London on a Budget

Published July 23rd, 2008

London, England is one of the great historical cities in Europe. Bustling with people from all over the world, this is a must-see city. The cost of living for Londoners is quite high, and it can be even worse if you’re a tourist. I was born in England, have been back to visit a few times, and my husband actually studied and lived there for a year just before we got married. Between the two of us, we’ve put together some ideas for how to get the most out of this great city without breaking the bank.

Getting there

From Canada, there’s a full service airline called Zoom that’s actually quite reasonable to use. Although we stopped once to pick up passengers in Montreal, I didn’t have to wait and switch planes, and they gave me a meal! Even with flying into Gatwick airport instead of Heathrow airport, I still saved a couple hundred dollars, and just hopped on a high speed train to get to central London. I think the fare was $99 each way, and it came to a little over $400, plus $10 each way for the train into central London. Generally the flights are less expensive into Gatwick. At the time I went, the least expensive flight into Heathrow was a couple hundred dollars more. Of course there’s always deals to be found with charter flights, seat sales, and traveling during the low season. I’ve mentioned it before on this site, but Travelzoo is also another great site you can subscribe to; they research, compile, and email out their top 20 travel deals every week.

Getting around once you’re there

Depending on which borough or area of London you visit, you have several options. Of course walking within one area is always an option, but this city also has an excellent subway or “tube” system with several lines. There are also buses, DLR (light rail) and ferry boats run buy the public transport system. As a tourist, I bought an “Oyster” card, which is a pre-paid transport card that can be used on any of the public transit services. The Oyster card is quite unique because it offers a significant discount over the cash fare, and automatically calculates the lowest possible fare for your specific trip if you swipe the card at each end. Definitely check out the Oyster section of the Transport for London website for more info as this card also offers some very valuable discounts for attractions and dining (under Oyster Offers).

Where to stay

There are many different options for accommodation. It is possible to get a decent rate through a site like Priceline. Also, Travelzoo’s website and their weekly top 20 best deals on the web highlight some discounted rates on often some very nice hotels. If your budget’s limited you may want to consider using one of the University residence’s bed and breakfast programs for the most value. My husband attended the University of London, so of course I stayed with him, but also had the option of having an inexpensive breakfast and dinner (more on that below). Just a quick note on residences: my husband stayed at John Adams Hall, which has been completely renovated, and from what I understand quite nice. Many of this university’s other residences have had recent renovations as well. Anyway, you may want to consider this as an intermediate option between an expensive hotel and staying in a hostel. Most offer breakfast included in their price too.

Food and Dining

My favourite part of every trip! Dining in London, like everything else, can be quite expensive, but I have a few tips! Like I mentioned above, we could eat breakfast and dinner at the residence hall, which wasn’t exciting, but the food wasn’t bad, and this enabled us to have a nice lunch most days. At many restaurants, lunch time portions are only a bit smaller, but almost half the price of dinner.

In the residence, we had many options for breakfast, and since it was a full breakfast, and we aren’t huge breakfast eaters we actually shared it, which at the time cost 2 sterling pounds. The meal included toast, bacon, eggs, a croissant, yogurt, cold cereal, juice, coffee/tea, and some oatmeal. Dinner at the time I visited was 4 pounds.

One pleasant dining experience that cost very little were our picnics. Busy urbanites in London frequent stores like Tesco or Sainsbury’s, where you can get inexpensive sandwiches from 1 pound and up. Our favourite lunch foods were the pre-made sandwiches, roasted red pepper hummus and pitas, and chocolate mousse from Tesco–we could get a whole healthy lunch for the two of us for under 8 pounds. A couple of nice places to take your picnic are the famous Hyde Park, and the grounds at Greenwich. You can even be a huge geek like my husband and eat lunch right on the Prime Meridian!

Most weekdays, at 3 or 4 o’clock, these Tescos and Sainsury’s stores (and many others) will put all their sandwiches and fresh lunches on for 1/2 price. We often picked up an afternoon snack, and as long as the sandwiches didn’t have lettuce, they were still fine the next day’s lunch as well!

While you’re at the Oyster website, make sure to check out the dining discounts. Many of them are 2-for-1, and I believe the only thing you have to do is make a reservation ahead of time (there are specific instructions for each one on the site). Most of the restaurants look quite nice, so you may be getting a great deal on a nice meal. I’m sure that many of these restaurants have menus online too, so you can get an idea of the prices before you go!

My husband also found dining coupons in the campus magazine at the University’s student’s union off Gower St. near Euston Square tube station. The magazines are right at the front door.

Ahhh happy hour…it still means something in London, when every afternoon you can find great value at most local pubs. Enjoy a British pint and some great, allbeit greasy, pub food. Don’t be shy to try the city’s take on Indian curry, a local favorite, it’s much less spicy than the original, but still tasty.

Inexpensive things to do

Use your Oyster card to get a discounted ferry ride to Greenwich (complete with a wonderful commentary by a crew member). Also, use the discount card to get 2-for-1 admission to the London Aquarium!

Completely free things to do

Museum of Natural History (free but some temporary exhibits charge for entry)
The British Museum (free but same as above)
The Tate Modern (Art Gallery) (free but…you get the idea)
Visit Portobello Market and Spitalfields Market
Visit the Greenwich observatory and museum
Visit the famous Harrod’s department store–even if you don’t buy anything, it’s a must see!
Free concerts at the giant HMV store on Oxford Street–listen to the radio to find out who’ll be playing, or call and ask them. If you’re more classically inclined, visit St. Martins-in-the-field (a beautiful old church) for one of their famous free lunchtime concerts.
Wander through any of the huge, beautiful parks within the city. Watch out on weekends though as any flat grassy area becomes a football pitch (aka soccer field) for kids. Some of our favorites are Hyde Park– it’s massive, Regents Park– much smaller but beautifully manicured gardens, and Primrose Hill, which has quite a bit of elevation so if you can make it to the top you are rewarded with a spectacular view of the central London’s city skyline. Afterwards, you can wander through the posh neighborhood, and try to catch a glimpse of Jamie Oliver or one of the Gallagher brothers (from what I heard).

If you’re spending a fair amount of time in London, especially if you’ll be walking on foot, you may want to consider getting the London A-z (Street Atlas), which is filled with some very detailed maps. My husband used his regularly for the year he lived there.

Well, enjoy your trip to England! I would love to hear if anyone has any other budget-friendly suggestions!

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