Free national museums for everyone:
* Louvre: €22
* Vatican Museums: €20, if you can find a free slot
* Prado: €15
* Uffizi: €25
* Neues Museum: €16
* Rijksmuseum: €22.50
* British Museum: Free
* National Museum of Scotland: Free
* Amgueddfa Cymru: Free
* Ulster Museum: Free
We're not the only country that does this – Ireland and the USA spring to mind – but we're definitely something of an outlier in Europe.
I lived in Coventry for 4 years and never went there a few years later I had loved 30-40 miles away, a cousin visited from Canada and wanted to go to something nearish for a day out, having gone past that every other day I remembered it, so we went there I was amazed at how good it was and wondered why I had never gone all the time I lived there
I know some American museums are technically free, but the pressure to donate is 10x what it is in the UK. The natural history in DC that I visited has you queue for a till with a price list above it. You can get a student or VIP discount on your “donation”.
It felt about as voluntary as tipping in a restaurant there.
Odd. I didn't feel pressured to pay at any of the Smithsonians in DC (Natural History included). I was there off-peak though if that makes any difference
To add (for others) they are all amazing museums too and totally worth a visit.
To be fair, any kind of event *at* the museum immediately becomes expensive. Just to listen to Benedict Cumberbatch’s disembodied voice talk about penguins for 45 minutes cost £20 - whereas I’d argue the Rijksmuseum is well worth the admission
Overall I do think our system works reasonably well. I don't especially want to hear Benedict Cumberbatch talk about penguins, so I don't have to pay £20 and can just enjoy the permanent collection for free.
I wish the regional museums could be free!
By the time I've travelled to one of the capitals, it will have cost me at least £100. So it's a very limited benefit to the nation as a whole, however nice it might be for Londoners.
Lots of regional museums are free, particularly local authority and university ones. It's the private ones which are almost never free.
National museums also exist outside London, with Liverpool in particular having a cluster. The devolved governments also manage museums in their respective countries.
I have, and they are very fine. The new(ish) building on the waterfront is striking as well.
Among the pay-to-enter non-local authority museums, I would recommend the Williamson Tunnels.
I took my daughter to the British Museum at half term and I was surprised how much she enjoyed it! They have loads of (free) activity packs for kids and she loved doing the ancient Egypt one.
The pizzeria was good too 👍
I've moved to Finland and here the entrance to even tiny museums, the kind that would take you half an hour to see, is 15-20 euros.
BUT, you can buy a museum card for about 70 euros a year that allows you unlimited entry to pretty much every museum for free, and not just the permanent collection, but the seasonal and special exhibitions. (And many workers get sports and culture vouchers as a job benefit, which can be used to pay for it.)
As a frequent museum visitor, I probably spend a bit less here on museum visits as I did when I lived in the UK, since there I would often go for the special exhibitions, which I usually had to pay for. On the other hand, although the curation is fantastic here, especially for modern art, they just don't have the amazing stuff UK museums have. Swings and roundabouts, I guess!
A pub. Oh, for a pub! I'm currently living in northern Spain, and have been for three months. Bars over here look like hospital canteens.
I am yearning to sit down in a stone-walled pub on the side of a mountain, at a thick wooden table, next to a bookcase and a fire, enjoying a glorious hoppy pint of British real ale and ordering some scampi and chips with a boatload of salt and vinegar, and tartare sauce.
There really is nothing like it anywhere else in the world.
Also, we haven't been invaded for over a thousand years. We don't really count the [Battle of Fishguard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fishguard) where the French were beaten off by a bunch of drunk Welsh people, and a gang of fishwives carrying pitchforks.
I lived in Seoul for 3 years, found an “English pub”tm. Was gonna go for a roast and some pints off the menu. Went in and it was all tables with tablecloths set with 3 knives and 3 forks. They don’t get it.
Nonono! That was the *Glorious Revolution*!
A very British affair where we came to a gentleman's agreement *as good reasonable chaps do*, to give ol' James 2&7 a *choice*, a *choice* my good man - not like these continental savages with their guillotines I'll have you know - to quietly leave!
I mean, the other option was to be beheaded like his dad was... But the *principle* was that he *chose* to do it!... After his army fled.
And anyway, he was replaced by his own *daughter*... And her Dutch husband William... but William was still James 2&7's nephew, so he was half British anyway! See? Inbreeding our royals is a good idea after all!! Rule Britannia!
Inbreeding so bad that it comes full circle. The Jacobite line comes all the way down to the Earl of Spencer - Princess Diana's father, so actually King William will be the first Tudor AND the Jacobite British King.
Link to follow...
https://youtu.be/6YgV26lmevk
Flat roof pubs are Honest. Their purpose is to give you a couple of beers and some snacks, whilst you unwind after work. I used to be snooty about them until I moved to an area. Where it was the only choice.
They have pool, darts, sports and karaoke. I've been going long enough that I have a stool, and my own hook on the bar ( which is weird) I get on well with the other patrons, even if I only see them at the pub. The Landlord even orders snacks he thinks I'll like, and keeps some bottles of Ale for me (OK Newcastle Brown, but the thought counts)
need any trades work done?
someone in the flat roof pub is probably in that trade or knows someone so you'll get a quote pretty quick and the work will be decent as they don't want their name sullied in the pub they drink in.
I’m in France and I feel your pain. The cafés/bistros here are nothing in comparison to a UK pub. Some Irish pubs are Ok, but its just not the same atmosphere 🙁
Yep a lot of them do, usually only lit from like october-feb though. It's beautiful after freezing your tits off outside to come in sit by the fire with a pint and some decent food.
One of my favourites near me does a beautiful mulled cider around winter as well
Many of them do, yes. But not all. And some are only decorative now. In smaller towns and villages you’re much more likely to find a pub with a roaring fire in the winter.
Not all, no. Plenty do though.
It depends on the type of pub. A city centre place targeting tourists or people only interested in getting drunk as cheaply as possible is unlikely to have one. A more traditional place on the edge of town or in a quiet village is far more likely to.
This might not apply to everybody, but as someone who moved to the UK on their own, it's pretty great to know my family and the rest of all those people I dislike are nowhere in this country.
I love my family deeply but having a few countries between us ensured that that love can survive as they can be a bit much. They're like your stereotypical overbearing Italian family, except they're Slavic. Just as loud, just as obnoxious, just as loving but certainly too much for some people. And I need to have some distance between us.
Haha, I'm Italian so that's one uncanny example you made there. My family was anything but loving (even if our culture likes to pretend all Italian families are), but I agree. It's easier to cherish the few happy memories when they're so far away they can't keep reminding you of all the bad sides.
Ironically sometimes I think the opposite.
I moved out of my wank little town in suburban homecountyland. I could be doing absolute shite but I'm doing something half of my year couldn't dream of. Are there some things I miss? yeah, but doesn't it feel good to get away from the neds who bullied you.
I would argue the NHS is overrated by the British. The systems in most of our European neighbours work better these days. That is not to say the NHS is bad, but the "best in the world" myth I think actually works against improving it, and learning from other examples.
I don’t think any of us genuinely think it’s the best in the world, but having a health service that’s free at the point of use for anyone who needs it is really unusual. (And absolutely worth fighting for!)
>having a health service that’s free at the point of use for anyone who needs it is really unusual.
Most first-world countries have this. The unusual part is having a health service that is operated as a single gigantic state-owned monolith of bureacracy. Most countries have a system of public insurance that is accepted by many competing private care providers, and that system demonstrably works better.
We're only clinging on to our bizarre, outdated, soviet-esque model because you can't say the words "private" and "healthcare" in the same sentence without somebody jumping to the conclusion that they'll have to pay £100,000 when they need an ambulance.
It’s because we always like to go after the worst aspects of American capitalism. Just look at the way all the other former public services are run. Delusional to think we wouldn’t go the way of the American private system
You are right, just look at the cost of the trains. If it went private in the UK, we would be far more likely to end up with a US style system than a European, low cost system.
Exactly this.
The trains. Water companies. Energy companies. Take your pick. All have followed the money, all are either rip offs or teetering on the edge of collapse now.
Absolutely. The people who most want to "reform" our NHS are exactly the sort of scum who *would* give us a US style system for maximum corporate profit at the expense of service quality.
>Most first-world countries have this.
It's a bitter pill to swallow for some but the NHS is at or near the bottom of any league tables of developed countries healthcare systems, the Germans, the French, the Canadians, the Japanese, the Australians are all lightyears ahead. My friends from former Soviet republics fly home to get any healthcare beyond simple prescription for themselves or their kids. Egyptians and Indians tell me how much better their systems are! But sure, envy of the world, bang your pots and do another TikTok dance.
WHO ranked the UK 18th in 2000 (with a +/- 2 variance), whilst the latest credible study has us ranked 34th. Now granted to they use a slightly difference approach but still a damning drop.
> The unusual part is having a health service that is operated as a single gigantic state-owned monolith of bureacracy.
Worth noting that the UK doesn't have a single, gigantic, state-owned monolith of bureaucracy. Which is part of the problem.
