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When Americans vacation in the UK we typically have no idea what we are doing. Today I am very interested in learning about important mistakes to avoid as a tourist visiting the UK. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!
What’s going on everyone I’m just a typical average American here today to react and learn about mistakes that tourists make in the UK today we’re going to take a look at what people in the UK say are the biggest mistakes that visitors make and since us Americans
Pretty much have no idea what we’re doing when we travel abroad to other countries I thought this would actually be a really insightful helpful Reddit discussion to take a look at so the question asked what is what are common tourist mistakes that visitors to the UK
Make and the person asking this said I live in Italy and common mistakes that tourists make is to eat at crappy trap restaurants I could see that happening quite a bit in Italy because uh people just figure well it’s Italy isn’t it we’ll just go to any old place
Unfortunately that’s not how Italy Works does that happen in the UK as well like uh I could definitely see that happening American tourists going to the UK like trying to get some authentic UK food whatever that is maybe some just maybe just some fish and chips for the first
Time in our life and we just to go to some old place but we don’t really know what the the good places are or the authentic places are I guess the locals have their own hidden away places uh often the more tucked away and unassuming it is the better it is okay
So tourists get suckered into eating at crappy places well he’s talking about Italy but I could see this happening in the UK or really anywhere that you’re traveling honestly especially for Americans I mean us Americans a large percentage of us Americans don’t even ever travel outside of the United States
Our entire life maybe a lot of people here don’t even have passports like because the US is so big uh a lot of us just travel in the United States so we don’t know what to do with ourselves in the UK so what about when tourists go to the
UK um what are the mistakes that we make they think they can tour the UK in a week go from London to Cornwall Cornwall to North Wales drive from North Wales to Ines Scotland back to London in a week I I think this is actually a really really
Really good uh really good topic really good suggestion here because I think it’s very true actually I was I kind of think this not anymore I guess but uh I I can’t deny it I I have like this train of thought where the UK it is a lot
Smaller than the United States a lot lot smaller so maybe you could like in a week you could like drive around a fair bit of places maybe maybe only see it for an hour and then jump in your car and keep going but could how much of the
UK could you see in a week so I I think my internal barometer for how much you can see is a little off so that’s why I think this is a good uh a really good suggestion here um don’t think that you can tour the entire country in a week
Yeah cuz that that’d be like thinking you can tour an entire state in the United States or or several States in a week when I think of it that way that’s just silly so th this is actually a good one to like re-calibrate my expectations
For like how big or just how much stuff is actually in the UK that’s a good one actually I think a lot of Americans could easily make that mistake where they think oh UK is a lot smaller I can just go everywhere I can see it all I
Only need three days uh which is not the case at all that’s that’s a good one that’s a good one to remember um okay what are other mistakes tourists make in the UK thinking they’ve visited the UK when they’ve just visited London yes yes yes yes yes absolutely I have done
Videos like reacting to a lot of different places around the UK there are so much there is so much more to the UK so many more things than I ever imagined and I haven’t even seen all that much like in videos and stuff on YouTube I haven’t even seen all that much and
There’s so much there’s so much more than I thought um for some reason when Americans think of the UK we think of England and we think of London specifically a lot of Americans are like okay it’s a bucket list item at some point in my life I’m going to visit the
UK uh where where do I go uh London London yeah right that that’s it and it’s just like I I I feel bad for London it probably gets like 99% of American tourists it’s like the one place we know in the UK so uh this is this is so so so
True um thinking they visited the UK when they visited London London is nice but it doesn’t represent the UK as a whole definitely most Americans don’t even know what comprises the UK like a lot of Americans don’t even know the UK is England and Scotland and Northern
Ireland and Wales no idea no idea so a lot of Americans think that they genuinely have like oh I’ve I’ve seen the UK like just going to London which is ridiculous of course the these are good actually very good uh what’s other mistakes tourists make in the UK insane
Travel schedules which include going to Edinburgh Edinburgh as a day trip from London then off to Cornwall the next day this it is always the America it is always the Americans who are guilty of trying to cram too much distance into a very short trip well
Some of that is probably because a lot of us Americans kind of know like we’re this a once in a-lifetime thing like we’re we’re taking a leap of faith we’re leaving uh America for the first time going to the UK and we’re probably not coming back this is like we
Don’t travel outside the US all that much A lot of people don’t so maybe Americans just try to cram in as much as possible and make the mistake of thinking that that is doable or that yeah I I I really think Americans try to cram in as much as possible because they
Know they’re not going to be traveling to Europe again anytime soon or maybe never again maybe once in your life is considered like pretty normal I think for a lot of Americans who want to travel to Europe it’s like a once in a-lifetime kind of thing really like
