How much cash do I need for London (vs. using credit cards)???

You might not need any cash. On my last trip, I made only one purchase using cash to buy a bottle of water.

That is what I was hoping!!

We were in London in December 2022. I bought £250 to have on hand before leaving home. I came home with £40 remaining and it was a struggle to spend most of the cash we did take. I would not take more than £100 on my next trip. I am one of those who prefer to have some cash in my hand upon arrival.

Yeah, in London last March and tap-to-pay was 99.9% of my transactions. I ended up actively trying to use cash to use what I had withdrawn on arrival. Like, cashless way more than any other destination.

I would suggest the maximum you need is £50 for sundries. Cards are accepted everywhere, even small street stalls selling souvenirs and buskers. And whilst it's still a minority, there is an increase in places that don't take cash at all - both attractions and restaurants. Buses have been cash free for some time

Personally don't carry cash anywhere in the UK

I spend a great deal of time in London. I have not used cash in probably 3 to 4 years.

In fact, as stated earlier, I have gone into smaller stores that are now cashless.

I still carry around 50 pounds just in case but it's gathering dust in my wallet..

I had to pay cash at the laundromat (30 pounds). We also tipped a guide 20 pounds. Other than that cashless. Lots of places in UK take Apple Pay, too.

I always carry £20 in small bills and coinage. Use it to drop in donation tills at museums or to top up my Oyster card.

Always prefer using an Oyster card as I’d not be too upset if I lost it whereas I’d be livid if I lost a CC or Debit card. That and using Apple Pay means taking phone out….blah, blah.

Have a lovely Oyster card holder from the British Library. Fits perfectly in my coats interior pocket.

So in answer to the question UK nearly a cashless society but from my POV always carry some cash.

Enjoy your trip.

I just returned from 3.5 weeks in England including time in London. The only time I REALLY needed cash was the little ice cream vans at the English seaside locations who all requested cash due to their machines "not working". Unfortunately I developed a mild addiction to the ice cream treats called "oysters" (ice cream cone shaped like an oyster shell filled with marshmallow and a scoop or two of ice cream and topped with a Flake) so frequently had to spend 3GBP at these locations, lol.

Everywhere else including the donation boxes at cathedrals and countryside churches took ApplePay. And yes, I donated frequently using ApplePay just so they will keep it up!

I was in London for 5 days.

Got 50 pounds from an ATM. Still had 30 when I got to the airport

It is best to have a contactless credit card for the UK, and “tap and pay” is the norm, especially for small amounts like morning coffee. And you can use it on the London transport—tube, bus, river boats—-with the same benefits as an Oyster card (/daily capping).

I agree with others, if you have a contactless capable credit card, you will need little, possibly no, cash.

In three weeks in England recently, the times I absolutely needed cash came down to:

• Parking: While many lots have updated paypoints to contactless, we did run into several that were coin only.
• Laundry: Some self serve laundries still use coin only machines
• Cash Deposit: Ran into an odd situation where the hotel had a parking pass for the local city lot that you displayed, they required a 10 GBP deposit, in cash, for use of the permit. I suppose they had too many people lose or drive off with them.

If you are not driving (likely the case for London) and you can selectively choose a place for laundry, or not do it, then you can avoid those cases.

Maybe have 20 GBP in small bills and coins to be safe, you likely will be trying to use it up towards the end of your stay.

Even the churches now have machines where you can tap to give a donation.

We were in London for 5 days last year and never purchased a British pound. We used our credit card for everything.

Even the churches now have machines where you can tap to give a donation.

As do the buskers in the underground stations and around town. Either a QR code or a contactless terminal. Did not see any panhandlers with a contactless terminal...yet...but I imagine that is coming.

In a number of places, we saw tap pay points for things like a donation, tips, etc.; basically tap and it charges you anywhere from 1 to 3 GBP.

Small change is nice if you still need 20p to pee. I also leave 1£ coins for the hotel staff who clean my room; plus, I always tip taxi drivers with cash. Otherwise, I experienced many places last June that would not take cash at all.
Happy travels in the UK -- such a beautiful, welcoming place -- you'll return often, I'm sure.

I was in London two weeks ago and barely any places accepted cash. I used my card for everything. I regretted taking out any cash because it was so hard to use it anywhere.

Just returned from London and although everyone says go cashless, we found that many of the vendors and especially the taxi drivers preferred that you use cash. They loose 5% of every payment to the card companies for use of the service.

They loose 5% of every payment to the card companies for use of the service.

5% is way overstated, it is closer to 2% for most Visa and Mastercard services, I also believe that for "Tap" the "flat fee" (Rates often consist of a per use flat fee, then a percent) is either waived or much less, one reason merchants will encourage you to tap, rather than insert or swipe your card. Actual costs to the merchant however are like a complicated code, many variables go into it, many dependent on volumes and incentives certain cards offer.