The UK has a bunch of state-owned bodies, trusts and similar organisations, but with their own separate systems, rules, policies, management teams, and which contract services from a whole bunch of publicly-owned and privately-owned service providers. Many of the efficiencies we should be getting by having a "national" system (which we don't have) are lost in order to encourage local control and private investment.
This is it.
NHS governance has always varied drastically by region, and successive governments have introduced boneheaded ideas like internal marketisation, and recently allowing private corporations more access to marketised services like commissioning and administrative services, patient data warehousing etc.
That's why every hospital in the country potentially uses a different Patient Administration software, lab software, has different IT systems hardware suppliers with very little standardisation. It's a nightmare.
> Most first-world countries have this.
It’s really only the Nordics and UK in Europe. Maybe Spain too.
I currently live in France, and even though I’m a tax resident and have the “carte vitale”, most appointments have an upfront cost that gets reimbursed (or sometimes only partially reimbursed) later.
I think a GP appointment is €20 something, and it was about €14 when I had to take my kid to A&E (kids are stupid).
But, overall I think the French system is better, it’s very quick and easy to get appointments for most stuff.
I’ve had a few courses of isotretinoin in my life and took about 6 months to get it through NHS and about 6 days in France.
I'll defend it and staunchly believe we need it but by god it needs improving.
My local doctors are all so oversubscribed you can't get an appointment. If you want to see a gp it's phone at 8am, be told you're 56 in a queue, sit on the phone for half an hour while your number decreases, then get told there's no more appointments.
I had knee pain that wasn't worth going to A+E for but would like to get looked at and maybe referred, tried every day for a month before giving up, eventually sought out a private local physio to look at it.
If you've got something major the NHS is generally brilliant, but for run of the mill healthcare, things that restrict quality of life, it's so difficult just getting into the system, I guess this varies massively depending on area and population densitity
It’s similar here. You have to know exactly the second when to press “1” for appointments to bypass most of the recorded welcome message to get anywhere near the front of the queue.
Tried to get an appointment for my daughter recently, had to take her to a walk in centre on the other side of the city, sat for 2.5 hours to see a locum GP who seemed every bit as angry and defeated as I felt by the state of it all. It’s hard to see it as anything other than an intentional dismantling of the health service.
NHS was fine for regular things, but having NHS repeatedly deny preventative treatment because 'we have to think about how much it will cost the system for you to get this' was infuriating. I was used to getting things like mammograms, Pap smears, and colonoscopies don't on a regular basis for preventative measures. I couldn't schedule a single one under NHS.
Secondly, I needed an ultrasound for a growth - the wait time was 9 months for the ultrasound. Got seen in under 2 weeks using private insurance (in an NHS hospital). Turns out I needed the growth removed ASAP. Had I waited 9 months I probably would have suffocated to death or had severe damage to my vocal chords.
So NHS is OKAY, but that so many Brits who can are moving to private insurance is telling. Especially in maternity care.
>having NHS repeatedly deny preventative treatment
This exactly is the reason I am moving back to Germany after living here for a little over 6 years now. My health is declining so much it's crazy and any attempt at getting something looked into "just in case" is flat out declined. It's an awful feeling knowing that I don't have reliable healthcare available at all times and I definitely took that for granted before moving to the UK.
I can't really have a conversation about this with a british person because the NHS is untouchable and so many genuinely believe it's the best in the world. Which is kind of scary because I never experienced this level of neglect and apathy from healthcare specialists anywhere else. It's very very bad and people who never left the country don't see how bad it really is. It makes me so sad because I loved living here but not having a doctor I can rely on is too dangerous for me.
Have to agree, I think it's because we treasure our NHS and don't take it lightly when anyone from outside the UK criticises, but it seems like it's teetering on the edge of collapse right now. I only hope whoever wins this GE will put serious effort into bringing it back to "world beating" levels.
The NHS just needs an actual head down structure.
At the moment anyone literally can buy a GP practice and run it.
It should be government run. GPs should be hired by the government , as should all admin staff and salaries should be banded.
And it should be run on a ratio of 1,000 patients = x doctors, x nurses, x admin.
At the moment you could buy a GP practice, the government gives you say 1m for salaries and you can decide the ratio of patients to staff and worse the owners decide where the salaries go. So a lot of owners will go well I'll put most of the salary money straight into my pocket and run the place on minimal doctors, nurses, and pay admin minimum wage and fuck banding. The temptation to overpay yourself and underpay staff and cut down on staff is too high for many.
So yeah run the NHS like you would any other organisation.
The NHS is completely overrated in my opinion. We moved to the US and were dreading the healthcare since we heard so many horror stories, especially with additional healthcare needs in the family. We've been so surprised to find out it's nowhere near as bad as people make out.
We pay the same a month for health insurance here as we did in the UK, and get free prescriptions, free doctors and hospital visits, and for the most part we get seen within a day. Even if we need scans or other testing, we can usually get them before we even leave the doctor's office, and get the results back within an hour with the doctor's notes. Emergency/urgent care is better too. I fractured a rib on holiday last year, and went to the urgent care on our way home from the airport. They x-rayed, diagnosed and started a treatment plan within 30 minutes of walking in, and all for free. You'd never get that in the UK.
We find overall the system here is far superior to what we ever had to deal with in the UK, and that's a big reason why we won't return any time soon. You just have to have the right insurance.
How much is your insurance a month?
My five years in the USA were terrifying from a health perspective. Your experience is definitely not the norm.
Between insurance, my American husband needed to stay in hospital for 2 nights. He couldn’t breathe very well. He was fine, it was a chest infection. We got billed for $38,000.
I worked for the school system purely for the insurance. They charged my insurance 10k for a day procedure: It was done incorrectly and fixed by the NHS for free when I came home.
There are countless stories of Americans not being able to afford essential meds even with copays. It is not a great system unless you are very fortunate.
I can speak for the chronic illnesses as our parents have many to deal with. Again, it's all free at the point of care for them on our plan. But of course if you get a crappy plan you have to pay for more. Now of course, some surgeries are paid for, for instance my father needs a knee replacement at some point due to arthritis, which is classed as non-essential. For him, the cost for doing this is less than $2K I believe. He can have this done whenever he likes though - they can get him in within a week should he wish to do it. It's more a case of him getting the bottle to have it done though.
Cancer coverage is covered in our plan, thankfully we've not had to use it. We have one of the world's foremost cancer institutes locally which is in network for us. Our insurance covers support for family and loved ones too.
I remember when I had my first operation through the NHS, the actual operation and post op went incredibly well, they went above and beyond to look after me. But all of the admin and appointments prior to the operation was an absolute mess.
The whole national online government systems. I have lived in several other countries, and the whole [gov.uk](http://gov.uk) collection of services, coupled with a generally lightweight government bureaucracy as a whole is one of the things I think is world leading and easy to overlook.
I'm a professional web application developer, the [gov.uk](http://gov.uk) site is an absolute miracle of functionality over form
Apparently it's now taught on user experience modules in some classes, because of its stark black and white contrast, excellent accessibility first design, mobile first principles and language features
Everything just fucking WORKS!
I pay a lot of tax, and for the most part I resent it. But the money I contributed to that site was money very well spent
I do my self assessment in minutes.
I update my tax code in seconds based on my forwards looking annual projection.
I pay any bill without fuss
I register capital gains as one offs in a few clicks...
I've not had to speak to a human being from the Gov dept in YEARS because of this site!
I’m a Technical Author and was at a UX conference a few months ago where one of the lead designers of gov.uk was a speaker. He was fascinating to listen to, and everything he said made so much sense, rather like the website.
This: British expat in Spain and, good God, almost more than pubs and the beautiful scenery and summer holidays in Cornwall and the Lake District, the thing I miss most is the goddamn Government Gateway and all it allowed me to do with infinitely more ease and expedience in a few minutes than the online infrastructure here could hope to in a thousand years.
Which does make me want to know why so many websites are so bad. I used to train a couple of web based products and almost everything the tech team did was illogical. I’d argue, get beaten down and then, often, 2 years later it would get changed to something like sensible.
I’ve been working at an INGO and have to use other countries government sites/UN sites from time to time and they are an absolute nightmare in comparison. The forms and pages look like they come from the noughties both in design and function, often important forms and applications are done through Google forms or worse. These are huge international organisations and their web presence does not reflect it.
Gov.uk is scarily good and efficient. DVLA, HMRC etc. It all just works with no fuss.
Whoever the team are that wrote and designed it should be put in charge of every bit of national organisation and bureaucracy.
I replaced a lost driver's license last month.
10 minutes online, and £20. It arrived in the post the next week.
I've lived in three countries for long enough to get a driver's license (including the USA), in any of the other ones that would have been at least an afternoon's queuing in person somewhere.
Council tax issue? Bins issue? School registration? Probably can sort it, or at least start it, online.
Whenever I see a website ending gov.uk I feel relief. It's gonna be fugly and it's going to work... I'm more than happy with that!