Sort of and you have to like figure out okay am I going to try to do this like in between school do I have to do it before I have kids do I like when if I have a family and kids and wife and a
Job am I going to be able to do do I have to wait till I retire and then maybe I’ll go to Europe so it’s really actually quite a big deal big big deal and I I’m actually very jealous of the UK because from what I understand for
People in the UK you can just travel to other places around Europe and it’s not that big of a deal it’s pretty doable whereas here in America it’s it’s a very big deal so we I think I think we give ourselves insane travel schedules for that reason and because we don’t
Understand the size of the UK um so here you’d be going from Edinburgh to London to Cornwall is this technically doable though like is it isn’t it true that you can drive between those places in like a couple hours or am I just completely off is it is it technically doable is that’s
All I’m asking can we can we attempt our insane schules where we go between cities we look around for about uh 6 minutes and then drive off would that make it possible maybe okay uh what other mistakes tourists make in the UK this is very good so far very practical um a lot
About how how tourists should give more time to see more parts of the UK that’s been quite a few comments so far standing on the left side on escalators you want to you want to stand on the right and leave the left side free for those who walk this is supposed to be
The how we do it in the America it’s it’s supposed to be I I say supposed to because it doesn’t always happen um we Americans know this is the protocol so it’s the same in the UK if you’re on an escalator stand on the right so people
Can walk by on the left good luck in America you’re you got like a 50-50 shot of people actually following this rule or or queuing properly or waiting in line properly it’s kind of a mess um what other mistakes thinking that they can visit Edinburgh Manchester London and bath in one week again
Apparently this is a very good one this this is one that’s getting brought up time and time and time again uh I’m kind of curious like I kind of want to look at a map now this is getting brought up quite a bit um if I pull up a map and I do
Edinb uh to Manchester um and I go to Maps here how long would this take let’s put this to the test I actually want to see how long this would take according to Maps um by no not by bus public transportation Americans have never
Heard of the word by car oh it’s 4 hours oh boy I was way off it’s not just a couple of hours oh my gosh I was way off oh man oh let’s keep going let’s add London let’s add a destination let’s add London um what happens then uh eight
Hours okay so it’s like Manchester to edra 4 hours um then edinb back to I mean all the way back down to London would be like eight more hours right four than eight anyway and then if I type in bath let’s just type in bath just to complete
This if you did want to complete this crazy tour of the UK you could technically do it in 10 hours I’m saying if you just look out the window and take a look around and keep driving you can do it in 10 hours you know it’s I think
This is technically possible if you chop this up and and drive like three4 hours a day I feel like you could kind of make this happen you just would barely have any time to uh get to see the city or anything else um thinking they can visit Edinburgh Manchester London and bath on
A onewe trip I think he technically can the qu the quality of that trip is Highly Questionable but there we go uh eating on Oxford Street and then complaining about the food this is some kind of uh UK inside joke that I don’t know about poor Oxford Street does it
Have bad food like I don’t know I I can’t comment on that but I’ll try to remember if I eat there don’t complain about the food oh god um trusting public transport outside of a major city oh really because I’ve heard very good things about public transportation in
The UK I mean here in the United States public transportation is pretty terrible pretty non-existent uh the United States is built with the idea that you have a car it’s built with the with the Assumption you own a car um if you’re in some major major big cities you can make buses work
Or if they have like a Metro or Subway you can make it work um but I always had a very high opinion of public transport in the UK being quite a bit better than in America but uh this is interesting you you shouldn’t trust it as much
Outside major cities which is kind of kind of how it’s like here in America honestly so that’s interesting I had not heard that before using a black cab um I think they’re talking about the black cabs in London which I mean is it is it because they’re expensive cuz those are like
Iconic the black cabs because we don’t we have yellow we call them taxis really yellow taxis or cabs here in America there’s these black cabs in London and I think think people say don’t use them because they’re very expensive compared to using public transport or even like
Renting a bike or taking maybe taking an Uber would probably be be less expensive I don’t know uh okay what else if in London and you’re not visiting the museums oh if you’re in London not visiting museums so you should visit museums in London uh thinking that you
Need an oyster card and always getting the tube when a bus or walking is quicker oh okay let me break this down uh museums are good okay that makes sense uh you don’t need an oyster card so a mistake you make in the UK would be assuming you need an oyster card that’s
For like public transportation though right if you don’t have an oyster card what would you do I’m a little confused I I do I did think you need an o card huh um always taking the tube when you should take the bus or just walk that’s
A good one that’s a good one cuz the tube is something I hear about all the time in relationship to London and London Transportation but uh that might you know predispose an American like myself to not even think about wait a more normal option like more convenient even
Just a bus or walk God Walk believe me walking is not on our minds when we travel places that would be quite an adjustment walking walking places people do that gez uh drinking in chain pubs okay like a pub we don’t have pubs here in the United States so this is also another
