British Post Codes are essential for getting around. Recently I was helping a woman from Ethiopia find her way to her London accommodations.

"It's by Mary's church, near the supermarket," she said. Maybe enough of an address in her small African town but I can't even imagine how many "Mary's" churches and supermarkets there are in London. (And no, I'm not going to count.)

Not long after, a friend arrived in London from the USA.

She said she was staying at Rose Cottage B&B on West Street.

Planning to meet her for drinks, I asked, "What's the Post Code?" so that I could choose the best way to get to her.

"The what? Oh you mean all those numbers after the address? I didn't bother writing them down." A big mistake, especially in navigating British cities, and here's why.

Collections of Villages

Britain's large cities and most of its larger towns have, over centuries, grown by incorporating smaller villages and towns nearby. Each borough in a city like London, Birmingham or Manchester was once a village or town on its own. As a result, there will be many duplicated street names.
London, for example, has 18 High Roads and at least 50 High Streets - maybe more. Hundreds of street names are likely repeated over and over in any given city.

Getting around depends on knowing the Post Code as that's what differentiates one Smith Street from another. An address without it, in most parts of the UK, is as unintelligible to a Brit as It's by Mary's church, near the supermarket.

More than locations

Once you understand the post codes of a destination, you'll be able to find out a lot about the character of different districts. Will you be able to afford the local hotels? Will vacation rental accommodations be apartments or houses? Will there be shops? Is it a residential or commercial area? Even if you aren't in the UK long enough to figure all this out, just having the Postal Codes noted down will give a local all the geographical information necessary to advise you.

Need More Help Finding a Post Code

The Royal Mail's online Post Code Finder is a useful tool to know about if you already have most of the rest of an address. Enter some basic information and it produces not only a full post code but also a map of the location. There are also some tips and pointers to help you search. But, if you are heading for a larger city, where there will be a lot of streets with the same name, it is still wise to keep track of the postal code before you leave home.