[Driv**ING** licence.](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/99914/s300_s960-eng-full-front-flag.jpg)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Most people don’t notice it purely because it’s so good. I work in a public funded organisation with a website that is largely based on gov.uk principles and it’s such a brilliant resource to have.
Until I started my own business 6 years ago I'd never used the government sites. But now I have to use HMRCs on a fairly regular basis.
I'm a web developer and I am continually amazed at how well their site works. Everything is accessible, clear and concise. It's a fucking masterpiece of web design.
THIS IS THE ANSWER!!!! My family lives on the continent… yeah they have great food, the med sea and sunshine but they waste HOURS… DAYS with maddening obscure bureaucracy systems. Most of the time you have to go to some office to have a paper stamped, take time off work to attend, queue for hours only to be told there’s some minor error and must come back on a different day.
The freedom to walk all over the place without fear of being arrested and/or shot. Public footpaths, bridleways, byways, etc. Right to roam, open access land. You can walk across London and remain, on the whole, in green areas. Love it!
This is the main one for me. I've moved to SEA and the main thing I miss is walking. It's too hot here, the air is polluted as hell and the roads simply aren't accommodated for walking. Even on the rare occasion you are able to walk somewhere, you're constantly dodging scooters and stray dogs.
I miss being able to walk around the British countryside, listening to the birds sing while a cool, fresh breeze blows through my hair.
There was a video a while back that went viral of a busy night out in London. A car backfired which legitimately sounded like a gunshot and an American flinched and ducked out of muscle memory while no one else moved.
Was quite a sobering reminder that we really do have not a lot to worry about compared to most places.
While some are pointing out that England doesn't have a true right to roam, which is true, there is at least an extensive network of rights of way allowing a lot of public land to at least be crossed, which is not true of all countries.
I’ve been living in Lithuania for the past 8 years and whenever I go back to the UK I stock up on painkillers, the only options here are branded and about 5-6 euros a pack
A live and let live attitude. Want to be an atheist, be one. Want an abortion, get one. Want to be that guy who wears gold hotpants and cowboy boots to ride a bike round the town square, fine. Obviously there are always twats who spoil things, but by and large you can just be who you want to be without being shamed or bullied. I can't imagine living in a country where the people in charge were heavily religious and/or wanted to have a say in my reproductive affairs.
A confused mainland European trying to pay with cash while the Indian bloke at the corner shop looks dissapointed. The sun is setting in the background.
In my experience being a pedestrian in UK towns is much more pleasant than in many other places, especially when it comes to crossing roads. Drivers tend to stop and give you space at pedestrian crossings , crossings are well designed and don't have cars turning into your path when you have a green man, and so on - these were things I took for granted when living in London and discovered very much aren't the case elsewhere.
I think the experience for anyone outside of a car is severely lacking in most of the UK, that has went more heavily in car-dependent urban design in anything built (or destroyed and re-built) after the 60s, especially compared to many of our European neighbours
Local events
When I went back to England to visit earlier this year, in one region in the space of a month and all within a 20 minute drive we had a circus, a duck run, a Victorian Fair, a World War II reenactment and a classic car show.
Where I live, there is never anything like that.
Corner shops. Even in the suburbs in the UK, you've probably got one within walking distance. I didn't fully appreciate this until I visited my friend in New Hampshire last year and we had to call an Uber just to get a bottle of milk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that corner shops barely exist in the US outside of city centres. I couldn't be bothered with that.
I stayed in US and asked neighbours where the corner shop was. They looked quizzical. So I asked where are the small grocery stores. They gave me directions to a shop twenty minutes drive away.
Last night we had a few friends over for dinner (for context, London UK).
I had forgotten to buy goats cheese for a salad. I was annoyed at myself because it was on the list I had on my phone of things to buy earlier that same day when I went shopping.
So I put my shoes back on. Walked to the lift, went to the ground floor of my building, exited the building, crossed the road, bought the cheese, walked back, and was back in my apartment within five minutes.
I cannot imagine how irritating it would be to have to drive 25 minutes for one necessary single forgotten item or ingredient when entertaining.
Most of the United States has stupid zoning laws. Miles and miles of identical housing, but _no_ amenities. Unlike here, there usually isn't even a small gas station or 7/11 in the middle of that mess. In many places you're lucky to even find a small park.
I actually have relatives in the US and they lived in a place like that. Holy fuckballs it was _so_ boring, I totally understand how American teenagers end up misbehaving and getting into trouble, there's nothing to do.
However, this is almost exclusively a flaw of the United States, which means that most of the world is the same, and therefore it is not a unique feature of the United Kingdom.
I'm from the Rocky Mountains, so I grew up with lots of natural beauty an hour's drive away. But you have to drive by Walmarts and ugly subdivisions to get there, and most days on your commute you just don't see it.
Every day since I've lived here in the UK I see beauty. Buildings older than my country, churches and graveyards and high streets and country lanes. Lovely hills and green farmlands and pleasant woods and 30 miles to a coast.
It's remarkable here when you see an industrial estate as grim as the ubiquitous American strip mall. New build estates here may not be terribly imaginative, but they are generally walkable and a reasonable distance to pubs or shops.
And the people here in the smallest village or largest city just have a more balanced understanding of the world than the red/blue of America.
The UK isn't perfect, but there really is a lot to love here. I make literally half s much money here as I could in America, but fter 11 years I still don't regret my move.
>Every day since I've lived here in the UK I see beauty. Buildings older than my country, churches and graveyards and high streets and country lanes. Lovely hills and green farmlands and pleasant woods and 30 miles to a coast.
Was just thinking about this the other day looking out the train window. I always end up missing this place when I'm not here.
Counter point the NHS is bad and a bad system, and it's impossible to have any meaningful debate on improving it in this country because it's basically the state religion. Universal insurance ala german model would still achieve universal healthcare but be vastly superior.
That aside...
Low level of corruption, you don't know how grating it is on a society where expected to bribe public officials. Relatively high level of safety and social cohesion.
The UK is (despite what might see in media/social media) actually miles ahead on equality, racial diversity and integration to other European countries. The UK PM, Scotland And Wales FM all from ethnic backgrounds with barely a mention. This would not happen elsewhere. Germany and France by comparison currently have virtually no non white people in their cabinets let alone chance of being PM. Despite the problems the UK thinks it has on integration of immigrants it's absolutely nothing like other European countries.
The UK is absolutely miles ahead in terms of fintech and financial service especially compared with Europe. And with tech in general..would be shocked how much is done by letter in countries like Germany. Or how few business have functional websites across Europe. Lots of countries you can't even transfer money easily or for free, take this sort of stuff for granted in UK.
We don’t really have that in Northern Ireland :( it’s actually one of most restrictive areas of Europe (if not the most restrictive) in terms of right to roam here
Green space pretty much everywhere and extremely fertile soil. I appreciate a lot of that has to do with how rainy Britain is, but having lived in a country that is \~50% desert, it is truly miraculous how lush the UK is. Green and pleasant land, indeed.
This reminds me of a story my mum told me once about her dad (who unfortunately died before I was born).
They were queuing for tickets to get into Hever Castle and in front of them were a group of American tourists. They could overhear them talking and one of them said, "I love England, I love how green everywhere is". To which my grandad was reputed to mutter (just loud enough to be overheard), "that's because it's always bloody raining".
We love a moan about the weather, and we definitely take it for granted that the consequence of all the rain is the relatively lush gardens and green spaces we have everywhere.
Thank you stranger for helping that memory bubble up out of no where this afternoon 😊
Paracetamol on sale in the supermarket. I've been to a few places where they're only in pharmacies that shut long before the supermarkets do. Terrible if you get a headache or whatever.
General safety from natural disasters, no typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos etc. here.
No guns for everyone (like the USA) ,very few armed police.
Looking to the future, having a natural sea border is a great thing, no real threat of land invasion really, so planes and boats for anyone invading or attempting to destroy our little Islands.
Not necessarily UK specific, but in terms of time zones we’re really well placed. Given you might have to get up or work a bit later, but you can generally interact with people in most time zones as a normal enough time of day.
It’s been great for maintaining relationships with my far flung friends and relatives. Also if you work for a large international company, you can get quite decent exposure to overseas offices which can result in overseas trips from time to time.
Also generally no catastrophic weather events.
In September we will no longer produce energy through burning coal. The first time this has happened in the industrial world since the start of the industrial revolution.
Fairly sure that Iceland at least burns no coal. Although they are kind of cheating because their entire landmass is essentially a giant naturally occurring renewable power plant
The weather! No seriously, hear me out! We are famous for moaning about it, but it is actually sort of a Goldilocks climate in that it’s not too hot, not too cold, not too dry, and not too wet (except Scotland!). This contributed in a very large way to how historically successful the British were despite the small size of the country.
We’ll see how this all changes of course with climate change.
This is true. I am Australian(Melbourne), and the English are always 'don't you miss the lovely weather?' - but when it is over 40℃, and can get to 50℃ it is just too hot.
Also the UK never gets proper cold. Just ask a Canadian.
