 |
| Airports | Transport | Historic City | Rainy days | River-side Walks |
| Eating | Around London | Secret London | Navigating London | Money Matters |
|
POUNDS, PENCE, AND EUROS
The UK currently uses a money currency based on Pounds and Pence (pennies). There are 100 pence to a pound. Common coinage is : 1p piece, 2p piece, 5p piece, 10p piece, 20p piece, and the pound coin. There is also a 2.00 pound coin but you don't see many of them. Most vending machines take the 10p, 20p, 50p and 1.00 pound coins. Some accept the 5p coin and hardly any accept 1p or 2p coins!
Notes come in: 5.00 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds, and 50 pounds. If you are worried about forgeries because you are unfamiliar with the paper and designs, change your money out for all 5.00 pound notes. A bit bulkier but forgers bother less to try and replicate this note. Most forgeries are for the 20.00 and 50.00 pound note! All notes have a water mark (hold them up to the light) and a very fine metallic strip on or in them).
The UK has been slow to adopt the Euro. There is no need to worry about Euros for 1999. Stay with pounds and pence for now.
You will need coins to travel on the London buses
(if you don't buy a travel card),. The drivers do not have to change or
accept notes if the price of the fare or total is under the minimum note
value: all bus journeys are well under 5.00 pounds! The best policy for
carrying coinage is to maintain about 3.00 pounds worth of coins in 20p,
10p, and 50p pieces per person all the time.
Would you like to see some of your currency converted
into pounds? (Note: this is a link to a different site
at http://www.xe.net/currency/
- not onview.net !)
CHANGING MONEY AND TRAVEL CHEQUES (checks)
Rates can vary so watch out for this. Don't change money in shops. Use the banks and agencies designed to do this. Thomas Cook has an offer of no commission charge to change out money the third time at some of its branches (throughout the whole of 1999 so look out for this).
Students, Nurses, Old age pensioners (senior
citizen)
If you fit into one of these categories, carry
some ID to prove it. You can get discounts on travel, entertainment, museums,
and other places of interest!
ACCOMMODATION
The youth hostel association is the place for this. You don't have to be young to utilize the youth hostel service. Tel: 0171 836 1036 to join! Ten pound for adults and 5.00 pounds for under 18s. Always phone a youth hostel first to make sure they have room. London Reservation office Tel: 0171 248 6547.
TRAVEL
When travelling around London, purchase 1 day travel passes. These cover Tube, bus, and train. If you remain in the inner zones and use a travel card you will save loads of money of your fares. There are time restrictions in so far as you can only use a travel card after 9.30 am. So have a heart breakfast and go out after the commuter rush is over to save money and energy. (See more below under theatre). You will need coins to travel on the London buses (if you don't buy a travel card),. The drivers do not have to change or accept notes: all bus journeys are well under 5.00 pounds!
PHONE CALLS
London is splattered with phone boxes. Some take
coins and some take those little plastic cards. You can purchase phone
cards from many shops in the high street.
There are no free local calls. Cheaper rates
apply between 6.00 pm and 6.00 am. London is divided into 2 code areas
: 0171 Inner London and 0181 Outer London. It is easy to get this
inner / outer London code thing wrong and dial a bad number - so
watch out for this.
THEATRE
Going to theatre in London is very dear! A few
theatre ticket offices to special rates on tickets for productions the
same evening. Often tickets may be sold because someone cancelled out.
Look out for these offers in ticket offices in Leicester Square and Shaftesbury
Avenue. Many theatres in outer london are much cheaper. Buy a Time-Out
magazine (sold weekly in News agents) and look up out-of-town theatres.
You will be pleasantly surprised if you select an out-of-town production....
and its a lot cheaper too. The tube will take you to most outer London
districts quickly. Even the furthest reaches will take no longer that 30
to 45 minutes. Be sure to catch your tube back before 12.00 midnight. The
tubes do not run much after this time.
TIPPING
Tipping is the practice of handing over small change to the people who serve you... on top of the bill you already paid. it is customary to tip waiters and waitreses in restaurants - about 10% but not if your bill states that a service charge has already been included - so watch out for this. it is customary to tip cab and taxi drivers probably because they go all moody otherwise. Don't give much if anything unless something about them - their politeness or help - added something extra to your journey. You paid for the fare. Why pay more unless they give you something extra that delighted you?!
BEGGARS
If you want to give money to unfortunate people
- donate it to a charity! London has a fair share of homeless people. If
you feel something about these things, you will see people selling a magazine
called The Big Issue. These people have ID to prove they should be selling
the magazine. Buy one and you will help the homeless and know your money
has not been wasted. The magazine is great anyway!
BUSKERS
London has street performers. They need permission
to perform in certain places. Covent garden is one such place. You only
give money to them if you wish to. if they put you under any pressure to
pay - most licensed ones won't - they are breaking the law!
FOOD AND DRINK
Don't buy food from street vendors and that includes ice cream, unless you are in a market full of stalls. The quality of food from lone street vendors is often poor quality and over-priced! Here is a guide to some basic food item prices as at the start of 1999.
Cup of Coffee
From coffee house: 1.20 pounds small, 2.00 medium.
From Street cafe: 0.80 pence
Chinese Meal without drinks
Non-buffet: 10.00 to 15.00 pounds per head
Buffet: 5.00 - 8.00 pounds per head.
Ice Cream Cone
From road-side van: small cone: 0.85 p large cone: 1.40 pence
From a shop: 1.20 pence.
Indian Meal
Eat-in: 10.00 to 15.00 pounds per head
Take-away: 7.00 to 10.00 pounds per head.
Sandwiches
From a specialised take-away sandwich shop (all over London): 1.20
to 2.00 pounds
At a quality sit-in restaurant: 3.50 pounds.
Drinks
A pint of beer or lager from a public house: : 2.25 pounds
A 440 ml can of beer from an off-licence: 0.80 to 1.20 pounds
A Pub Meal
Public Houses in London are a good source of home-cooked food. Most
are good value for money.
Try them and aim at pubs where meal prices fall in the range
3.50 to 6.00 pounds.
House wine in restaurants: start at 7.00
pound a bottle.
Bottle of wine from off-licence: start
at 3.00 pounds per bottle. Spend 5.00 pounds for a better quality wine!
Bar of chocolate: 0.35 pence
Can of coke: 40 pence
Bag of crisps: 35 pence
 |
London, money, currency, pounds, pence, coinage, coins, notes, youth hostels, thatres, theaters, accommodation, accomodation, travelling, traveling, Thoma cook, cheques, checks, tipping, homeless, beggars, buskers, onview, onview.net, london images, forgery, homeless, prices, costs, money tips, london guide