and the same from Edinburgh, but still deciding what we'll do. Any other advice for traveling in the UK? I've seen mention of bathrooms being difficult to find, different tip culture, food isn't overall that great etc.
Public bathrooms are rare. They are usually in big tourist attractions, shopping malls and train stations. Otherwise you go to a coffee shop (usually customer only, ask for code to unlock) or McDonalds where they don't give a shit.

Edinburgh is fantastic, go to Edinburgh Castle and the Haggis resturant at the top of Cockburn Street.
 
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Lambourne

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
2,688
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Headed to the UK for the first time this week with just my wife (kids staying with family). Planning lots of touristy things, but open to additional ideas. Plan is London as a base for 4.5 days then up to Scotland for 3.5 days then 2 days of flex to wherever before heading to the airport and back home. Can split these 2 flex days, but need final destination to be within 1-2 hours of Heathrow to catch a 1:30 PM flight.

We'll probably do 1-2 day trips from London and the same from Edinburgh, but still deciding what we'll do. Any other advice for traveling in the UK? I've seen mention of bathrooms being difficult to find, different tip culture, food isn't overall that great etc.

Gonna need to take it one day at a time with your planning this time of year as you'll likely have a mix of pleasant and rainy days. Plenty of indoor and outdoor stuff you can do in London. Much as I hate public transport, the Underground is probably your best bet for getting around London's center. I'd still get a car for the stuff outside London though.

As Chris says, no problem using a bathroom at a pub/bistro type place if you're willing to sit down for some coffee/tea and maye some pie or something. Only thing these restaurants don't want is to just have people walk in and out all day that only use the bathroom. Not much different in other touristy cities. Along the motorway you can use the bathroom at gas stations/shops ("services" is what they're signposted as) but expect to pay 50p or so. Often you get a voucher for a refund for that if you buy something at the shops.

English countryside is beautiful (South Downs may be a nice place to spend your last day, it's on the right side of London to be close to Heathrow).

Dover may be worth a trip, it's only about 90 minutes from London by car once you're past the M25. Dover castle is historic and the tunnels below also played a major role in WW2 (guided tour, need to book in advance probably). White cliffs of Dover are beautiful and on a clear day you can see France clear across the Channel. Good way of checking off a bunch of stuff in one day.

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Chris

Potato del Grande
18,033
-467
With the food, just choose a cuisine and find a place on tripadvisor. We have restaurant chains (I like Pho for Vietnamese) and independent places.

I would avoid Chinese and Italian personally, the quality is often worse as the market for Italian is over saturated and Chinese resturants are old and cheap.

Don't go looking for English food. We only eat English food at a pub or for breakfast. You may want to try Full English Breakfast, Sunday Roast and a Cream Tea (it's a type of cake we call a scone with strawberry jam and preferably clotted cream, with tea - these are different to the US versions).

Indian curry is the true British cuisine and is apparently not what they have in actual India, it was invented here. Quality is generally good everywhere.

Apparently Americans like Nandos, it's Portugese spiced chicken you pour spicy sauce all over. They are everywhere.

Gonna need to take it one day at a time with your planning this time of year as you'll likely have a mix of pleasant and rainy days. Plenty of indoor and outdoor stuff you can do in London. Much as I hate public transport, the Underground is probably your best bet for getting around London's center. I'd still get a car for the stuff outside London though.

As Chris says, no problem using a bathroom at a pub/bistro type place if you're willing to sit down for some coffee/tea and maye some pie or something. Only thing these restaurants don't want is to just have people walk in and out all day that only use the bathroom. Not much different in other touristy cities. Along the motorway you can use the bathroom at gas stations/shops ("services" is what they're signposted as) but expect to pay 50p or so. Often you get a voucher for a refund for that if you buy something at the shops.

English countryside is beautiful (South Downs may be a nice place to spend your last day, it's on the right side of London to be close to Heathrow).

Dover may be worth a trip, it's only about 90 minutes from London by car once you're past the M25. Dover castle is historic and the tunnels below also played a major role in WW2 (guided tour, need to book in advance probably). White cliffs of Dover are beautiful and on a clear day you can see France clear across the Channel. Good way of checking off a bunch of stuff in one day.

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View attachment 466392
You don't pay for toilets on the motorway services, you used to have to pay at train stations but they made then free a few years ago.
 
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Lambourne

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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You don't pay for toilets on the motorway services, you used to have to pay at train stations but they made then free a few years ago.

Good, it's still common on the continent. I may be misremembering from stopping in Belgium or France last time I went to the UK. Should really be a requirement for them to be free when you operate along a major highway. They always put nice benches where you can have lunch outside but it smells like stale piss everywhere.

Side note I forgot to remember: watch out for pickpockets in London. You'd think with all the electronic payments it would have reduced the incentive but a friend of mine got rolled on the Underground last year so it still happens. Total hassle to get all the cards/licenses etc replaced while on a trip.
 
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Tholan

Blackwing Lair Raider
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Is there some quanit historical explanation for why Euros pay to go to the bathroom?
I'll spin the question, why would toilets be free since it's a service.
On a more serious note, it's not free most likely to keep meth heads, hookers and druggies out.
 

Aldarion

Egg Nazi
8,815
24,053
See, in the US we also have meth heads and hookers.

But we recognize that people also need to shit and piss. So aside from the absolute worst urban shitholes, a tiny tiny fraction of the country, there are free public restroom everywhere. I've lived in this country my whole life, coast to coast, urban to rural -- I've literally never in my life encountered a situation where I needed to piss but the bathroom charged you to enter.

Is your argument that Euros have a bigger problem with meth heads and that kind of thing?
 
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