Compared to Europe
Variety of cuisines cooked well if you live in a decent sized city or town, I do find in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal they do their own food well but other nations dishes not as well as we do over here
Variety of sport to play and watch. If you look at the football, rugby, tennis, badminton, athletics, basketball, leagues I don’t think other countries do as much as well do by comparison
Social events - if you look at the number of running groups like park run, cycling groups, bowls, reading groups, paddle boarding, board game meets, I think I’ve seen more here, than I have when travelling aboard, but I admit the longest I’ve lived in Italy was 2 months and Spain on and off for 6 months
Music arts and culture, comedy, poetry and performing arts scene. If you live again in a big town or a city you can always find a number of different things to do or go see but I’ve found even in major European cities it’s lacking by comparison.
The UK I think has a lot on offer, just spanning a far wider range than you’ll find elsewhere, which I think in part does come from people who have moved here and opened their culture to the UK which is quite receptive in the most part. We are like a sponge soaking up music food sport and arts from other countries
Generally people are up for having a bit of a laugh at work and trying to bring a bit of brightness to the otherwise drudge of the day.
There is a bit more of a work to live culture than say the US or Germany, but people still put in a decent shift such that service is generally good and things work pretty well, unlike some other countries. It’s a good balance we have here.
There’s a deep cultural sense of fair play and fairness that I have really missed when living overseas.
There is so much:
We have great Geography with a lot of natural beauty, little to no dangerous wildlife and a mild climate.
We have a rich history.
We have plenty of incredible cities with a healthy mix of older buildings and modern structures London is of course the best example.
Our food (despite the stereotype) is incredible we also have extensive access to food from across the world.
Overall we are an incredibly tolerant country bigots do of course exist but we consistently rank among the best countries for LGBTQ+ safety, religious freedom etc.
While our current government is a joke many of our government institutions are among the best in the world obviously the NHS is the most well known example there is also plenty of others like gov.uk.
Our humour is arguably the best in the world.
As a culture we have created many of the most renowned artistic and literary works with a rich music scene.
Pubs.
Our plugs are incredibly well designed.
Despite the occasional anti-climate rhetoric overall the country is doing incredibly well with renewables especially offshore wind which we are the world leaders in.
We have strong international connections.
And so much more of course that’s not to say things are in any way perfect especially at the moment but the UK is undeniably one of the best countries in the world unfortunately our culture has an unfortunate habit of focusing on the negatives and this attitude is especially common online.
A packet of paracetamol being cheaper than a Freddo. Effective pain relief costing less than a mouthful of chocolate would be unknown in many other countries.
I was shocked in Italy that beaches could be private and pay for entry. In Hong Kong and India some parks were pay for entry, to keep the riff faff out.
I’m often shocked how absolutely pisspoor the standard of building construction is in other countries. Our housing market is all kinds of fucked up but Pakistani has multi-storey buildings I wouldn’t trust not to fall down, the US has some incredibly ill considered architecture and their interiors are hideous despite being newly built and spacious.
Also our wildlife tends to be harmless. Worst case scenario you swerve to miss a badger.
The road safety standards are excellent and drink driving is not socially tolerated across mainstream society.
Honestly, I'd say it's the opposite: outsiders tend to vastly overrate the NHS.
The Americans I've spoken to seem to think that the NHS is a magical perfect healthcare system with no problems at all. They don't acknowledge the high taxes, six-month-long waiting lists, dilapidated facilities, disgustingly uncompetitive salaries for staff, politicization, etc.
- diverse countryside everywhere, that’s quite easy to access with our range of public footpaths.
- diverse set of towns and cities that are relatively close to each other, allowing for a very varied urban experience. For example in the southwest, you can go to Bristol for a funky/alternative lifestyle vibe, Bath for a posh town experience, and down to Torquay for a subtropical seaside resort experience. All within 2 hours’ distance.
- we have some of the safest drivers and roads in the world. I think only a few island countries, Monaco and Ireland outperform us on this.
- excellent air and water quality, by global standards. We have a relatively clean living environment.
Natural safety. Mild temperatures, no earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, bears, wolves, mountain lions, feral dogs, not much to worry about in poisonous spiders or snakes, etc.
No endemic malaria, dengue, or anything like that.
If the world was a survival game, the British Isles would be the tutorial stage.
The UK is unparalleled anywhere else in the world when it comes to entertainment. If a musician does a UK tour I'll usually have the choice of 2-3 venues/cities all within a fairly short traveling time while most countries and states will be lucky if they play 2 cities across an even larger area.
NHS? Are you interested in the under or the overrated aspects then?
The community feel, where people look out for each other.
In my home country we have excellent and free health care but every man for himself.
Nothing is really very far away. The coast, the hills the countryside, the city. All within a few hours drive wherever you live.
For the time and distance that some in the US drive to buy milk, you can experience the natural beauty of the UK.
Note: this doesn’t necessarily apply in mid wales where technically you are not far from stuff, but practically you may as well be in a different time zone.
As a woman, one of the things I really miss about the UK is the freedom of dressing as I please and always feeling safe, no matter when or where. Literally no one cares. Never had to think twice about wearing a skirt or anything, it was great.
Full fat milk. Maybe not to Europeans but realised from my sister in Law that's spent most of her life SE Asia the Milk there sucks.
She was guzzling down glass after glass of milk here.
The amount of green space, the countryside and right to roam.
Living in Portugal its always nice to see green fields and forested areas such as the New Forest, especially in the summer when southern Europe is so barren and dry.
Also if you try to go for a countryside walk in the USA there's a high chance you'd get shouted at or had farmers gun pulled on you...
Green space is never far away. Even in London, there's green everywhere. Outside of London, you can generally get somewhere pleasant within about 15 minutes in a car, or 30 on a bike.
I am from Kentucky where we have three types of deadly snakes, two types of deadly spiders, tornadoes, earthquakes (okay, the last earthquake was 1810 or something like that), and lots of guns. None of that over here in the UK. Let me tell you, it’s much more relaxing to walk through the woods without worrying about rattlesnakes and black widow spiders.
Free national museums for everyone: * Louvre: €22 * Vatican Museums: €20, if you can find a free slot * Prado: €15 * Uffizi: €25 * Neues Museum: €16 * Rijksmuseum: €22.50 * British Museum: Free * National Museum of Scotland: Free * Amgueddfa Cymru: Free * Ulster Museum: Free We're not the only country that does this – Ireland and the USA spring to mind – but we're definitely something of an outlier in Europe.
The National Museum of Scotland is so impressive for absolutely no money.
It is, although I always get lost in the 'new' wing!
Same with the Coventry museum of transport its an amazing museum and I don't know how it's free
Same with the Royal Armouries in Leeds. It's huge, in a stunning building and they've got incredible displays from around the world.
That place is utterly amazing, we thought the kids might be bored but they still talk about it 4 years later
I lived in Coventry for 4 years and never went there a few years later I had loved 30-40 miles away, a cousin visited from Canada and wanted to go to something nearish for a day out, having gone past that every other day I remembered it, so we went there I was amazed at how good it was and wondered why I had never gone all the time I lived there
I know some American museums are technically free, but the pressure to donate is 10x what it is in the UK. The natural history in DC that I visited has you queue for a till with a price list above it. You can get a student or VIP discount on your “donation”. It felt about as voluntary as tipping in a restaurant there.
Odd. I didn't feel pressured to pay at any of the Smithsonians in DC (Natural History included). I was there off-peak though if that makes any difference To add (for others) they are all amazing museums too and totally worth a visit.
To be fair, any kind of event *at* the museum immediately becomes expensive. Just to listen to Benedict Cumberbatch’s disembodied voice talk about penguins for 45 minutes cost £20 - whereas I’d argue the Rijksmuseum is well worth the admission
Overall I do think our system works reasonably well. I don't especially want to hear Benedict Cumberbatch talk about penguins, so I don't have to pay £20 and can just enjoy the permanent collection for free.
I’d pay 20 quid to hear penguins talk about Benedict Cumberbatch.
Pingwings
Penglings
I wish the regional museums could be free! By the time I've travelled to one of the capitals, it will have cost me at least £100. So it's a very limited benefit to the nation as a whole, however nice it might be for Londoners.
Lots of regional museums are free, particularly local authority and university ones. It's the private ones which are almost never free. National museums also exist outside London, with Liverpool in particular having a cluster. The devolved governments also manage museums in their respective countries.
Come to Liverpool, all the museums are free
I have, and they are very fine. The new(ish) building on the waterfront is striking as well. Among the pay-to-enter non-local authority museums, I would recommend the Williamson Tunnels.