In the end, you will get more business accepting cards than relying on cash payments, though of course the tax incentives of cash payments are attractive.

But bottom line? Always have a little cash on hand.

It generally costs less for a business today in Britain to take cards than cash (having to carry a float, visits to banks to pay in etc as well as the direct banking fee). One major exception is non European cards and that is maybe why nany people on here might get asked for cash more than a local at times.

With taxis it is a bit of a generational thing; most younger drivers prefer avoiding the robbery risk with carrying large amounts of cash.

They loose 5% of every payment to the card companies for use of the service.

That's not why they want cash. They want cash so they don't have to report it.

London was the one place where I found I could use credit cards everywhere. I'd say get some money at an ATM-and then see where you need it.

We were in London recently and used tap and pay for everything EXCEPT the one time we took a taxi to a rural area in an Internet coverage "shadow." We had to pay in cash so it's good to have some on hand.

ah the old no signal here trick, eh?

I'm the original poster. We just finished the London segment of our trip yesterday. I didn't change any money, and didn't need to spend even a penny of cash in the 5 days we were there. In fact, a bunch of places had signs saying they were card only and didn't use cash. First time I'm seeing business establishments turning away cash!

They loose 5% of every payment to the card companies for use of the service.

I happened to see a story regarding Visa & Mastercard this morning on CNBC. It was reported that the fees in Europe were much lower than in the States - .3% if I remember correctly, or 0.003.

I just got back from 10 days in London. I think I had 80 pounds with me. I used it but I didn't really have to. My contactless card was accepted everywhere.

I was in London July 2022 and took £200 and came home with £10. This past May I took £200 and came home with £150. It seems a lot place we’re cc only.

Public transportation: You can use your credit card to pay for Tube (subway), bus, and National Rail tickets.

I would have a little cash on hand. We used credit cards most of the time in London.

Hi, I came across this site as I was searching about using cash in the UK. I didn’t realise before I exchanged nearly 2,000 pounds from Australia recently. We will be in the UK in early October. After reading this thread I’m really concerned now that I will come back with a lot of cash and have to exchange it back to AUD I’m going to be losing so much money. I will be spending most of my time in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Planning to do day trips to London, Cotswolds, Oxford. Do you know if shops, cafes, bakeries etc in the mentioned places still accept cash?

Sabby

Whilst it is indeed possible to spend little or no cash here these days and you will come across places that will not take cash they are still in a minority and you will be able to spend cash in most places. Especially so the further away from London you get.

There will be places that you come across that may not take cash but it shouldn't be too difficult in general to spend it - you can still pay for rail transport in cash for example. Not that different from Australia really.

Plenty of places still take cash (although that's a lot of cash you're taking). A minority don't, but in my observation most places do.

... reference to the large amount of cash has prompted another thought - £50 notes are used a lot less than $50 ones in Australia; they aren't dispensed in general from ATMs for example. Hopefully you don't have (m)any of them.

I always take cash on a trip as a backup.
I’m usually solo, so if I lost my credit or debit cards, God Forbid….then at least I would have some cash for food and transport till I got sorted out.
I always have at least 100 of the currency for the country I’m in at the time.
I don’t always use it, but it makes me feel safer.

Just my way.

Sabrina.panda - hopefully your lodging isn't prepaid - maybe you'll be able to pay some or all of your hotel bills in cash.

To the extent that GBP are still at a discount vs other currencies, just save them for the next trip.

I'll be in London for one week at the end of October after an absence of about eight years and thanks to this forum just learned that collection boxes now accept ApplePay. Since my phone is android, I'll have a small amount of cash for churches, the free museums that have collection boxes, and tips for hotel staff. Even if I had ApplePay, cash would be needed for hotel staff.

GooglePay is the equivalent to ApplePay on Android and will work everywhere that accepts contactless payments.

Sabby, I was in the Marlow area in Sep 2022. Although a lot of places do accept/prefer CCs, I found that a lot of places not only accept cash, some took only cash. This was more so in the small towns than in London. For cab fares I was asked repeatedly to pay in cash, one driver actually drove me to a "cashpoint" to get cash as I had run out. Local shops prefer cash, especially for small transactions. So if you want to use cash, I think you will get plenty of opportunities.

In London, I only came across one place that was strictly cash only - the local kebab shop.

Have a great trip!

I was in London for five days in May and hardly used cash at all. The last day, I took a cab to Paddington, and had no cash on me. Funnily enough, the cab company's system was down and the driver had to take me to an ATM to get cash!

"Since my phone is android, I'll have a small amount of cash"

Either use Google pay, or just tap your card. My phone (frustratingly) is non-NFC, so I use my credit card. No need for ApplePay.