London, UK
London has gained the reputation of being a ridiculously expensive tourist spot.
But you can visit London on a budget by making a few choices different than the average traveler.
For continuity I will list prices in USD (mostly) since my readers tend to hail from the US or know the US Dollar value of things as a common currency.
Point blank: renting an apartment or paying for a hotel room is highly expensive in much of the city unless you dig for deals. We paid $55 for an easyHotel in Luton roughly a 90 minute bus ride outside of town center. A few weeks later we dropped $70 for a budget hotel room in Chiswick. Remember guys; we only booked 2 hotel stays in London since we landed two house sits spanning approximately two weeks each in Bayswater and Chiswick.
Expect to spend $100 to $150 per night or more in our around tourist areas on the lowest end of the scale.
Eating out is highly expensive. We spent $14 for a large serving of French fries and a Coke at Five Guys. We also enjoyed two small, borderline meager salads for $30 at a farm to table restaurant.
Lodging and going out to eat are super expensive in London, even for a guy like me who feels accustomed to NYC – NJ prices growing up.
The best way to experience London on the cheap is to house sit and grocery shop.
Grocery shopping is inexpensive in this city. We paid $50 to $60 for a good 5 day’s worth of food for 2 people. We hardly eat like horses yet the selection of sandwiches under 4 GBP in Tesco stunned me. Crisps (potato chips to Americans) are cheap too. Ditto for porridge (oats). Double ditto for baked beans.
Of course, I adore oatmeal, baked beans and salt and vinegar chips. The UK does these super cheap food stuffs better than any other country on planet earth.
Keep these ideas in mind to visit London on a budget.
1: House Sit
House sitting is a free way to secure lodging in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Perhaps sitting is not as practical as booking a hotel room but Kelli and I spent 2 weeks house sitting in a $4500 Baywater apartment.
Does that sound worth it?
I shudder to think what the apartment would cost of Air BnB. Plus, one local resident told us how a serious apartment shortage in London has made it difficult and/or highly expensive for foreigners to find short term stays.
Our neighbors a few blocks over were:
- Roman Abramovich
- Lakshmi Mittal
- The Sultan of Brunei
The neighbor across the street owned a $4 million Bugatti Chiron.
Living in one of the poshest neighborhoods in the world for free is worth the less than practical strategy of applying for and landing house sits.
London house sitting jobs are in demand. But if you reply to listings quickly, set up an attractive profile and polish your people skills to bond with homeowners you can spend nothing on lodging versus dropping hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Check out Trusted Housesitters for London house sits.
What If You Cannot Land a House Sitting Job?
Raid your retirement account or sell your kidneys.
Or book hotels well outside of busy tourist centers typically found due East of Hyde Park.
Even though your room will probably be fairly small this is a fabulous walking city boasting world class, inexpensive public transit.
The Tube, train or bus is never more than a few minutes away. Walk for a little bit or a lot to find relatively inexpensive hotels (for London standards) a bit outside of the hot spots.
2: Buy Groceries
Buy groceries versus eating out to visit London on the cheap.
My wife and I are hardly on the dole but enjoyed our 1.40 GBP egg salad and watercress sandwiches from Tesco Express a few times each week when out and about.
London, UK
Tourists easily save hundreds of dollars by grocery shopping versus eating out.
Kelli and I paid $40 for small servings of pub food consisting of:
- 2 small helpings of French fries
- 2 small servings of beet root falafel
Please do not take this as a complaint but an honest assessment: The Velveteen Rabbit would have belted out a Wendy’s style:
“Where’s the beef?!”
after seeing each serving size….with the rabbit, Kelli and I all being vegetarians.
The food quality was top notch but paying 20 USD for one small serving of fries and a few falafel is a bit much.
For the same $40 one can buy 30 cans of delicious, wholesome, top shelf baked beans from Waitrose for the month. Although I sure wouldn’t want to be the plumber fixing your toilet.
Anyway, shop for food at the grocery store to visit London on a budget. Go out to eat a few times to drop your $15 to $20 or more per person for each meal, as a splurge type deal.
Oliver Twist’s Meal Plan, London, UK
3: Visit Museums
The British Museum is a free way to experience hallowed antiquity right up to the present day.
I even stood by the Mummy of Cleopatra at the museum.
London offers tourists a collection of free, top flight museums.
The Tony Stark – Bruce Wayne – Scrooge McDuck type wealth in this opulent city flows to the museums through generous philanthropic gifts, making entrance free.
Of course, feel free to leave a donation if you wish.
4: Use Mass Transit
Mass transit is a flat out cheap, convenient way to get around London IF you pay with an Oyster card or with your contactless credit card.
Paying as you go with either method means spending a few bucks for each trip.
A daily cap exists which is fabulous for budget travelers. Ballpark, the cap kicks in at about $10 or so if traveling through popular tourist spots.
Spending roughly $10 to use public transit for the day in one of the world’s most desired cities sounds incredibly reasonable to me.
Do not pay for single trips via tickets because this method becomes far more expensive.
Similar to many countries, the UK seems to be moving people to a cash-free environment.
Paddington Station, London, UK
We found it easiest to swipe the contactless card to pay $2 to $3 for most trips on The Tube (the Subway) and to pay at $2 per trip on the bus.
Note; prices are approximate because the pricing structure changes between various zones in the city.
We traveled on the train, the Tube and on buses. Each was clean, quiet and arrived on time.
The architecture and artwork for the Tube is particularly mesmerizing.
5: Visit Parks
We walked the dog in gargantuan Hyde Park daily.
But London is far more than one sprawling park in the center of the city.
A vast array of smaller squares complemented by spacious parks offer you free spots for exercising, lazing on a bench or people watching.
Hyde Park, London, UK
You literally cannot walk 5-10 minutes without running in to at least a green, lush square throughout much of the city.
Parks in London are immaculately clean, with workers fastidiously keeping these green spaces tidy.
I had fun watching the endless parade of pooches play in Hyde Park. I felt as if I was front and center for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show with the wide array of breeds showing off for park visitors.
Runners, joggers or walkers can get in some cardio via paths crossing or circling the park to work off the fish and chips.
6: Walk and Enjoy
Walking around this brilliant city is one of my favorite habits. Kelli and I enjoyed spending hours walking North, East, South and West from the Bayswater location of our house sit.
Walk London to appreciate a fabulous city for free.
Discover nooks and crannies through the endless mews.
Stumble upon celebrity homes, both past and present. Blue signs indicate where some celebrities lived in the past. I chanced upon homes owned by Orson Wells, Henry VII and none other than Benny Hill, the Sultan of Bawdy Booby Comedy.
I never would have found each unless I decided to get lost walking around town.
Conclusion
Before crossing London off of your travel list because it’s too expensive follow these tips to enjoy it on a budget.
Being creative, flexible and willing to do a little more leg work saves you quite a precious amount of pounds, both from your wallet and on your body.