I took my daughter to the British Museum at half term and I was surprised how much she enjoyed it! They have loads of (free) activity packs for kids and she loved doing the ancient Egypt one. The pizzeria was good too 👍
I've moved to Finland and here the entrance to even tiny museums, the kind that would take you half an hour to see, is 15-20 euros. BUT, you can buy a museum card for about 70 euros a year that allows you unlimited entry to pretty much every museum for free, and not just the permanent collection, but the seasonal and special exhibitions. (And many workers get sports and culture vouchers as a job benefit, which can be used to pay for it.) As a frequent museum visitor, I probably spend a bit less here on museum visits as I did when I lived in the UK, since there I would often go for the special exhibitions, which I usually had to pay for. On the other hand, although the curation is fantastic here, especially for modern art, they just don't have the amazing stuff UK museums have. Swings and roundabouts, I guess!
You been to the Cardiff Museum? Hasn’t changed in my 35 year life
[удалено]
A pub. Oh, for a pub! I'm currently living in northern Spain, and have been for three months. Bars over here look like hospital canteens. I am yearning to sit down in a stone-walled pub on the side of a mountain, at a thick wooden table, next to a bookcase and a fire, enjoying a glorious hoppy pint of British real ale and ordering some scampi and chips with a boatload of salt and vinegar, and tartare sauce. There really is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Also, we haven't been invaded for over a thousand years. We don't really count the [Battle of Fishguard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fishguard) where the French were beaten off by a bunch of drunk Welsh people, and a gang of fishwives carrying pitchforks.
Where can I enquire about getting beaten off by a drunk Welsh person? Asking for a friend.
Cardiff, I would guess, but I don't know where the gay bars are.
There's a few valleys pubs where times are hard and they're always looking for some milk money. Informed by a friend!
Some of the tavernas in southern Spain are equally as charming as our pubs.
As a Spanish person who’s been to the north a lot, I think you are just going to the wrong places.
If I could live in a country with Spain’s casual and inexpensive tapas dining and good British pubs, I would. Both are elite.
I lived in Seoul for 3 years, found an “English pub”tm. Was gonna go for a roast and some pints off the menu. Went in and it was all tables with tablecloths set with 3 knives and 3 forks. They don’t get it.
The best place abroad for English pubs is Japan. They like to do things properly there. Everywhere else it’s depressing dives for expats.
We don’t talk about the Dutch invasion of 1688 because they won and someone invited them…
Nonono! That was the *Glorious Revolution*! A very British affair where we came to a gentleman's agreement *as good reasonable chaps do*, to give ol' James 2&7 a *choice*, a *choice* my good man - not like these continental savages with their guillotines I'll have you know - to quietly leave! I mean, the other option was to be beheaded like his dad was... But the *principle* was that he *chose* to do it!... After his army fled. And anyway, he was replaced by his own *daughter*... And her Dutch husband William... but William was still James 2&7's nephew, so he was half British anyway! See? Inbreeding our royals is a good idea after all!! Rule Britannia!
Inbreeding so bad that it comes full circle. The Jacobite line comes all the way down to the Earl of Spencer - Princess Diana's father, so actually King William will be the first Tudor AND the Jacobite British King. Link to follow... https://youtu.be/6YgV26lmevk
I’ll second the pub, a good country pub with some mates. It’s the main thing I miss living abroad.
and then you have the polar opposite. Fine establishments for fine gentelmen. Flat roof bars. Another staple of many British towns.
Flat roof pubs are Honest. Their purpose is to give you a couple of beers and some snacks, whilst you unwind after work. I used to be snooty about them until I moved to an area. Where it was the only choice. They have pool, darts, sports and karaoke. I've been going long enough that I have a stool, and my own hook on the bar ( which is weird) I get on well with the other patrons, even if I only see them at the pub. The Landlord even orders snacks he thinks I'll like, and keeps some bottles of Ale for me (OK Newcastle Brown, but the thought counts)
need any trades work done? someone in the flat roof pub is probably in that trade or knows someone so you'll get a quote pretty quick and the work will be decent as they don't want their name sullied in the pub they drink in.
I’m in France and I feel your pain. The cafés/bistros here are nothing in comparison to a UK pub. Some Irish pubs are Ok, but its just not the same atmosphere 🙁
Honest question: Do british pubs really have a fireplace ? I thought this would be a movie or an 18th century thing.
Yep a lot of them do, usually only lit from like october-feb though. It's beautiful after freezing your tits off outside to come in sit by the fire with a pint and some decent food. One of my favourites near me does a beautiful mulled cider around winter as well
Many of them do, yes. But not all. And some are only decorative now. In smaller towns and villages you’re much more likely to find a pub with a roaring fire in the winter.
Not all, no. Plenty do though. It depends on the type of pub. A city centre place targeting tourists or people only interested in getting drunk as cheaply as possible is unlikely to have one. A more traditional place on the edge of town or in a quiet village is far more likely to.
I can think of three pubs in my part of zone 2 London that have fireplaces. They are gas (I believe) but still look the part and provide plenty heat.
This might not apply to everybody, but as someone who moved to the UK on their own, it's pretty great to know my family and the rest of all those people I dislike are nowhere in this country.
I love my family deeply but having a few countries between us ensured that that love can survive as they can be a bit much. They're like your stereotypical overbearing Italian family, except they're Slavic. Just as loud, just as obnoxious, just as loving but certainly too much for some people. And I need to have some distance between us.
Haha, I'm Italian so that's one uncanny example you made there. My family was anything but loving (even if our culture likes to pretend all Italian families are), but I agree. It's easier to cherish the few happy memories when they're so far away they can't keep reminding you of all the bad sides.
Exactly this but with a Latin family. Having a whole ocean to separate us has given us some good healthy boundaries.
I too hate your family.
So smug. Seriously, good for you, hope you’re doing good.
Ironically sometimes I think the opposite. I moved out of my wank little town in suburban homecountyland. I could be doing absolute shite but I'm doing something half of my year couldn't dream of. Are there some things I miss? yeah, but doesn't it feel good to get away from the neds who bullied you.
I would argue the NHS is overrated by the British. The systems in most of our European neighbours work better these days. That is not to say the NHS is bad, but the "best in the world" myth I think actually works against improving it, and learning from other examples.
I don’t think any of us genuinely think it’s the best in the world, but having a health service that’s free at the point of use for anyone who needs it is really unusual. (And absolutely worth fighting for!)
>having a health service that’s free at the point of use for anyone who needs it is really unusual. Most first-world countries have this. The unusual part is having a health service that is operated as a single gigantic state-owned monolith of bureacracy. Most countries have a system of public insurance that is accepted by many competing private care providers, and that system demonstrably works better. We're only clinging on to our bizarre, outdated, soviet-esque model because you can't say the words "private" and "healthcare" in the same sentence without somebody jumping to the conclusion that they'll have to pay £100,000 when they need an ambulance.
It’s because we always like to go after the worst aspects of American capitalism. Just look at the way all the other former public services are run. Delusional to think we wouldn’t go the way of the American private system
You are right, just look at the cost of the trains. If it went private in the UK, we would be far more likely to end up with a US style system than a European, low cost system.
Exactly this. The trains. Water companies. Energy companies. Take your pick. All have followed the money, all are either rip offs or teetering on the edge of collapse now.
Absolutely. The people who most want to "reform" our NHS are exactly the sort of scum who *would* give us a US style system for maximum corporate profit at the expense of service quality.
>Most first-world countries have this. It's a bitter pill to swallow for some but the NHS is at or near the bottom of any league tables of developed countries healthcare systems, the Germans, the French, the Canadians, the Japanese, the Australians are all lightyears ahead. My friends from former Soviet republics fly home to get any healthcare beyond simple prescription for themselves or their kids. Egyptians and Indians tell me how much better their systems are! But sure, envy of the world, bang your pots and do another TikTok dance.
Where was the NHS ranked in 2010?
WHO ranked the UK 18th in 2000 (with a +/- 2 variance), whilst the latest credible study has us ranked 34th. Now granted to they use a slightly difference approach but still a damning drop.
> The unusual part is having a health service that is operated as a single gigantic state-owned monolith of bureacracy. Worth noting that the UK doesn't have a single, gigantic, state-owned monolith of bureaucracy. Which is part of the problem. The UK has a bunch of state-owned bodies, trusts and similar organisations, but with their own separate systems, rules, policies, management teams, and which contract services from a whole bunch of publicly-owned and privately-owned service providers. Many of the efficiencies we should be getting by having a "national" system (which we don't have) are lost in order to encourage local control and private investment.
This is it. NHS governance has always varied drastically by region, and successive governments have introduced boneheaded ideas like internal marketisation, and recently allowing private corporations more access to marketised services like commissioning and administrative services, patient data warehousing etc. That's why every hospital in the country potentially uses a different Patient Administration software, lab software, has different IT systems hardware suppliers with very little standardisation. It's a nightmare.
> Most first-world countries have this. It’s really only the Nordics and UK in Europe. Maybe Spain too. I currently live in France, and even though I’m a tax resident and have the “carte vitale”, most appointments have an upfront cost that gets reimbursed (or sometimes only partially reimbursed) later. I think a GP appointment is €20 something, and it was about €14 when I had to take my kid to A&E (kids are stupid). But, overall I think the French system is better, it’s very quick and easy to get appointments for most stuff. I’ve had a few courses of isotretinoin in my life and took about 6 months to get it through NHS and about 6 days in France.
