Money in Britain: paying, tipping and planning a budget

Cards and contactless

Visa, Mastercard and other major cards are accepted by most shops and restaurants, and a contactless card or phone wallet will often pay a local transport fare as well.^[1] Some merchants no longer take cash at all, while small shops and pubs may set a minimum spend for cards, so carry a little cash as a back-up.^[1]

In London, tap the same card or phone on every journey so your daily fare cap adds up: see Oyster vs contactless.

Foreign card fees. Your own bank or card issuer may charge for spending or withdrawing abroad, and a payment terminal may offer to charge you in your home currency. Britlens cannot tell you what your bank charges: check your card terms before you travel, and compare your issuer’s rate before accepting a home-currency offer.

Cash and cash machines

Cash machines (also called ATMs or cashpoints) are widely available and most accept overseas cards.^[1] Many cash machines do not charge their own fee, but your bank may still charge, so “free to use” on the machine is not the same as free for you.^[1] LINK’s Cash Locator finds machines by town or postcode.^[2]

Exchange desks may advertise “no commission” while building the cost into a poor exchange rate, so compare the buy and sell rates, not the headline.^[1]

Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes

The Bank of England issues the notes used in England and Wales, and six banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland issue their own, under the Bank of England’s asset-backing rules.^[3] Coins are the same everywhere. Travellers report that some shopkeepers in England and Wales are wary of Scottish and Northern Irish notes, and that they can be hard to change outside the UK, so it is sensible to spend them before you leave, or swap them at a bank for Bank of England notes.^[1] Our guides to Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Highlands and Northern Ireland cover those places.

Tipping and service charge

We already cover customs in Tipping and etiquette and the first-time guide, so here is only the extra point: many table-service restaurants add a “service charge” to the bill, often described as optional. If one is added you do not need to tip on top, and where it is optional you can ask for it to be removed.^[1] Read the bottom of the bill before you add anything.

VAT and the end of tax-free shopping

HMRC withdrew the VAT Retail Export Scheme from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) when the transition period ended on 31 December 2020, along with “airside” tax-free shopping.^[4] Since then, goods bought in a shop in Great Britain can be tax-free only if the shop delivers them straight to an address outside the UK, so ask the retailer whether it offers that.^[5]

Northern Ireland is different. HMRC’s notice for supplies from 1 January 2021 lets visitors from outside both Northern Ireland and the EU reclaim VAT on goods taken home in luggage from shops that offer tax-free shopping. It does not cover services, and the shop or refund company may take a fee out of the refund.^[5] That is the guidance as published on gov.uk (page last updated 20 August 2021, read on 25 Oct 2026): check gov.uk before you shop.

Free things

Many museums, parks and viewpoints cost nothing to enter, though some ask you to book a slot. See free things by region and free and cheap in London. For tickets that need booking early, see book ahead.

Plan a budget

We have no official, current source for typical daily costs, so we do not print any. Use figures from the prices you find on venue and transport sites.

Trip budget calculator

Define your own three daily bands, pick one, and add costs that do not repeat each day (flights, booked tickets). The sum is multiplied out for you. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

Days

Travellers

Lean band: your per-person, per-day figure (£)

Middle band: your per-person, per-day figure (£)

Treat band: your per-person, per-day figure (£)

Band to use LeanMiddleTreat

One-off costs, whole party (£)

Safety margin (%)

Enter your daily figure for the band you picked to see a total.

Reset

For the fixed costs that official sources do publish (ETA and visa fees, London bus fares and caps, England’s bus fare cap), see what a trip to Britain costs.

Currency converter

Prices on Britlens stay in pounds. For a rough idea in your own currency:

Approximate currency converter

Prices on Britlens are in pounds (GBP). This gives a rough idea in another currency using European Central Bank reference rates for 30 October 2026, converted by us into rates against the pound. The ECB publishes them for information only: your bank or card will use its own rate and may add fees.

Rate table for 30 October 2026

One pound in other currencies, ECB reference rates for 30 October 2026, converted by Britlens

Currency	£1 is about	1 unit is about
Euro (EUR)	1.20 EUR	£0.83
US dollar (USD)	1.34 USD	£0.75
Canadian dollar (CAD)	1.87 CAD	£0.53
Australian dollar (AUD)	1.91 AUD	£0.52
New Zealand dollar (NZD)	2.38 NZD	£0.42
Japanese yen (JPY)	211 JPY	£0.0047
Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY)	8.91 CNY	£0.11
Indian rupee (INR)	127 INR	£0.0079
South Korean won (KRW)	1,789 KRW	£0.0006
Swiss franc (CHF)	1.10 CHF	£0.91
Swedish krona (SEK)	13.17 SEK	£0.08
Polish zloty (PLN)	5.28 PLN	£0.19
Brazilian real (BRL)	7.28 BRL	£0.14
Mexican peso (MXN)	25.33 MXN	£0.04
Singapore dollar (SGD)	1.71 SGD	£0.58
Hong Kong dollar (HKD)	10.51 HKD	£0.10
South African rand (ZAR)	22.36 ZAR	£0.04
Israeli new shekel (ILS)	4.19 ILS	£0.24

Source: ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates (opens in new tab), 30 October 2026. Approximate; rates change daily.