Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Current U.K. Prices?

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Current U.K. Prices?

I will be travelling with a group of students and staff to England and France at Easter. Though I am familiar with French prices, it has been some time since I have been in England. The last time I was there, it was about twice the cost here (CDN$). What are some approximate prices which one could expect to pay for things students will ask about?--lunch in a cheaper restaurant? fast food? Snacks? Soft drinks? Souvenirs? Thanks for the assistance!

The answers of course vary hugely. You should be able to get a nutricious if dull lunch for £4. A Macdonalds/Burger King Cheeseburge is about £1.50. Fish and chips £2.50. Pizza- £5. Crisps 30p. Sandwiches from about £1. Tins of fizzy drinks from 35p to 50p. Souvenirs- I think we need more definition here? More specifics- get back to me.

We paid about 16 pounds a night, per person, for our vacation rental in London. In US$, that was about $27 - which, for a big city - US standards, is a very good price. A family restaurant in the US would charge less than $10 for a meal, tax and tip and drink. We paid about the same in London for 'pub grub'. For a Harrod's cloth totebag, vinylized, about 15" x 10", I paid 10 pounds, US$17, which, again, was a fair price. Lunch at Harrod's was expensive, but so is lunch in Bloomingdale's. Each BP sterling is worth CDN$2.38, so use the above prices in BP I paid, and multiply by CDN$2.38 and figure from there if it's fair priced. I always make a little chart for myself on a 3x5 card, i.e., $1 = 59 p $10 = 6bp, etc and then on the other side, the reverse 1bp = $1.70 10 bp = $17 etc. so that I can get a quick scan to see if prices are in line with what I expect to pay (pounds are easy to get confused with dollars, because they are written in decimals to indicate 1/100, and the amounts are close to dollars; lira are MUCH easier to keep clear in my head)

Go to this website for a currency conversion chart such as the one Elvira describes in the message above. Easy to print it out and tuck into your wallet. http://www.oanda.com/converter/travel

Many of the things I've bought in Britain (food, books, etc) seem to be about 50% higher on average. So as a really rough estimate, I usually expect prices in GBP to be about the same as prices in US$, ignoring the rate of exchange. If I'd expect to spend $10US on something in the US, it often works out to be about 10GBP in Britain (or $17US in actual cost, after conversion). Unfortunately not too helpful for CDN$, but for me it has been a useful way to quickly compare prices without thinking too much about exchange rates.

When we were in London we found everything to be outrageously expensive. The cheapest meals we found were ho-hum pub food for an average of £5 (C$12) and grocery store sandwiches for £2 (C$4.80). I hope your students are wealthy; they could save money by buying bread from grocery stores & brining their own peanut butter (not kidding). CDs cost £13+ (C$31). Doc Martens footware around £50-£60 (probably cheaper in Canada but they do have some styles unique to the UK). PVC jacket at Camden? haggled to £25 (C$60). Great deal on cashmere wool pea coat in July for £85 (C$204). 9" high Paddington Bear stuffed toy £16 (C$38). I think it's safe to say that the cost of things in London will be the same digits as Canadian dollars except in British pounds, ie. 2.4x as expensive.