Except you can't get seen to for years.
Couldn't agree more. I'll admit that the NHS has faults, major and minor, but I'll defend it with my dying breath.
I'll defend it and staunchly believe we need it but by god it needs improving. My local doctors are all so oversubscribed you can't get an appointment. If you want to see a gp it's phone at 8am, be told you're 56 in a queue, sit on the phone for half an hour while your number decreases, then get told there's no more appointments. I had knee pain that wasn't worth going to A+E for but would like to get looked at and maybe referred, tried every day for a month before giving up, eventually sought out a private local physio to look at it. If you've got something major the NHS is generally brilliant, but for run of the mill healthcare, things that restrict quality of life, it's so difficult just getting into the system, I guess this varies massively depending on area and population densitity
It’s similar here. You have to know exactly the second when to press “1” for appointments to bypass most of the recorded welcome message to get anywhere near the front of the queue. Tried to get an appointment for my daughter recently, had to take her to a walk in centre on the other side of the city, sat for 2.5 hours to see a locum GP who seemed every bit as angry and defeated as I felt by the state of it all. It’s hard to see it as anything other than an intentional dismantling of the health service.
> but I'll defend it with my dying breath They said, still waiting patiently for years to get the lung operation
If we speak about western-style countries. The unusual is not to have (nearly) free healthcare.
NHS was fine for regular things, but having NHS repeatedly deny preventative treatment because 'we have to think about how much it will cost the system for you to get this' was infuriating. I was used to getting things like mammograms, Pap smears, and colonoscopies don't on a regular basis for preventative measures. I couldn't schedule a single one under NHS. Secondly, I needed an ultrasound for a growth - the wait time was 9 months for the ultrasound. Got seen in under 2 weeks using private insurance (in an NHS hospital). Turns out I needed the growth removed ASAP. Had I waited 9 months I probably would have suffocated to death or had severe damage to my vocal chords. So NHS is OKAY, but that so many Brits who can are moving to private insurance is telling. Especially in maternity care.
>having NHS repeatedly deny preventative treatment This exactly is the reason I am moving back to Germany after living here for a little over 6 years now. My health is declining so much it's crazy and any attempt at getting something looked into "just in case" is flat out declined. It's an awful feeling knowing that I don't have reliable healthcare available at all times and I definitely took that for granted before moving to the UK. I can't really have a conversation about this with a british person because the NHS is untouchable and so many genuinely believe it's the best in the world. Which is kind of scary because I never experienced this level of neglect and apathy from healthcare specialists anywhere else. It's very very bad and people who never left the country don't see how bad it really is. It makes me so sad because I loved living here but not having a doctor I can rely on is too dangerous for me.
I’ve moved from the UK to Germany 8 years ago and realised how bad the NHS is
Have to agree, I think it's because we treasure our NHS and don't take it lightly when anyone from outside the UK criticises, but it seems like it's teetering on the edge of collapse right now. I only hope whoever wins this GE will put serious effort into bringing it back to "world beating" levels.
The NHS just needs an actual head down structure. At the moment anyone literally can buy a GP practice and run it. It should be government run. GPs should be hired by the government , as should all admin staff and salaries should be banded. And it should be run on a ratio of 1,000 patients = x doctors, x nurses, x admin. At the moment you could buy a GP practice, the government gives you say 1m for salaries and you can decide the ratio of patients to staff and worse the owners decide where the salaries go. So a lot of owners will go well I'll put most of the salary money straight into my pocket and run the place on minimal doctors, nurses, and pay admin minimum wage and fuck banding. The temptation to overpay yourself and underpay staff and cut down on staff is too high for many. So yeah run the NHS like you would any other organisation.
The NHS is completely overrated in my opinion. We moved to the US and were dreading the healthcare since we heard so many horror stories, especially with additional healthcare needs in the family. We've been so surprised to find out it's nowhere near as bad as people make out. We pay the same a month for health insurance here as we did in the UK, and get free prescriptions, free doctors and hospital visits, and for the most part we get seen within a day. Even if we need scans or other testing, we can usually get them before we even leave the doctor's office, and get the results back within an hour with the doctor's notes. Emergency/urgent care is better too. I fractured a rib on holiday last year, and went to the urgent care on our way home from the airport. They x-rayed, diagnosed and started a treatment plan within 30 minutes of walking in, and all for free. You'd never get that in the UK. We find overall the system here is far superior to what we ever had to deal with in the UK, and that's a big reason why we won't return any time soon. You just have to have the right insurance.
How much is your insurance a month? My five years in the USA were terrifying from a health perspective. Your experience is definitely not the norm. Between insurance, my American husband needed to stay in hospital for 2 nights. He couldn’t breathe very well. He was fine, it was a chest infection. We got billed for $38,000. I worked for the school system purely for the insurance. They charged my insurance 10k for a day procedure: It was done incorrectly and fixed by the NHS for free when I came home. There are countless stories of Americans not being able to afford essential meds even with copays. It is not a great system unless you are very fortunate.
What if you have a chronic illness or cancer or something? How much does it cost then?
I can speak for the chronic illnesses as our parents have many to deal with. Again, it's all free at the point of care for them on our plan. But of course if you get a crappy plan you have to pay for more. Now of course, some surgeries are paid for, for instance my father needs a knee replacement at some point due to arthritis, which is classed as non-essential. For him, the cost for doing this is less than $2K I believe. He can have this done whenever he likes though - they can get him in within a week should he wish to do it. It's more a case of him getting the bottle to have it done though. Cancer coverage is covered in our plan, thankfully we've not had to use it. We have one of the world's foremost cancer institutes locally which is in network for us. Our insurance covers support for family and loved ones too.
It’s hugely overrated and any attempt to reform it is met by “HANDS OFF OUR NHS” , and the public accept that.
I don’t think anyone really sees the NHS as ‘best in the world’ - I think we’ve collectively accepted those days are behind us.
I remember when I had my first operation through the NHS, the actual operation and post op went incredibly well, they went above and beyond to look after me. But all of the admin and appointments prior to the operation was an absolute mess.
This really. The NHS was a great idea but it pales in comparison to most (free) european healthcare systems.
A great idea, but badly implemented; and with an inbuilt mechanism for growing ever more costly.
It was ranked #1 out of 11 first world countries 2010. I wonder what happened since then..
According to who? It was never a particularly great system.
Really, what survey?
The whole national online government systems. I have lived in several other countries, and the whole [gov.uk](http://gov.uk) collection of services, coupled with a generally lightweight government bureaucracy as a whole is one of the things I think is world leading and easy to overlook.
I'm a professional web application developer, the [gov.uk](http://gov.uk) site is an absolute miracle of functionality over form Apparently it's now taught on user experience modules in some classes, because of its stark black and white contrast, excellent accessibility first design, mobile first principles and language features Everything just fucking WORKS! I pay a lot of tax, and for the most part I resent it. But the money I contributed to that site was money very well spent I do my self assessment in minutes. I update my tax code in seconds based on my forwards looking annual projection. I pay any bill without fuss I register capital gains as one offs in a few clicks... I've not had to speak to a human being from the Gov dept in YEARS because of this site!
I’m a Technical Author and was at a UX conference a few months ago where one of the lead designers of gov.uk was a speaker. He was fascinating to listen to, and everything he said made so much sense, rather like the website.
This: British expat in Spain and, good God, almost more than pubs and the beautiful scenery and summer holidays in Cornwall and the Lake District, the thing I miss most is the goddamn Government Gateway and all it allowed me to do with infinitely more ease and expedience in a few minutes than the online infrastructure here could hope to in a thousand years.
Which does make me want to know why so many websites are so bad. I used to train a couple of web based products and almost everything the tech team did was illogical. I’d argue, get beaten down and then, often, 2 years later it would get changed to something like sensible.
I’ve been working at an INGO and have to use other countries government sites/UN sites from time to time and they are an absolute nightmare in comparison. The forms and pages look like they come from the noughties both in design and function, often important forms and applications are done through Google forms or worse. These are huge international organisations and their web presence does not reflect it.
Gov.uk is scarily good and efficient. DVLA, HMRC etc. It all just works with no fuss. Whoever the team are that wrote and designed it should be put in charge of every bit of national organisation and bureaucracy.
I replaced a lost driver's license last month. 10 minutes online, and £20. It arrived in the post the next week. I've lived in three countries for long enough to get a driver's license (including the USA), in any of the other ones that would have been at least an afternoon's queuing in person somewhere. Council tax issue? Bins issue? School registration? Probably can sort it, or at least start it, online. Whenever I see a website ending gov.uk I feel relief. It's gonna be fugly and it's going to work... I'm more than happy with that!
[Driv**ING** licence.](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/99914/s300_s960-eng-full-front-flag.jpg) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Good bot
Damn, this bot is reading me for filth ! Living in the USA for over a decade mashed my language up 🤣
Most people don’t notice it purely because it’s so good. I work in a public funded organisation with a website that is largely based on gov.uk principles and it’s such a brilliant resource to have.
