U.K. Observations

We noted down the following observations as we went along and they may be helpful to anyone (especially from Australia - Mike and Ruth?) planning to tour the U.K., based on our personal experiences. Some of them you might find in the guide books, some you won’t.
They are in no particular order.
Obviously ignore this if it is of no interest to you.

* Credit card will suffice for 98% of the time. There are still just a few times when you will need some cash (e.g. some of the Parking meters, The Kurdistan Barber).
* Public toilets very often require payment, especially in the tourist districts - usually 40p. Some take card, some cash (coins) only. Don’t get caught short.
* Use a card that has no foreign transaction fees. We used Latitude 28 degrees Global (yes, the company that just had the major data breach a few days after I signed up with them!) and it was great. Foreign transaction fees on your regular credit card will add up to a significant cost.
* Just be aware that if you are paying for some items online, your card provider will want extra verification. If that is an SMS they send you with a code - and you’re not using your normal Aussie SIM - then it will be an exercise in frustration. Change your verification contact to email (or some other means) before you leave home rather than SMS. I didn’t even think of this and got caught out a few times.
* Expect to pay for parking almost everywhere you go - even at hotels you are staying at. Very annoying.
* Hire the smallest car you can mange for your needs. Narrow roads, tight parking etc make it very difficult for larger vehicles.
* Work out driving times in advance - not by distance, but by paying attention to the times Google Maps gives you - it was pretty accurate.
* Lots of traffic / bottlenecks / roadworks creating slow progress on a number of occasions.
* We found Waze gave the superior driving instructions (which lanes to be in, speed limits and warnings etc) compared to Google Maps, but occasionally we would revert to Google Maps if Waze didn’t have a destination or feature in it.
* The ‘Derestricted’ road signs mean: 60mph for undivided roads, 70mph for dual carriageway roads. You only get numbers on signs when the speed limit is 50mph or less.
* There are almost NO speed guidance signs for bends etc. I hadn’t realised how valuable these are until you don’t have them!
* Don’t speed! There are lots and lots of speed cameras, including ‘average speed cameras’ that cover large sections of roads.
* The U.K. has a love affair with roundabouts
* Drivers are generally quite courteous
* Watch out for / plan to avoid ‘clean air zones’ and ‘congestion zones’. If you drive into these areas it will incur a fee.
* We only came across one toll road - the bridge into Liverpool. Pay the toll within 24hrs online or your rental car company will probably charge a large handling fee on top of the £2 toll when they get the bill later.
* Get a good mobile phone arrangement. We pre purchased SIM (30GB data) cards and used the ‘3’ carrier which was fine for major areas but a bit flakey in some regional areas. Speaking to locals, they would recommend Vodaphone or EE for best overall coverage. (Seems like Vodaphone to them is like Telstra to us.)
* Vodaphone Australia do quite a good deal if you don’t want to get a UK SIM- AUD$5 per day global roaming with the same plan you have at home - which would be economical if you were only here for a week to 10 days. Telstra global roaming is awful - $10 per day and minuscule amounts of data allowance.
* We used about 5 or 6 Gb of data per week, using the phone for everything including hot spotting etc.
* Every place we stayed at had free WiFI
* Almost no places we stayed in have airconditioning - except for major chain Motels. Wasn’t a problem for us as weather was cool to mild but ……
* Almost nothing in the UK opens until 10am so you need to plan around this.
* Buying a ‘London Card’ was invaluable and great value
* Download the TfL Go app for getting around London by public transport - this made it a piece of cake.
* Don’t hire a car until you are finished in London.
* Fuel is expensive - Diesel generally a little dearer than unleaded. You will pay in £ about what we pay in AUD$.
* Food, coffee, eating out is expensive. We saved heaps of time / money by having a Nespresso machine. It was usually our best coffee of the day first thing in the morning. Generally the standard being served is quite poor, and you pay a fortune for it.
* Avoid Nero Caffès at all costs - they are truly awful
* The best coffee we had was from. . . . McDonalds ! (Apart from at John and Sarah Owen’s place)
* We found having a self contained apartment every few days very useful. It allowed you to catch up on washing etc and gave the option of eating in if you chose.
* The weather is very changeable - 4 seasons in one day.
* Pre-book attractions as much as possible as many get sold out.
* If you are visiting the Christadelphian Office, contact them well in advance to request an appointment / visit.
* Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has either lived in or visited Australia or has a relative or friend living there.
* Brits are very friendly towards Aussies and will often ‘go the extra mile’ for us
* The ‘Find Penguins’ app was great, but if you turn on the ‘Always Tracking’ feature, it drains your phone battery VERY quickly (don’t believe their claim that it only uses an extra 4%). I did want the feature on, so had to buy a ‘power pack’ to get my phone battery to last through the day.
* ASDA stock Vegemite
* There are no shortage of Fish (Cod) and chips outlets
* There are more ice cream vendors than people
* Dogs are omnipresent and also eat ice cream. Many places are ‘pet friendly’ so be careful if you have allergies.
* Days are very long in the summer, but very short in the winter (not light till 9am, dark again at 3pm)
* If you are older than 60 in England (65 in Scotland), you qualify for Seniors discount at most attractions, no questions asked.
* If you do a Red Bus Hop on /off tour, keep your tickets from the first one because you will get a discount at subsequent ones in other cities.
* Be super careful stepping out of the shower in the bathrooms. Almost all of the shower bases are the moulded acrylic trays built up above floor height and some are quite slippery - which also means you are stepping down on exiting which is less than ideal. One slip / fall could ruin your day / holiday / life.
* Every place we stayed at provide a very warm /thick doona as your bed covering. We dislike these - way too hot - and generally places are kept warmer than we would keep them at home. We brought a cotton blanket with us and remade the bed using only this above the sheet and found it an ideal temperature almost 100% of the time. Excessive? Perhaps, but a good night’s sleep was enjoyed.
* Everyone (except us) seemed to use walking poles - especially in the Lake District !
* Hat and sunscreen hardly ever used. Even when out on full, sunny days you just don’t get burnt like we do in Oz.
* We loved the self guided audio tours of cities of interest- generally you pay about £6 to download and keep. Much cheaper and more flexible than a fully guided walking tour. Use some EarPods and set your own pace at a time that suits you with full GPS guidance and lots of great info.Leggi altro