United Kingdom: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive United Kingdom feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 429 written places.
Queueing is sacred, understatement is the humour, and sorry means many things.
✓ Considered polite
- Join the back of every queue without comment
- Stand on the right on London escalators
- Buy your round when drinking in a group at the pub
- Order at the bar in pubs - table service is rare
✗ Better avoided
- Jump a queue - it is genuinely the gravest offence available
- Expect ice, air conditioning or huge portions as standard
- Talk loudly on trains, especially in quiet carriages
- Confuse England with Britain when speaking to Scots or Welsh
Worth knowing
- Card and contactless work literally everywhere, including buses
- A 10-12.5% service charge is often already on restaurant bills - check before adding more
- Museums with national collections are free, including the biggest ones
- Trains are far cheaper booked in advance on set-time tickets
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.