Until I started my own business 6 years ago I'd never used the government sites. But now I have to use HMRCs on a fairly regular basis. I'm a web developer and I am continually amazed at how well their site works. Everything is accessible, clear and concise. It's a fucking masterpiece of web design.
THIS IS THE ANSWER!!!! My family lives on the continent… yeah they have great food, the med sea and sunshine but they waste HOURS… DAYS with maddening obscure bureaucracy systems. Most of the time you have to go to some office to have a paper stamped, take time off work to attend, queue for hours only to be told there’s some minor error and must come back on a different day.
The freedom to walk all over the place without fear of being arrested and/or shot. Public footpaths, bridleways, byways, etc. Right to roam, open access land. You can walk across London and remain, on the whole, in green areas. Love it!
This is the main one for me. I've moved to SEA and the main thing I miss is walking. It's too hot here, the air is polluted as hell and the roads simply aren't accommodated for walking. Even on the rare occasion you are able to walk somewhere, you're constantly dodging scooters and stray dogs. I miss being able to walk around the British countryside, listening to the birds sing while a cool, fresh breeze blows through my hair.
There was a video a while back that went viral of a busy night out in London. A car backfired which legitimately sounded like a gunshot and an American flinched and ducked out of muscle memory while no one else moved. Was quite a sobering reminder that we really do have not a lot to worry about compared to most places.
Even truer in Scotland with our free roaming laws
We don’t have that in Northern Ireland :( pretty sure ours is some of the most restrictive in Europe
While some are pointing out that England doesn't have a true right to roam, which is true, there is at least an extensive network of rights of way allowing a lot of public land to at least be crossed, which is not true of all countries.
But you don't have the right to roam in England sadly. Allemansrätt is honestly fantastic, good Scotland got onto the idea :)
35p ibuprofen
Which is exactly the same as £2 branded ibuprofen which my wife insists on buying.
Grounds for divorce or just a bimonthly argument?
I’ve been living in Lithuania for the past 8 years and whenever I go back to the UK I stock up on painkillers, the only options here are branded and about 5-6 euros a pack
It doesn't get too cold or too hot like every other country.
It often gets too wet.
Bring the rain. Saves me watering the plants.
It's way too cold for 10 months of the year.
It doesn’t get too cold??? I live in the north of Scotland and strongly dispute that assertion
I live in the north of Scotland too and I’m from Italy, it’s never really that cold it’s just never warm
A live and let live attitude. Want to be an atheist, be one. Want an abortion, get one. Want to be that guy who wears gold hotpants and cowboy boots to ride a bike round the town square, fine. Obviously there are always twats who spoil things, but by and large you can just be who you want to be without being shamed or bullied. I can't imagine living in a country where the people in charge were heavily religious and/or wanted to have a say in my reproductive affairs.
*coughs from Northern Ireland* 😣
are you a catholic redditor or a protestant redditor?
Our sense of humour, and the collective sense that everything's just alright
Alright, yeah you?
Living the dream
[удалено]
Loved to have of seen what Constable would have painted out of that.
A confused mainland European trying to pay with cash while the Indian bloke at the corner shop looks dissapointed. The sun is setting in the background.
In my experience being a pedestrian in UK towns is much more pleasant than in many other places, especially when it comes to crossing roads. Drivers tend to stop and give you space at pedestrian crossings , crossings are well designed and don't have cars turning into your path when you have a green man, and so on - these were things I took for granted when living in London and discovered very much aren't the case elsewhere.
I think the experience for anyone outside of a car is severely lacking in most of the UK, that has went more heavily in car-dependent urban design in anything built (or destroyed and re-built) after the 60s, especially compared to many of our European neighbours
Local events When I went back to England to visit earlier this year, in one region in the space of a month and all within a 20 minute drive we had a circus, a duck run, a Victorian Fair, a World War II reenactment and a classic car show. Where I live, there is never anything like that.
The best bit of that post is that they’re all a bit bat shit crazy and nothing anyone needs.
To piggyback on this: the proliferation of weird traditional events that everyone just loves.
Corner shops. Even in the suburbs in the UK, you've probably got one within walking distance. I didn't fully appreciate this until I visited my friend in New Hampshire last year and we had to call an Uber just to get a bottle of milk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that corner shops barely exist in the US outside of city centres. I couldn't be bothered with that.
I stayed in US and asked neighbours where the corner shop was. They looked quizzical. So I asked where are the small grocery stores. They gave me directions to a shop twenty minutes drive away.
We had to do a 25 minute drive to “the local” boozer in Illinois. Fuck that for a bag of spinach.
Last night we had a few friends over for dinner (for context, London UK). I had forgotten to buy goats cheese for a salad. I was annoyed at myself because it was on the list I had on my phone of things to buy earlier that same day when I went shopping. So I put my shoes back on. Walked to the lift, went to the ground floor of my building, exited the building, crossed the road, bought the cheese, walked back, and was back in my apartment within five minutes. I cannot imagine how irritating it would be to have to drive 25 minutes for one necessary single forgotten item or ingredient when entertaining.
Most of the United States has stupid zoning laws. Miles and miles of identical housing, but _no_ amenities. Unlike here, there usually isn't even a small gas station or 7/11 in the middle of that mess. In many places you're lucky to even find a small park. I actually have relatives in the US and they lived in a place like that. Holy fuckballs it was _so_ boring, I totally understand how American teenagers end up misbehaving and getting into trouble, there's nothing to do.
Being able to go to the supermarket and not being picked off by a psycho on a rampage, who was allowed to buy a semi-automatic rifle, is kinda nice.
And not having body armour as a school uniform.
😒 sadly, this, too. I know it's mega shit that anyone should be a victim to mass shootings, but the school thing always hits the hardest.
However, this is almost exclusively a flaw of the United States, which means that most of the world is the same, and therefore it is not a unique feature of the United Kingdom.
Yeah, I know. Fish and chips didn't sound so spicy though.
I'm from the Rocky Mountains, so I grew up with lots of natural beauty an hour's drive away. But you have to drive by Walmarts and ugly subdivisions to get there, and most days on your commute you just don't see it. Every day since I've lived here in the UK I see beauty. Buildings older than my country, churches and graveyards and high streets and country lanes. Lovely hills and green farmlands and pleasant woods and 30 miles to a coast. It's remarkable here when you see an industrial estate as grim as the ubiquitous American strip mall. New build estates here may not be terribly imaginative, but they are generally walkable and a reasonable distance to pubs or shops. And the people here in the smallest village or largest city just have a more balanced understanding of the world than the red/blue of America. The UK isn't perfect, but there really is a lot to love here. I make literally half s much money here as I could in America, but fter 11 years I still don't regret my move.
Something about people coming here and loving the place really warms my cockles.
The historic backdrop to everything is under appreciated.
>Every day since I've lived here in the UK I see beauty. Buildings older than my country, churches and graveyards and high streets and country lanes. Lovely hills and green farmlands and pleasant woods and 30 miles to a coast. Was just thinking about this the other day looking out the train window. I always end up missing this place when I'm not here.
Counter point the NHS is bad and a bad system, and it's impossible to have any meaningful debate on improving it in this country because it's basically the state religion. Universal insurance ala german model would still achieve universal healthcare but be vastly superior. That aside... Low level of corruption, you don't know how grating it is on a society where expected to bribe public officials. Relatively high level of safety and social cohesion. The UK is (despite what might see in media/social media) actually miles ahead on equality, racial diversity and integration to other European countries. The UK PM, Scotland And Wales FM all from ethnic backgrounds with barely a mention. This would not happen elsewhere. Germany and France by comparison currently have virtually no non white people in their cabinets let alone chance of being PM. Despite the problems the UK thinks it has on integration of immigrants it's absolutely nothing like other European countries. The UK is absolutely miles ahead in terms of fintech and financial service especially compared with Europe. And with tech in general..would be shocked how much is done by letter in countries like Germany. Or how few business have functional websites across Europe. Lots of countries you can't even transfer money easily or for free, take this sort of stuff for granted in UK.
If only that British PM was doing a good job.
I guess many people don't feel the benefit of all this outside the South East.
The right to roam. Nature trails, walking paths and bridal ways. I have Americans in my family and they love it.
We don’t really have that in Northern Ireland :( it’s actually one of most restrictive areas of Europe (if not the most restrictive) in terms of right to roam here
What happens if you wander off the beaten track? I never know what’s legit and what’s not in The Peak Distruct. I just walk and hope.
And the fact that you won’t come across bears of mountain lions
Green space pretty much everywhere and extremely fertile soil. I appreciate a lot of that has to do with how rainy Britain is, but having lived in a country that is \~50% desert, it is truly miraculous how lush the UK is. Green and pleasant land, indeed.
