A cultural travel guide to the world

Etiquette & taboos

Etiquette & taboos

Understanding local customs is where a journey begins. Find the topics that matter to you and feel at ease wherever you go.

United Kingdom

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Site-specific notes 18

Taken from the "don'ts" on each site page here. Open a site for its full etiquette and background.

Tower Bridge

  • Never jump the queue — the greatest social taboo in Britain
  • stand on the right on Tube escalators
  • don't be loud in front of memorials and churches.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  • Taking photos or filming during performances
  • talking loudly during shows
  • blocking the way inside street-performance circles

Giant's Causeway

  • Do not climb steep cliffs
  • do not chip off or take away stones
  • do not wedge coins into the cracks in the stones
  • do not go near the water's edge at high tide or in heavy seas

York

  • Do not linger or fool around at unrailed edges of the walls
  • do not block the old town's narrow lanes

Cotswolds

  • Do not make noise in residential areas
  • do not enter private gardens to take photos

Lake District

  • Do not cross private pastures or farmland
  • do not attempt routes beyond your ability alone
  • do not disturb grazing sheep

Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands

  • Do not leave paths to enter private pasture
  • do not litter at the lochside or in the glen
  • do not climb closed walls at ruins such as Urquhart Castle

Bath

  • Do not enter the water at the Roman Baths (it contains pathogens)
  • do not enter private homes in the Georgian residential areas

Oxford and Cambridge

  • Entering teaching and examination areas without permission
  • making noise in quiet areas

Royal Mile

  • Entering private courtyards or stairwells
  • blocking the way for long at performance spots
  • imitating the old custom of spitting on the heart

Westminster Abbey

  • Wandering about or making noise during services
  • playing around in the burial and memorial areas
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Buckingham Palace

  • Climbing over fences or entering restricted areas
  • blocking passageways

Edinburgh Castle

  • Do not photograph inside the Crown and Stone of Destiny gallery — the display area has clear no-photography signs
  • do not climb the rampart parapets or cross the battery railings for photographs — the drop at the rock's edge is extreme
  • do not laugh, chatter or take selfies inside the War Memorial — it is a memorial space for the fallen

Stonehenge

  • Do not climb, lean on or carve any stone — including the fallen ones on the outskirts that look ordinary
  • do not enter the fields to approach the circle outside open hours — the surroundings are private farmland protected by law
  • do not fly drones — the airspace over the site is expressly closed to them

The British Museum

  • Do not touch any openly displayed stone carvings or sculptures — oils and friction accelerate the weathering of artefacts
  • do not use flash, tripods or selfie sticks
  • do not eat, drink or talk loudly in the galleries — security staff will intervene

Fish and chips

  • Don't jump the queue
  • don't feed seagulls at the seaside (banned in many seaside towns)

Tower of London

  • Don't take photos in the Jewel House
  • don't feed or approach the Tower's ravens
  • don't climb the walls or cannons