One I wouldn’t have thought about like a pub so you don’t want to go to like a chain or like a branded Pub that there’s multiple of like a corporate Pub or something you want to go to a unique like Mom and Pop owned like pu Pub that
There’s just one of in the community because it’s more authentic or more genuine and more unique that kind of thing that’s good advice actually that’s good it’d probably be a much more authentic experience huh okay very good these are I got to say I’m very pleased
With these tips so far these are great I I think these are absolutely mistakes that Americans and other tourists from around the world would make while visiting the UK so this is actually extremely helpful so far um what are some other mistakes tourists should try
Not to make in the UK it’s exactly the same in London tourists complain about the food in what is one of the greatest restaurant capitals in the world then find that they have been eating microwaved crap at tourist pubs and international chains this is great advice oh that would really be sad if
Your trip again your once in a lifetime uh trip to the UK you spend it eating microwaved crap or whatever they feed you at these like tourist trap restaurants or touristy pubs and restaurants you actually want to take some time devote some time to learning about some authentic like smaller but locally
Well-known places wherever you are in the UK be that London or whatever City you’re visiting um what which I assume you could look up a lot of that on the internet with a little bit of effort W this is this is fantastic I I totally
See a lot of Americans would go to the UK just go to the first place they see and it’s it’s going to be the one that’s designed to like be a Taurus trap make them think it’s an authentic experience all right what else do we have going to the Angus Steakhouse the Angus
Steakhouse don’t don’t go to the Angus Steakhouse eat literally anywhere other than this no matter how cranky or hungry you are what is the Angus Steakhouse Angus Steakhouse is that like a British restaurant chain um oh yep look at this let me zoom in on this that’s exactly what it is
It’s a casual dining chain of steakhouses in central London the name comes from Aberdine Angus uh breed of cat beef cattle Angus Steakhouse it’s a chain of steakhouses in London don’t go to Angus Steakhouse thank you thank you for the warning I’m kind of curious now
Like what’s wrong with it do not go there no matter how hungry you are that’s that’s funny okay these are the tips these are the the Obscure tips that I come here for um a mistake would be never leaving London seems to be common U maybe a day trip to Oxford or
Cambridge to pretend to be Harry Potter out of Interest are Google ratings of restaurants in the back streets of Italy accurate oh this person’s talking about the the original question which was uh someone living in Italy so they were like by the way are the Google accurate for Italian
Restaurants I assume you could use Google to find like good UK restaurants wherever you are I hope that’s true as well but there you go I think that’s a good place to stop off this was uh very very helpful actually very good um discussion with a lot of people from the
UK like chiming in and and giving like pretty useful advice about mistakes to avoid I think the biggest ones were like make ample time to visit like many parts of the UK If you’re looking for a genuine experience and actually look take time to make sure you’re not
Falling for tourist traps um try to see more than just London and yeah stuff like that very good advice I think stuff that I think a lot of Americans definitely do unfortunately but not me not me cuz I have learned from this enjoyed this quite a bit anyway if you
Enjoyed this as well feel free to give this video a like or leave a comment perhaps with your advice on mistakes that tourists make in the UK that’d be fantastic and if you’re interested in more videos like this me reacting to the UK and UK culture feel free to subscribe
For more and until then thanks for watching and see you next time
27 Comments
Couple of hours twix London and Shitenburgh! oh you skally wag! No. its not a couple of hours.
The best thing is to visit each of the 12 UK regions separately, for at least a week each.
Thinking a UK city is the same idea as a US city.
Maybe a lot, lot smaller, but there's a lot, lot more to see. You need to do the same as other countries, visit places that you are interested in and nothing else. Some Londoners don't even know that there's more to see outside of the capital. They think that London is England, and that's it. In London, its roughly 80% Japanese tourists,10% American tourists and 10% other tourists. To be honest, you need a week to see London, and that's it. There are much more to see in the rest of the UK. When I visited the US one time, a local got talking to me and he said that he'd visited London one time, and he had a full English breakfast in the Savoy, and it cost him (at the time a few years ago) £38. My jaw dropped, and I asked him if he was nuts. I told him you could get a full English in a cafe down a side street anywhere in the UK or even on the motorway services and get the exact same thing for £5.00 +/-. For travelling to places. I live in Manchester, which is about halfway between Scotland and the south coast. I went on a week's holiday to Looe in Cornwall, about 30 minutes from Plymouth. It took me 5 hours to drive, at approximately 60mph and about half an hour for a break, and that was on a good day when I didn't get held up in traffic. From Edinburgh to Cornwall, allow two days at a face pace. For escalators, that's only for London. Doesn't happen anywhere else. People living in London are always in a rush. When you did the map test from Edinburgh, Manchester, London and Bath, I'd add on an extra 3 hours (and I'm being generous) for heavy traffic, especially Birmingham). Yes, you do have pubs in the US, you call them bars. Chain pubs is, for instance, Weatherspoons. A company owns a series of public houses. Use the sole owners of pubs instead
We live 10 miles out of York in the country…public transport is excellent!
