Food & cultureBy Clever Tourists · Published
The best souvenirs from England are tea from a London tea merchant, a wedge of Stilton, a piece of Blue John stone from Castleton in the Peak District, secondhand books, and biscuits and chocolate from any supermarket. What to skip is the red-phone-box magnet and anything priced on the assumption you will get the tax back: Great Britain ended VAT refunds for overseas visitors in 2021, so the 20% VAT stays in the price. Below are nine things worth buying, where to find them in London and beyond, and what to know before packing cheese. Prices are tiers: $ is small change, $$ a considered purchase, $$$ a splurge. For the other 19 countries we cover, see our best souvenirs to buy in 20 countries.
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1. Tea from Twinings on the Strand ($ to $$). Twinings has traded from 216 Strand since 1706, and the narrow shop still sells loose tea and tins. It is a souvenir with a story attached for the price of a box of tea.
2. Tea from the supermarket ($). The same everyday brands the English actually drink, for much less than a gift shop.
3. Biscuits ($). Shortbread, digestives and chocolate biscuits; see what to buy at a grocery store in England.
4. British chocolate ($). Supermarket bars travel well in cool weather. Buy them on the last day in summer.
5. Stilton ($ to $$). Blue Stilton has protected (PDO) status and can only be made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, from pasteurised milk. An English blue made elsewhere, or from raw milk, cannot use the name. Buy it vacuum-packed from a cheesemonger or supermarket, and check your home country's rules on cheese before you fly.
6. Blue John jewellery or a small polished piece ($$ to $$$). Blue John is a banded blue-purple fluorite found only under Treak Cliff, just outside Castleton in Derbyshire. It is still mined in small amounts at Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern, and both sell jewellery and polished pieces cut from it. Buying it there is the surest way to know it is the real stone. Our Castleton guide covers the village.
7. Secondhand and first-edition books ($ to $$$). England's bookshops, in London and in towns like Bath, are a better souvenir than a magnet, and a book by an English author bought in England has a story. Books are heavy; ask the shop about posting them.
8. A jar of marmalade or jam ($). From a farm shop or a supermarket's own premium range. Pack jars in checked luggage, since they count as liquids at security.
9. A football shirt ($$). From the club's own shop, where it is real. The cheap ones on market stalls often are not.
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• London: Twinings on the Strand for tea, Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly for gift tins, and any big supermarket for biscuits, chocolate and everyday tea. Our London guide and 3 days in London cover the neighbourhoods.
• Bath: independent and secondhand bookshops in the old centre. See our Bath guide.
• Castleton: Blue John from the caverns' own shops.
• Small market towns: independent shops and farm shops for jam, cheese and local crafts. Our Cheddar Gorge and Wells guide covers Somerset.
• No tax-free shopping for visitors. Great Britain ended tax-free shopping for overseas visitors on 1 January 2021, and plans to reinstate it were dropped in 2022. The 20% VAT is in the shelf price and you cannot claim it back on departure. (Northern Ireland is different.) A shop that offers to "do the tax back" in England cannot.
• Red-phone-box and Union Jack trinkets sold around the big London sights. They are mass-made and the same everywhere.
• Market-stall football shirts and designer goods at prices that are too good to be real.
• Airport tea and biscuits. The same brands cost less in town.
More planning in things to know before visiting England, tourist scams in London, tipping in England and what to eat in London.
No. Great Britain ended tax-free shopping for overseas visitors on 1 January 2021, so the VAT in the shelf price cannot be reclaimed when you leave.
Tea, biscuits and chocolate are the everyday ones. For something more specific: tea from Twinings on the Strand, which has traded there since 1706, Stilton cheese, or Blue John stone from Castleton.
It has protected (PDO) status and can only be made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, from pasteurised milk.
A banded blue-purple fluorite found only under Treak Cliff near Castleton in Derbyshire. Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern still mine small amounts and sell jewellery made from it.
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