Culture shocks: What to look out for ahead of a UK break

There may have been a few concerns about Brexit and travel as a whole to the United Kingdom, but realistically, this is always going to be one of the top tourist destinations of the world. One only has to cast their eye over the sheer number of tourists that take to London each and every year to see this in its full flow.

However, just because it is popular, it doesn’t mean to say that the UK is like any other destination when it comes to tourism. There are “quirks”, so to speak, and today’s guide will just outline some of these to show some of the potential surprises you might encounter if you are about to head there.

Surprise #1 – The dining hours are different

Something that a lot of people don’t realise is that the general UK schedule is a lot different from most of the world. This all comes to a head in the evening, where foreign tourists perhaps expect restaurants to be open at similar hours to what the ones in their home country are.

As a rule, the peak dining hours in the UK are around 8 pm. If you venture past 10 pm, some restaurants will be turning diners away – which goes completely against the way of life that a lot of visitors know.

Surprise #2 – Not everywhere is as accessible as London

This is perhaps one of the biggest surprises for a tourist perspective. As we have already mentioned, London is something of a big deal when it comes to tourism. For this reason, it’s very accessible. It doesn’t matter where you are from; you will find it easy to find your way around, find out information and generally enjoy it.

All of the above isn’t necessarily true with other destinations. Sure, other major places like Edinburgh will fall into this category, but if we look towards smaller cities, foreign visitors can find life a little more difficult.

Surprise #3 – It doesn’t always rain

First and foremost, it does rain a lot. However, don’t believe the myth that it is ALWAYS raining in the UK. In truth, it’s not like this, and if we take a look at the last couple of years, the summer has been ridiculously hot. Some might suggest that the country isn’t quite equipped to deal with such hot temperatures (with a lack of air-con the biggest complaint!) – but don’t automatically think that you will always need an umbrella for your trip.

Surprise #4 – You drive on the left

This might not necessarily be a surprise, but more of a “one to watch out for”. Even if you’ve not taken the plunge to hire a car, at least make sure that you are aware of the direction in which traffic is travelling. Even at junctions, make sure you look the right way as the UK is in that unfortunately small group of countries that does everything differently when it comes to road travel.