Tyler, you could easily spend a week in London just exploring the area around Whitehall!
3:20 I was 2017 in UK for three weeks. But i saw only a part of Scotland, North England, Wales and Cornwall.
I mean, you could spend three days looking around the British Museum alone, let alone the rest of London. Yes, you can drive from Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotland in 10-hours, but you would see next to nothing of the country other than motorways and their rest stops. That having been said, the perception of a long drive is quite different between Brits and Americans. A drive of more than an hour in the UK is a significant undertaking for most people.
TBH I would be surprised if you could see everything in a single county within a week
You coul travel the entire length of the country in a week but you will spend so much time on the road you wont see much of anything
Americans travelling abroad so little makes them isolationist which in turn makes them less interested in travelling abroad. It's a self perpetuating circle. Most museum in the UK are free admission. For a great experience when eating out ask where the locals go to eat out. Take their advice and you won't go wrong.
Hi ya
8:11 That route, not including then driving back to London after Cornwall, would take 16 hours of non-stop driving. Not to mention all the loo breaks, lunch, dinner, sleep, and all the stuff you'd see on the way. So, no, unless you flew, not really practical.
Black cabs in most cites but very expensive. Some places in London are quicker walking to once you are in the centre
It would take on average 14hrs 30mins to drive from 'John O Groats' (farest point north Scotland) to 'Lands End' (farest point southern England) according to Google and is about right. You're welcome 😊
YouTube censored the comment below hence no likes or replies.
02:24 Some years ago I saw a TV documentary about the islands off the west coast of Scotland.
In one episode an American couple got off a small cruise ship at Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides and told the person who greeted them that they wanted to "go to London for the day". The man just stared at them, dumbfounded. Such a trip, just one way, would involve one ferry journey, one bus journey and two train journeys. The overall time would be nearly 24 hours. Even taking the ferry then driving non stop would take 16 hours. One way.
🤣
Rushing a trip in The UK you would be susceptible to culture overload. Depending on what you've come to see and experience. Some large Department Stores here have large food halls in them. If you're into social stuff and how we live and you live. Are you interested in the architecture or the history. of places. The scenery for example. A lot of our churches, cemeteries are over a thousand years old. some 10 thousand years old. Some houses and cottages are this age. There are the castles of course. Notwithstanding Roman forts and walls that predate even the castles.
Possible yes! But you wouldn't learn anything much less see and experience anything. What would be the point of coming here then?
I’ve met many people from across the pond that thought they could see CANADA in a week. Another group that thinks they have seen Canada if they have been in just Toronto or Vancouver. The vastness shocks people.
I've lived in the UK my whole life and have travelled all over it, but only scratched the surface of places to visit and the history etc. You could spend your lifetime exploring the entire UK. I am almost 55 years old. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world. However I wouldn't mind a second home in Southern Italy or Sicily. That would be perfect.
I thoroughly disagree with the person who said you cannot trust public transport outside of a major city. I have only spent 8 years of my adult life in a major city and 30 years in a very small town in the Scottish borders. Buses have always been excellent I live in rural Wales now and the buses are still excellent. So are the local taxi's. Trains are usually great too.
Depends. How much do you want to get out of your sightseeing? You probably could do it in a week but it would be incredibly light touch and you would miss a lot. That said i now appreciate you poor americans dont get any holiday in comparison. We get a minimum of 5 weeks a year so can easily spend 2 weeks in florida, and take a couple of breaks in europe throughout the year assuming we have the means and the funds
I think part of the timing problem comes from the fact Americans can jump on I-whatever and drive all day. Britain does have motorways but they tend to be fewer lanes and other roads range from 1 carriageway in each direction to narrow single lane roads with passing places.
Our road system also has fewer straight roads between A and B which means constantly having to alter speed. So you leave A Mon a motorway 70mph max then transfer onto an Aroad 60mph but it can have other speed restrictions on it. Weaving your way through towns and villages where speed limits can vary 30mph down to 28mph or less if there are roadworks.
All that and we cram in a lot of historic sites per square mile.
The UK is hundreds of miles long and has 5000+ years of history.
Who wud have thunk you can't see it all in a week?
Driving time ! Getting out of Londen, traffic, fuel tanking, eating ,restrooms, destination parking.
I'm originally a Londoner, you cannot see ALL of London, even in an entire lifetime, and that's just ONE city in England.!
To think you can see all of the UK in one week is ludicrous!