Euros in London
 

Are euros accepted in London? Considering the great exchange rate with the dollar at the moment, I'm wondering if I should buy some euro's now for my London vacation in July.

No, London uses the UK currency which is Sterling (GBP).

A few things IME accept them - like some pay phones but not generally - and to Brits i think it would be a sacrilege to have euros acting as legal tender in Pound-foolish Britain.

Nope i think that would be daft to buy euros to spend in London, where you would have to take them to a bank - not to say that some tourist-oriented upscale stores may not take them to induce European tourists to buy but not generally.

The pound is sinking along with the euro - not quite as much so it makes better sense to buy pounds now to lock in a good rate - except that Britain is one of the basket cases financially with debt ratios on par with Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain they say so the pound may well sink further before July.

Are you American?

If so, do you pay for your groceries with Canadian dollars?

If not, why should the Brits accept a currency that is backed primarily by (ugh) France and Germany?

Many shops accept euro sometimes but are under no obligation to do so...it is a completely different cutrency and most assuredly not the currency of Great Britain (or anywhere in the UK)....whatever exchange rate you might get is determined by the merchant but in doing what you are suggesting, you lose on two exchanges as no exchange of currencies give you the exact exchange rate....even if you were going to Paris, I wouldn't exchange right now. How do you know the euro won't continue going down? And the UK pound has been going down as well, at least against the US dollar. Again whether that will continue, nobody knows.

I most assuredly do not suggest playing the foreign currency game; it is no different than any other kind of monetary speculation. Should you buy microsoft stock today if it is low. How do you or anybody know what it will look like in 3 months?

Just let the currencies do whatever currencies do. When you arrive in London, nip over to the nearest ATM and take out the currency of the country namely UK pound sterling. And whatever the exchange rate, that is what it will cost. Que sera sera.

Not sure why a great USD exchange rate for euro would have any bearing on how the GBP rate for the euro.

The currency in the UK is Pounds Sterling, so I suggest that you use that currency.

You are probably under the impression that since the £ is about $1.46 and the € about $1.25 -- that the € is a better deal than the £. It does not work that way. The buying power of the pound is not the same as the buying power of the euro.

Go to London, get £ out of ATMs and don't give the value of the € a second thought.

Plus - the few places in London that do take € would give you a horrible exchange rate, so you'dlose twice . . .

The pound-dollar exchange rate rate is also quite good right now. If you want to buy foreign currency ahead, why not buy pounds instead?

Thanks everybody for your advice. I'll stick to pounds.

I was in London last week, and due to the good exchange rate (it's even better since the market crash while I was in London) and VAT refund, I got some products that were cheaper in London than anywhere I could get them in the States or online. I was surprised but thankful.

The only places that will take tyhem are tourist traps like Harrods. They will do you over on the rate too. (BTW they will also take dollars).