Pounds or cards in London: what you actually need

I stopped carrying cash on my second trip

The first time I came to London, I changed £200 at the airport before I’d even collected my bag. I used about £30 of it in ten days. The rest sat in a drawer at the hotel, then came home with me and got changed back at a worse rate than I’d got it at. On my second trip I changed nothing in advance, tapped my card everywhere, and never once felt short of options. That’s the honest version: contactless is the default in London now, and cash is a backup, not a requirement.

A quick word before anything else, because I still see it get muddled: the currency here is the pound sterling (GBP), not the euro. The UK isn’t in the eurozone. Your euros are worthless at a London till, and no amount of confidence will make a shopkeeper accept them. Bring pounds, or bring a card that charges in pounds.

Where contactless just works

Tap-to-pay, whether it’s a physical card or a phone wallet, is accepted almost everywhere: supermarkets, chain restaurants, pubs, museums shops, market stalls that have any kind of card reader, and every form of public transport in the city. On the Tube, buses, Elizabeth line and Overground, you tap in and out the same way you’d use an Oyster card, and the system caps your daily and weekly fare automatically. You don’t need to plan a route or buy a ticket in advance for any of it. If you want the mechanics spelled out station by station, our does contactless work on the Tube piece walks through what actually happens at the gates.

I used my phone’s wallet for the entire week on my last visit, apart from two small purchases at a market stall in Camden that only took cash, and a coffee van near Greenwich that had a card reader down for the morning. Both were minor, and both had a cash machine within a few minutes’ walk.

One practical limit worth knowing: contactless payments are capped by your bank, currently around £100 per transaction in the UK, though this is set by banking rules, not by Transport for London. If you’re paying for something larger, like a group activity or a big shop, you may need to tap twice, use chip and PIN, or split the payment. The fare capping on the Tube and buses has nothing to do with this limit; it’s a separate system tracking your journeys across the day.

When I still wanted cash

I’m not going to pretend cash is dead here, because it isn’t quite. A handful of stalls at street markets in East London and Camden are cash-only or cash-preferred, especially the smaller food vendors. Some black cabs will take cards but a few older ones still prefer cash, so it’s worth asking before you get in if you’re not sure; our black cab vs Tube vs bus guide covers the payment differences between all three. And on day trips out to smaller villages in the Cotswolds, I found one or two tearooms that had a card machine that “wasn’t working today,” which felt like a polite way of saying they preferred cash.

None of that adds up to needing much. On a ten-day trip I carried £40 to £60 in notes as a buffer and came home with most of it. If you’re the sort of traveller who likes a cushion, that’s a sensible number rather than the couple of hundred pounds I changed on my first visit.

Getting pounds without losing money to it

If you do want cash, the better move is a cash machine (ATM) once you’ve landed, using a card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, rather than changing money at an airport currency desk. Airport bureaux de change tend to offer poor rates because they know you’re a captive audience between flights. A high street bank ATM or a supermarket ATM in central London will almost always beat it.

Here’s a rough comparison of what I’ve seen on different trips, in order of how much value you actually get for your money:

Method	Typical outcome
Fee-free debit/credit card at a UK bank ATM	Best rate, no markup from the machine itself
UK supermarket ATM (free ones exist, check first)	Good rate, some now charge a flat fee
High street bank branch exchange	Reasonable, but requires a visit during opening hours
Airport currency exchange desk	Worst rate of the options here, plus a service fee
Currency changed at home before flying	Usually worse than doing it in the UK

Check your card provider before you travel. Some UK-issued cards and international cards both charge a foreign transaction fee of 2 to 3 percent on top of whatever exchange rate is applied, and that adds up fast if you’re tapping for every coffee and Tube fare.

Tipping, service charges, and the numbers on your bill

Tipping isn’t compulsory in the UK the way it is in some countries, but it’s worth knowing that many restaurants add a service charge of around 12.5 percent to the bill automatically. For a fuller breakdown of what things actually cost across a trip, see our guide to money, tipping and costs in London. Check before you leave an extra tip on top, or you’ll end up paying twice. Pubs generally don’t expect a tip for drinks at the bar. Cafés sometimes have a tip jar by the till; that one really is optional.

None of this changes because you’re paying by card instead of cash. A service charge shows up on the printed bill either way, and card payments don’t add any extra fee of their own beyond what your bank charges you for foreign transactions, if anything.

What I’d actually pack

A card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, ideally two in case one gets blocked or lost. A phone wallet set up before you fly, since some travellers prefer not to hand over a physical card. Somewhere between £40 and £80 in cash as a buffer, changed at a UK ATM rather than before you leave home. That’s it. I haven’t needed a “just in case” wad of cash on any recent trip, and I’ve done everything from museum entry (mostly free anyway, more on that below) to booking activities like a Royal London day tour entirely on a card.

It’s also worth remembering that the big national museums, the British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A, and others, don’t charge for general admission at all, so a chunk of the “what will I need money for” worry disappears before you even start budgeting for the trip. See our budget guide and free things to do for more on that. If you’re still weighing up whether the trip is worth it money-wise, is London too expensive for a city break tackles that question directly.

If you’re heading out of the city for a day, the same rule applies. I paid for a Cotswolds day tour by card months in advance, and paid for a Bath day trip the same way. Neither required cash on the day, though I kept a little on me for a village tearoom that turned out to prefer notes.

Pounds or cards in London: your questions

Can I use euros anywhere in London?

No. The UK uses the pound sterling (GBP), not the euro, and shops, transport and restaurants won’t accept euro notes or coins. If you arrive with euros, change them or use a card instead.

Do I need cash for the Tube or buses?

No. Tap a contactless card or phone wallet directly on the reader when you enter and exit; fares are calculated and capped automatically, the same way an Oyster card works. You don’t need cash or a paper ticket for any of it.

Is there a limit on how much I can pay by contactless?

Yes, currently around £100 per transaction, set by UK banking rules rather than by any single shop or transport operator. For larger payments, use chip and PIN or split the transaction.

Where’s the best place to get pounds if I want cash?

A cash machine at a UK bank once you’ve landed, using a fee-free card, usually beats an airport currency exchange desk or changing money before you fly.

Do restaurants expect a tip on top of the bill?

Check first. Many London restaurants already add a service charge of about 12.5 percent. If that’s on the bill, an extra tip is optional, not expected.

Are UK museums really free to enter?

The major national museums, including the British Museum, the National Gallery and the V&A, are free for general admission. Special exhibitions and some other attractions do charge, so budget for those separately.

Will small shops or market stalls ever refuse my card?

Occasionally. A minority of market stalls and small rural tearooms are cash-only or cash-preferred, particularly outside central London. Carrying a small amount of cash covers this.

Does using a card cost more than paying cash in London?

Not through any London-specific fee. The only extra cost is a foreign transaction fee your own bank might charge, which is worth checking before you travel.