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-   -   Can I use Euro in London (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/can-i-use-euro-in-london-682372/)

ReginaK Feb 23rd, 2007 10:46 AM

Can I use Euro in London
 
Does any one know if Euro beeing widely used in London or Pounds (GBP) only?

Thanks

queener Feb 23rd, 2007 10:48 AM

Pounds only as far as I know....

dfr4848 Feb 23rd, 2007 11:21 AM

While there are some places I've seen (primarily in London) that will quote prices in Euros (and presumably take them), I have not found that to be the general rule. The pound is still the currency of Her Majesty's realm.

PalenQ Feb 23rd, 2007 11:24 AM

Certain public pay phones take euros but that's all i've seen.

The euro in UK? Sacrilege! another sinister plot by Brussels bureaucrats.

owain Feb 23rd, 2007 12:00 PM

Some large department stores etc. will accept them, laughing behind your back at the ridiculous exchange rate they'll be charging.

LoisL Feb 23rd, 2007 12:21 PM

It would be no different than trying to use dollars. In Harrods, when we made a purchase, they asked if we wanted to do it in dollars or pounds. That was the only time I came across it, in my four visits there.

Michel_Paris Feb 23rd, 2007 12:23 PM

I would be concerned on the exchange rate you would get. Just because an establishment takes your euros, they are under no obligation, and would probably not, offer you a competitive rate....use your credit cards if you must.

flybob Feb 23rd, 2007 01:34 PM

No problem , it is the same as using Russian rubbles in New York - FGS (for gods sake) you are in a differnt ountry

owain Feb 23rd, 2007 01:39 PM

Flybob - there's many situations where using multiple currencies is an everyday situation. Parts of Switzerland, some border areas of Northern Ireland & the Republic, etc etc. The extreme was motorway service stations in pre-Euro Luxembourg, which would accept just about anything circular and metallic.

BTilke Feb 23rd, 2007 01:43 PM

I was in Windsor yesterday and noticed quite a few places had signs up saying they'd take € and $$ as well as ££.

I'm assuming the exchange rate is not the best (well, not the best for the customer, for the business it's probably terrific).

flybob Feb 23rd, 2007 01:43 PM

I agree, If i were in Luxembourg, I would accept anything LOL

flanneruk Feb 23rd, 2007 02:05 PM

"The extreme was motorway service stations in pre-Euro Luxembourg"

Who made more from the turn on taking foreign money than from selling petrol. Or even sweets and cigarettes.

From Fernet-Voltaire to Strabane: a trader taking a curency that's not his is a trader who's making money you'd save if you went to an ATM.

kerouac Feb 23rd, 2007 02:10 PM

Swiss parking meters in Lausanne and Geneva used to take French francs, marks, and lira besides Swiss francs. Now of course they take euros, as do the bus and tram ticket machines.

xyz123 Feb 23rd, 2007 02:50 PM

I found that while in Lucerne almost every establishment from the large stores to the ice cream vendors on the street took either euro or swiss francs, quoted prices in both and returned change in the same currency they were given.

bob_brown Feb 23rd, 2007 03:06 PM

Schiphol Airport had several shops that would take any major currency. The rates were programmed into the computer-based cash register and it was all done by software. I don't recall how change was returned.

I remember being a little surprised to see that Japanese yen were accepted along with everything else.

I recall I paid in a mixture of currencies just to unload them before coming home. The euro was about to make its debut and I figured marks and French francs were going to be history by the time I got back.

flybob Feb 23rd, 2007 07:48 PM

OK, alL the posts identify locations that accept different currencies, however the question did say "widely used in London" and unless I am living in a different London the answer is NO

Carolina Feb 23rd, 2007 09:10 PM

The currency of the UK is the British Pound. Just as only US dollars are accepted in most of the US, British pounds are the only acceptable currency in most of the UK.

Carolena

ReginaK Feb 26th, 2007 08:33 AM

Thank you everyone for answering my question

alanRow Feb 26th, 2007 08:39 AM

You can use Euro coins in order to get use of a trolley at supermarkets


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