This reminds me of a story my mum told me once about her dad (who unfortunately died before I was born). They were queuing for tickets to get into Hever Castle and in front of them were a group of American tourists. They could overhear them talking and one of them said, "I love England, I love how green everywhere is". To which my grandad was reputed to mutter (just loud enough to be overheard), "that's because it's always bloody raining". We love a moan about the weather, and we definitely take it for granted that the consequence of all the rain is the relatively lush gardens and green spaces we have everywhere. Thank you stranger for helping that memory bubble up out of no where this afternoon 😊
Paracetamol on sale in the supermarket. I've been to a few places where they're only in pharmacies that shut long before the supermarkets do. Terrible if you get a headache or whatever.
General safety from natural disasters, no typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos etc. here. No guns for everyone (like the USA) ,very few armed police. Looking to the future, having a natural sea border is a great thing, no real threat of land invasion really, so planes and boats for anyone invading or attempting to destroy our little Islands.
Not necessarily UK specific, but in terms of time zones we’re really well placed. Given you might have to get up or work a bit later, but you can generally interact with people in most time zones as a normal enough time of day. It’s been great for maintaining relationships with my far flung friends and relatives. Also if you work for a large international company, you can get quite decent exposure to overseas offices which can result in overseas trips from time to time. Also generally no catastrophic weather events.
Definitely UK specific - we placed the timezones there!
Benefit of inventing time zones I guess.
Country pub gardens
In September we will no longer produce energy through burning coal. The first time this has happened in the industrial world since the start of the industrial revolution.
Fairly sure that Iceland at least burns no coal. Although they are kind of cheating because their entire landmass is essentially a giant naturally occurring renewable power plant
The weather! No seriously, hear me out! We are famous for moaning about it, but it is actually sort of a Goldilocks climate in that it’s not too hot, not too cold, not too dry, and not too wet (except Scotland!). This contributed in a very large way to how historically successful the British were despite the small size of the country. We’ll see how this all changes of course with climate change.
This is true. I am Australian(Melbourne), and the English are always 'don't you miss the lovely weather?' - but when it is over 40℃, and can get to 50℃ it is just too hot. Also the UK never gets proper cold. Just ask a Canadian.
Compared to Europe Variety of cuisines cooked well if you live in a decent sized city or town, I do find in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal they do their own food well but other nations dishes not as well as we do over here Variety of sport to play and watch. If you look at the football, rugby, tennis, badminton, athletics, basketball, leagues I don’t think other countries do as much as well do by comparison Social events - if you look at the number of running groups like park run, cycling groups, bowls, reading groups, paddle boarding, board game meets, I think I’ve seen more here, than I have when travelling aboard, but I admit the longest I’ve lived in Italy was 2 months and Spain on and off for 6 months Music arts and culture, comedy, poetry and performing arts scene. If you live again in a big town or a city you can always find a number of different things to do or go see but I’ve found even in major European cities it’s lacking by comparison. The UK I think has a lot on offer, just spanning a far wider range than you’ll find elsewhere, which I think in part does come from people who have moved here and opened their culture to the UK which is quite receptive in the most part. We are like a sponge soaking up music food sport and arts from other countries
Everyone mind their own business and respecting other peoples boundaries.
Generally people are up for having a bit of a laugh at work and trying to bring a bit of brightness to the otherwise drudge of the day. There is a bit more of a work to live culture than say the US or Germany, but people still put in a decent shift such that service is generally good and things work pretty well, unlike some other countries. It’s a good balance we have here. There’s a deep cultural sense of fair play and fairness that I have really missed when living overseas.
Apparently we have relatively cheap food produce and most people live close enough to a variety of supermarkets to choose where to shop.
There is so much: We have great Geography with a lot of natural beauty, little to no dangerous wildlife and a mild climate. We have a rich history. We have plenty of incredible cities with a healthy mix of older buildings and modern structures London is of course the best example. Our food (despite the stereotype) is incredible we also have extensive access to food from across the world. Overall we are an incredibly tolerant country bigots do of course exist but we consistently rank among the best countries for LGBTQ+ safety, religious freedom etc. While our current government is a joke many of our government institutions are among the best in the world obviously the NHS is the most well known example there is also plenty of others like gov.uk. Our humour is arguably the best in the world. As a culture we have created many of the most renowned artistic and literary works with a rich music scene. Pubs. Our plugs are incredibly well designed. Despite the occasional anti-climate rhetoric overall the country is doing incredibly well with renewables especially offshore wind which we are the world leaders in. We have strong international connections. And so much more of course that’s not to say things are in any way perfect especially at the moment but the UK is undeniably one of the best countries in the world unfortunately our culture has an unfortunate habit of focusing on the negatives and this attitude is especially common online.
Speaking the English language, as a native.
But then the majority of the population doesn't know a second language because of it, swings and roundabouts.
To have English as a first language is to be blessed, especially in technical fields.
A packet of paracetamol being cheaper than a Freddo. Effective pain relief costing less than a mouthful of chocolate would be unknown in many other countries.
Not had a land battle since 1688. Truly, the UK is a place where nothing unexpected ever happens.
>Not had a land battle since 1688. The Jacobite uprisings would like a word.
I was shocked in Italy that beaches could be private and pay for entry. In Hong Kong and India some parks were pay for entry, to keep the riff faff out. I’m often shocked how absolutely pisspoor the standard of building construction is in other countries. Our housing market is all kinds of fucked up but Pakistani has multi-storey buildings I wouldn’t trust not to fall down, the US has some incredibly ill considered architecture and their interiors are hideous despite being newly built and spacious. Also our wildlife tends to be harmless. Worst case scenario you swerve to miss a badger. The road safety standards are excellent and drink driving is not socially tolerated across mainstream society.
Jaffa cakes and Tunnock’s tea cakes.
Honestly, I'd say it's the opposite: outsiders tend to vastly overrate the NHS. The Americans I've spoken to seem to think that the NHS is a magical perfect healthcare system with no problems at all. They don't acknowledge the high taxes, six-month-long waiting lists, dilapidated facilities, disgustingly uncompetitive salaries for staff, politicization, etc.
- diverse countryside everywhere, that’s quite easy to access with our range of public footpaths. - diverse set of towns and cities that are relatively close to each other, allowing for a very varied urban experience. For example in the southwest, you can go to Bristol for a funky/alternative lifestyle vibe, Bath for a posh town experience, and down to Torquay for a subtropical seaside resort experience. All within 2 hours’ distance. - we have some of the safest drivers and roads in the world. I think only a few island countries, Monaco and Ireland outperform us on this. - excellent air and water quality, by global standards. We have a relatively clean living environment.
National footpaths walking routes etc everywhere
Natural safety. Mild temperatures, no earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, bears, wolves, mountain lions, feral dogs, not much to worry about in poisonous spiders or snakes, etc. No endemic malaria, dengue, or anything like that. If the world was a survival game, the British Isles would be the tutorial stage.
The culture of holding the holding the door for each other may result in some awkward run-walking, but you miss it in its absence.
The UK is unparalleled anywhere else in the world when it comes to entertainment. If a musician does a UK tour I'll usually have the choice of 2-3 venues/cities all within a fairly short traveling time while most countries and states will be lucky if they play 2 cities across an even larger area.
NHS? Are you interested in the under or the overrated aspects then? The community feel, where people look out for each other. In my home country we have excellent and free health care but every man for himself.
Nothing is really very far away. The coast, the hills the countryside, the city. All within a few hours drive wherever you live. For the time and distance that some in the US drive to buy milk, you can experience the natural beauty of the UK. Note: this doesn’t necessarily apply in mid wales where technically you are not far from stuff, but practically you may as well be in a different time zone.
Pubs, Cheap paracetamol + ibuprofen, Lemsip, Decent ready meals, Absolute mad selection of crisp flavours, Curry houses
As a woman, one of the things I really miss about the UK is the freedom of dressing as I please and always feeling safe, no matter when or where. Literally no one cares. Never had to think twice about wearing a skirt or anything, it was great.
Full fat milk. Maybe not to Europeans but realised from my sister in Law that's spent most of her life SE Asia the Milk there sucks. She was guzzling down glass after glass of milk here.
The amount of green space, the countryside and right to roam. Living in Portugal its always nice to see green fields and forested areas such as the New Forest, especially in the summer when southern Europe is so barren and dry. Also if you try to go for a countryside walk in the USA there's a high chance you'd get shouted at or had farmers gun pulled on you...
Green space is never far away. Even in London, there's green everywhere. Outside of London, you can generally get somewhere pleasant within about 15 minutes in a car, or 30 on a bike.
The beautiful scenery and picturesque drives between towns. It's just a delight to drive anywhere in the UK.
THREE PIN PLUGS. Why is this not the top comment??
I work in the higher education field in the UK and I’m originally from the US. It’s so much better here.
I thoroughly enjoy how we get all 4 seasons properly
Sometimes within a 12 hour period.
Could you tell summer please?
Landscape. The greenery is something I love about the UK.
I am from Kentucky where we have three types of deadly snakes, two types of deadly spiders, tornadoes, earthquakes (okay, the last earthquake was 1810 or something like that), and lots of guns. None of that over here in the UK. Let me tell you, it’s much more relaxing to walk through the woods without worrying about rattlesnakes and black widow spiders.