The Best Things About the UK That No One Talks About

Tax being included in shop prices was one of my favourite things about living in Britain. Yes, really. It is an extremely unglamorous thing to get excited about, but after shopping in Canada, being able to look at a price tag and know what I was going to pay seemed wonderful.

In my June 2022 video, after six years in the UK, I looked through a Reddit discussion about the good things people don’t always talk about. Some answers felt familiar. Others reminded me of differences I’d already started taking for granted. These were a few that meant something to me, from a shopping trip to an ordinary walk.

The price tag saves some mental maths

One comment brought up tax being included in the goods you buy in shops, and I immediately agreed. It took me back to shopping at the mall with my mum in Canada. I’d be holding the clothes I wanted and adding up their prices. Then she’d remind me that tax would go on top, so we had to work out roughly how much the whole lot would cost before reaching the till.

Sometimes that extra amount meant deciding to put something back. I hated having to do that calculation when the tag didn’t show the final cost. By the time I read this answer, I’d almost forgotten that part of shopping in Canada. British shop prices had become normal to me, which made the reminder surprisingly satisfying.

There is a qualification to the simple version: GOV.UK says VAT is normally included in shop prices, with some exceptions. That is the useful distinction here. I’m talking about the everyday shopping comparison I appreciated, rather than claiming every price in every situation includes every possible charge.

A public path can cross private property

Another answer mentioned public footpaths and maps showing where they go. The idea of a public right of way hadn’t been familiar to me before I moved here. I remembered hiking along a path and finding myself walking through what felt like somebody’s backyard or across their property. Being able to follow that route was surprising, and I thought the network of walking trails was wonderful.

The route matters. GOV.UK explains that you can walk on public rights of way, and that their routes appear on maps and some council websites. Its access guidance distinguishes those rights from other ways of accessing land. A public footpath isn’t permission to wander wherever you like across somebody’s property.

For me, the lovely part was discovering that walking trails could run through places I might otherwise have assumed I couldn’t enter. I wasn’t familiar with an equivalent system back in Canada, and I said so. That didn’t mean Canada had no paths or access rights. It meant this was something new to me when I arrived in England.

Old buildings are part of the scenery

I also loved the answer about being able to see very old places. Rochester was one of my favourites in southeast England: the castle, the cathedral and the architecture along the high street. I thought it was beautiful. The buildings around ordinary shops and businesses could be part of what made a place interesting, as well as the obvious landmarks.

Living in an old building myself was something I loved too. There were plenty of things about life here I could complain about, but being surrounded by buildings with that character was one of the things I loved. I didn’t need to pretend every part of living abroad was easy to appreciate it.

A cup of tea still counts

Tea came up as well, although I couldn’t agree that nobody talked about it. I talked about it constantly. The comment ran through all the excuses for a cup: visitors, good news, bad news, an afternoon break or time to kill. I understood the appeal. A warm cup of tea was comforting, and at that point I still hadn’t found one I preferred to Yorkshire.

Not every British person likes tea, of course. Some prefer coffee, and some want neither. That didn’t stop the habit being interesting to me as a foreigner. Alongside the paths, old buildings and shop prices, it was another small part of life here that I appreciated. I could talk honestly about the negatives and still feel that, for me, the positives outweighed them.

Watch my reactions to the everyday things people love about the UK.