It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Vacation

British Logistics, or, How Does This Country Work, anyhow?

Main -- House -- History -- Cornwall -- Getting There -- On the Road -- The Roads -- London -- The Far West -- Boring Details -- Updates

This page is dedicated to boring details you may wish to know.

Immigration:

No visa is required for entry to the UK, unless you've done something nasty and been caught doing it. You will need a current passport, of course. If you don't already have a current passport, get one--it's normally said to be a four-to-six week process and you don't want to be waiting for it to arrive when your travel day comes!

Transportation:

In London, you'll almost certainly use the Underground and/or the buses. The easiest and cheapest way to town from the airport is the Underground's Piccadilly Line. If you'll ride the Underground more than once or twice, you should buy an "Oyster" card which will dramatically reduce the fare paid; this is a pre-loaded card which you can top up with additional money as needed, and you can pick one up at the Heathrow tube station (or they can be ordered in advance). Yes, you can buy individual tickets, but it's slow and annoying and if you ride the darned thing more than about once, most expensive, too.

Hotels:

If you're visiting London before or after Cornwall, you will of course need a place to stay. There are a zillion hotels in London, and a zillion hotel reviews to read. Our own experience is limited but here are a few we've liked, and which you can try if you like:

K&K George, Earl's Court: This is our personal favorite: a decent, clean, German-chain-owned hotel reasonably near the middle of town and not unreasonably expensive. Good breakfast, and German TV channels (English ones, too). Don't mention the war!

Chancery Court: Quite centrally located, can be pricey but not completely outrageous, big rooms (for London) and a nice breakfast. Used to be a Marriott, with Book of Mormon for laughs; now less humorous but probably still pleasant.

Cavendish: You wanna be smack in the middle of it all, Piccadilly Circus close at hand? This is nice, but expensive.

On hotels generally: Rooms are small and rates are high in London. The cheapest places may surprise you with how basic, and how not-nice, they are, so be careful if bargain-shopping and read the reviews!

Cash and Credit:

Most American ATM cards will work in British ATMs. You may want to keep yourself stocked with cash, because although British merchants will ordinarily take US credit cards, some confusion can result. Most terminals will require a card with a smart chip in it -- this might not seem like a problem, as most American credit cards now have them. But the Brits generally use the "chip-and-PIN" system, where no signature is required but a PIN is, while American cards are usually set up as "chip-and-signature" type. When they ask you to enter your PIN, if they do, try telling them that you think it's going to generate a slip for you to sign. If it does, your cashier will probably look slightly confused, but all should be well. Try not to use a card without a chip -- this should ordinarily be possible, but will often confuse clerks (pronounced "clarks", and yeah, that seems strange but I am told that our pronunciation is extremely funny.) Some machines--ticket machines at train stations, for example--may not accept your cards at all, but our experience on this point after the arrival of chip-and-signature cards is limited, so your guess is as good as ours. Cash is good to have in your pocket.

Not Dying in Traffic:

British traffic, especially in London, poses something of a risk. They're not crazier than we are (it's not like walking in, say, Rome, or Beijing), but the problem is that you are liable, coming from a drive-on-the-right country, to walk smack into the path of oncoming traffic when you think you've looked. This sounds like a silly thing to say to middle-aged people, but: LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET!

On that, too: complex intersections can be surprisingly confusing when your understanding of traffic is mirror-reversed. Just be very, very careful; make sure you have the right of way, and be open to the possibility that you may not have identified all of the directions from which cars may approach you.