From where I’ve been sitting these last few years (Berlin) it has been quite tough to witness what many regard as the general decline of my native homeland (Britain) as a tourism destination. What with longer queues caused by Brexit, soaring prices for everything from food and hotels to rail travel, and many friends feeling down in the doldrums these days in terms of jobs and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, I found myself putting off the idea of a home visit for much longer than I usually would.
Then I started speaking to some Germans who had recently visited. Friends, initially, but also strangers both on and offline, and their reports gradually restored my faith. It started with a good friend, Marcel, from Cologne, who travelled to Wales (via Ireland) and London recently by train and ferry. He told me: “Arriving by boat from Dublin, I was surprised to see that there were no passport checks in Holyhead, especially as I had been following the small boats/asylum discussion in the UK before and was expecting long queues.
“I knew from previous visits that London is expensive and the cost of an overnight stay during high season this year did make it almost impossible to find decent accommodation, even for someone with a decent travel budget. That being said, I was very happy to see some of the great London pubs like the Marquis Cornwallis, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (the best pub name in the world?) and The Old Bell Tavern doing a brisk business despite the cost of living crisis.”
Marcel, a noted train geek like myself, enthused at how great it was to see that train rail travel to and from London seemed as popular as ever, mentioning how “St Pancras was very busy but the border controls were quick and easy.”
Another friend, Daniel from Berlin, also travelled into London on the Eurostar at the start of the summer. “From a pain au chocolat in Paris straight to a scotch egg in London,” he enthused. “In fact, the UK weather was a breath of fresh air compared to hot and sticky Paris. I spent 10 days in London in different hotels and areas due to high prices but even when I had to cross the entire city from west to east with a lot of luggage on three different buses – something I would never try in Berlin – it was convenient and less stressful than expected.
“The people and atmosphere were always relaxed and friendly, and my cultural program spanned immersive theatre and West End shows as well as a DJ gig in Brixton and a deep-dive into Westminster and the Houses of Parliament that was so spectacular even my London mate was speechless.”
Daniel’s real highlight, though, was the diverse food at the markets, which ranged “from authentic Bengali dishes to a TikTok-famous Yorkshire burrito”. The downside? Bagging his first Covid experience on the way home “as a souvenir”.
But what about the weather? Surely that was a cause for holiday misery? “I had 99 per cent sunshine,” smiled Katrin Jahn from Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia. Katrin, travelling with an Interrail pass, started her trip in Reading because of its relative cheapness and proximity to Oxford (“which was too expensive for me”), then moved onto Bristol, Bath, Torquay, Stonehenge, Southampton, Weymouth and Brighton, before a quick stop in London to visit a friend. “Everyone was super nice and I can’t think of a situation where I didn’t feel safe. I also found some unique accommodation, including a vintage camper in an old warehouse in Bristol and some nice shopping places such as retro stores in Brighton.
“In terms of food, I had a B&B that served a traditional English breakfast – most of that would be for dinner in Germany, but it was great nonetheless. And when I visited my friend in London we went to an Indian restaurant where my friend told the waiter to make it not so spicy because I am German. I am glad because if that was the not-so-spicy I really would have died with the normal levels. I expected everything to be way more expensive after Brexit but I went to the Netherlands before and compared to that, England really wasn’t that bad. The only lowlight was that there were no postcards to be found in all of Bristol!”
There were some critiques of course, including the “astronomical” prices for accommodation, that stressful feeling (for continental Europeans) of having to drive on the “wrong side” of the road, and “loud, dirty diesel trains” while travelling within the UK. One anonymous German, while praising the integration of immigrant communities, also added: “There is a lot broken in the UK and the overall vibe feels off at times. Also, very few places in the UK feel very organic right now due to so many chains and large stores.”
Bruna, who recently visited Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews, Inverness, Isle of Skye and Isle of Bute, said: “One downside I noticed is that there are so many more homeless people than a few years ago. It was heartbreaking walking in central Glasgow; Brexit and the Tories are definitely to blame for that.”
On the other hand, Bruna did manage to get a suntan – in Scotland. “The weather was amazing. We had blue skies on the Isle of Skye, which definitely surprised our guide. In Glasgow, we got 30C and a ton of sun. I ate a lot of local stuff like pies, haggis and pub food. I like it but I can eat it only for a certain amount of time as it is heavy and greasy. I also tried a few Indian restaurants and the quality is just so much better than in Germany. The people are absolutely the nicest and the service is incredible – everyone just talks to you.”
After many months of procrastination, my trip back home has just been booked.
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