London: Money makes the world go round

When heading to London from Ireland, Tom was wondering: Can I spend my leftover euros in London?

Imagen de Images_of_Money en flickr. Licencia CC

As you know, when visiting the island of Ireland you may have to cope with two currencies - the Republic is part of the Eurozone while Northern Ireland uses pounds Sterling. In the border regions both currencies tend to be accepted, but this should never be taken for granted.

What about London?

In London the official currency is the pound Sterling. Shops and service providers, as a rule, only take Sterling. But some of the UK's bigger department stores, especially the ones that are tourist attractions in themselves, will take euros and some other foreign currencies (US dollar, Japanese yen). Selfridges (all branches) and Harrods will both take euros at their ordinary cash registers. Marks and Spencer does not take foreign currency at the cash register but it, like other stores popular with visitors, has bureau de change - where you can readily change money - in most of its larger stores.

Adapted from: http://goireland.about.com/od/preparingyourtrip/qt/money.htm

http://gouk.about.com/od/ukcurrencymoneymatters/f/Euros_in_UK.htm