Last Word: Bargain Britain

A favorable exchange rate can be a strong incentive to travel, particularly to those places that have long been dizzyingly expensive. For many years, the prices in Japan were breathtaking, even for residents of Manhattan. Then, the yen declined significantly against the dollar, and many Americans took the opportunity to make their long-planned trip to Kyoto. Generally, I don’t take too much notice of exchange rates because fluctuations tend to be short-lived, or at least unpredictable.

However, the recent decline of the British pound against the dollar — a result of Brexit, or the country’s impending departure from the European Union — seems to be a singular case. At the time of writing, the exchange rate is 1.22, and in the past few days it has been as low as 1.10. This means that London, normally one of the most expensive cities on the planet, is all of a sudden unexpectedly reasonable. Although I don’t claim to be an expert in such matters, this situation looks likely to continue. The fall in the currency’s value has been triggered by uncertainty about what Brexit will actually entail and its likely effects on the British economy. As the U.K. will not formally leave the European Union until March 2017, ushering in at least two or three years of acrimonious horse trading between the British government and its erstwhile partners in Brussels, it would seem probable that an exchange rate favorable to U.S. travelers will be with us for the foreseeable future.

Personally, I am very fond of London in the run-up to Christmas. Yes, it is dark by 4 p.m. and rain is, to say the least, a distinct possibility, but the atmosphere of the city is festive, the illuminations on Regent Street obliterate any hint of gloom, the restaurants are packed, Harrods is seething and the British have cast aside their reserve in favor of a jovial Pickwickian persona fueled by roast pheasant, Stilton and Claret. I have long subscribed to Samuel Johnson’s dictum that “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,” but the fact that the city is now much less expensive is undeniably an added inducement to travel.