London
United Kingdom
Every neighbourhood is a different city
Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash
Photos by Marcin Nowak, Charles Postiaux, Lucas Davies and Aron Van de Pol on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of United Kingdom
May to September
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 69mm in Oct
Where it is
51.51°N, 0.13°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Spend a morning in the British Museum
- Tour the Tower of London
- Walk the South Bank from Westminster to Tower Bridge
- See a play in the West End
- Explore Borough Market
- Take in the view from Greenwich Observatory
London travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget United Kingdom
Very expensiveThe UK is outside the Eurozone — euros are not accepted. Do not exchange at Heathrow or the Oxford Street bureaus. London is effectively cashless: a contactless card covers transport, shops and most pubs.
ATMs & cards
Look for LINK machines at Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds — these are free. Avoid the standalone machines in convenience stores that charge £1.99, and never accept the conversion offer.
Avoid these
- Travelex
- YourCash
- Cashzone
- NoteMachine fee-charging machines
- ATMs in corner shops and clubs
Use these instead
- LINK network machines at Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds and Santander
Free-to-use machines say so on screen before you withdraw. Anything charging £1.99 has a bank alternative within a few minutes' walk.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of United Kingdom
Stay alertViolent crime against visitors is rare; theft is not. Phone-snatching by riders on e-bikes and mopeds has become the defining London risk — tens of thousands of phones a year, most of them taken from a hand at a kerb in the West End, Shoreditch or around Westminster — so use the phone in a doorway, not on the pavement edge. Pickpockets work the Tube at rush hour and the Oxford Street crowds. Look right first when crossing.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (9 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Oxford Street, Shoreditch and Westminster — phone-snatching by riders on e-bikes and mopeds, tens of thousands a year across the city, most from a hand at the kerb
- Camden Town — the same, at the market and outside the stations
- the Tube at rush hour — pickpockets work the crush at the doors
- Empty tube carriages late at night — walk to a busier one
- Unlicensed minicabs touting outside clubs
Do not use your phone standing at a kerb; step into a doorway. Moped snatches are quick and are not confrontational.
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa United Kingdom visa rules
Travel authorisation requiredup to 180 days£16
An Electronic Travel Authorisation is required before travel — it is not a visa, but you will not board without it. Valid two years or until the passport expires.
Other passports
Visa required in advancefrom £115
A Standard Visitor visa applied for online before travel.
How to get it: Apply for the ETA through the official UK ETA app or the gov.uk page. It usually comes back within minutes but can take up to three working days.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: travel authorisation
UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)Required£20
Before you fly. Most come back within minutes, some take three working days.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- a passport photo
Valid for two years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first — it is not per trip.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of United Kingdom
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
Emergency treatment in A&E is free to everyone regardless of nationality. Follow-up care, admission and repatriation are not, so insurance still matters. Pharmacists can treat many minor problems without an appointment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodThe great museums are free — budget the savings toward food instead. Borough Market for lunch, Brick Lane for curry, and a Sunday roast in a proper pub.
Nightlife
Everything, expensively, and closing earlier than the reputation suggests outside a few areas.
- Soho — bars, theatre and the gay scene
- Shoreditch — and Dalston, for the late night
- Peckham — rooftops, and the current crowd
- Camden Town — live music, and the pubs around it
Closing: Pubs 23:00, bars 01:00–03:00, Dalston and Shoreditch clubs 04:00 or later.
A beer in a bar: £6–8
The night tube runs Friday and Saturday on five lines; the rest of the week the last train is around 00:30.
Getting around
Easy and cheap- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
FREE NOW black cabs and private hire in one app
- From the airport
- Heathrow to central London £45–70 by app, against £3.50 on the Piccadilly line
- Against a taxi
- A black cab is metered and costs more; the apps are cheaper everywhere except short central hops.
Outside the cities the coverage thins quickly — in a small town the local minicab firm on the telephone is still the answer.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/London — 5 hours ahead of you
3 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–12:00 your time, 14:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 04:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 04:00–12:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of United Kingdom
What these numbers mean
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.2× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Good. Maps, calls and streaming, and enough to tether a laptop for an afternoon. Mobile runs at about the global median of 109 Mbps.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for United Kingdom, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
British English — local usage
- Hello, informallyYou alright?
- ThanksCheers
- Yes, definitelyYeah, no worries
- That is expensiveThat is a bit steep
4 more phrases
- The bill, pleaseCould we get the bill, please?
- Sorry (used constantly)Sorry
- Very goodBrilliant
- A drink before dinnerA swift half
Religion
Church of England, and largely secular
The Anglican church is established by law with the monarch at its head, while actual attendance is low. Cathedrals often charge entry but are free during services.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Queue, properly and without comment — jumping one is the closest thing to a national taboo
- Say sorry constantly, including when someone else bumps into you
- Stand on the right on escalators
- Buy a round if you are drinking in a group, and buy yours in turn
Don't
- Do not skip your round; it is noticed and remembered
- Do not ask what someone earns or what their house cost
- Do not take "we must do this again sometime" as a firm plan
- Do not expect table service in pubs unless the sign says so — order at the bar
Where to stay in London
No Holistay rentals in London yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is London on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Heathrow LHR
50 minfrom the airport· 23 km as the crow flies
Piccadilly line in 50 min, Elizabeth line in 30.
Also worth pricing: Gatwick LGW — 30 min on the Gatwick Express, and often cheaper to fly into.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
