London! I blooming love the place! For short bursts mind you - I think 3 days in London is my limit, then I just need to get out! I generally go down for one full day though and always enjoy it!
I first went to London in 2012. I LOVED it and was so excited by it right from the off. Being somewhere that is so full of life, and seeing in person things you've only seen on television for years and years is so surreal! There is so much to do and see for all types of people, and since my first trip, I have been going back 2-3 times a year ever since.
Each time I go, I like to do something different...I guess I have a 'London Bucket List' and slowly but surely I am working my way through it! Perhaps I will share some of the things I've done there in another post and my thoughts and reccommendations, however for this post, I'm gonna talk about doing London cheaper.
Now of course, London, is a pricey business, but over the years I have picked up on ways to do London a little cheaper and thought I would share them with you in case you are heading there soon, or in debate as you feel it is far too expensive etc.
1. Travel To & From
Unless you fancy driving it, or live close enough to easily get there, I think the general route into London is via train. I know there are many coaches such as Mega Bus and National Express who do regular and frequent trips from numerous cities in the UK for usually, under £10. However, if you are anything like me, and struggle with long coach journey's (or short ones for that matter!) then the train is definitely the route for you!
London is full of train station, connecting you to it from all over the country.
I use Virgin Trains East Coast for my tickets. They are the cheapest and most efficient route for me to get to and from London from where I live. If you click here, you can register for cheap ticket alerts on the date you wish to travel.
The new batch of tickets come out on a Friday, and the sooner you buy them when your chosen date is released, the cheaper it will be!
I have always found the trains to be clean and with very pleasant staff. Ample storage and fully equipped with free wifi for the journey duration, plug sockets and a very well stocked snack cart! What more could you want for a train journey?!
2. Travelling Around The City
Now I seriously did my research on this one prior to going to London for the first time and without a doubt the best, quickest and least expensive way to get around the big city is with an Oyster card.
In case you are not sure of what one is, you know when OAP's get on buses and they tap/scan their pass when they get on the bus and it prints their ticket out? It is essentially the same as that.
You get a bank card sized card and each time you go through the barriers on the tube you tap it, it opens the gates for you. Similarly, on the buses. They point blank do not accept money. In fact, you may risk being laughed at if you attempt to pay with cash on a bus!
The oysters work a little like old school pay as you go mobile phones. You top it up as much as you want (minimum value must be £5.00). The money you top up is then deducted each time you 'touch in' or 'touch out' at a stop or station.
The money you put on it lasts 'forever', for example, if you go to London, top your card up with £10 credit, however, when you are there, only spend £5.20....the remaining £4.80 doesn't get lost or wiped or disappear, it is there waiting for you for your next trip or journey.
To top them up you look for the oyster symbol in many shops in and around the stations and the big stations have what looks like an ATM for you to add your pennies to it! If you want to make the most out of your time, I'd definitely plan ahead and figure out roughly how much you expect to spend and just top it up in one go, that way you aren't panicking thinking you are going to run out of money and equally don't have to waste time queuing and/or finding a top up point.
This may have slightly changed from when I got mine, but you can order Oyster cards online, or buy them from any of the big train stations on arrival (Kings Cross / St Pancras). The card costs £5 to buy...and then it is yours forever with no expiry date.
I LOVE it. I can't tell you how much quicker and easier it is to have this.
Another feature I like about it, you can log in online, and type your card number in and see what previous journey's you made, how much each ride cost you, and your remaining balance.
I find this particularly useful to check before my next trip, as if I have enough money on it, I just roll with it and don't waste my time heading to the top up point!
Another great quality is, when you do scan in and out of the tube stations, your journey cost and remaining balance briefly flashes up on the screen.
So now I have rambled on about the oysters for long enough, next up is HOW I think you should travel around London.
Well there is of course on foot...which I am sure the bulk of your journey will be, there are the Barclay bikes you can hire all over the city, there is the over ground, under ground, DLR (kinda like a tram, kinda like a train) or the buses.
After trying all of them, I much prefer the buses.
My reasons for this are:
Of course you expect the tube to be quicker than buses, which the journey itself probably is, however, I think many people under estimate how long it takes to go down the stairs, down the escalators, squish onto the tube, do the journey, and then walk through the tunnels, go up the stairs, back up the escalators to leave the station. I think it easily adds an extra 15 minutes to any journey.
The buses on the other hand, you are out in the daylight, you get a chance to see even more of London as the buses go around. Traffic wise, yes you do have to stop at the traffic lights, but you aren't nose to tail, crawling along for the full journey. I find them really handy and there is a screen on board letting you know what your next stop is going to be.
And price wise, buses off-peak, are much cheaper to tubes off-peak. A single bus journey on any route, whether you get off it on the next stop, or the last stop costs you £1.50, whereas a tube journey within zones 1 (all the main central city) costs you £2.40. Meaning you are saving 90p a journey!! AND THERE ARE NO STEPS SO FAR LESS WALKING TO DO!!
Food and drink is a pricey business in London, but so is eating out in general I guess! I definitely notice a price increase to items I usually buy at home in London though. Now if the purpose of your trip is to go, have afternoon tea, and enjoy street food in Camden, that is amazing, you will love it and have a super time. However if the purpose of your trip is to be a tourist and see and do as much as you possibly can...take your own! I do. I like to be as productive as I can be when I'm there and see as much as I can, and of course, the whole idea of this post is about doing all that and saving money....I take my own. I take a pack up in my bag of stuff that will fill me up and I can throw away when I have had it.
It fills me up and with my snacks I can last all day up until I am back at the train station waiting to go home which is around 6:30/7pmish.
Within the train station (Kings Cross/St Pancras) and the area just surrounding it there are many cheap options for food, McDonalds, Subway just outside, and in the station you have three Marks & Spencer's, a Boots, a WHSmith's and a Little Waitrose, all have a great selection of foods at sort of your average price. I always get a 'train tea' usually from a mixture of Marks and Spencer's and Waitrose.
4. Activities
Well London is like the hub of all things to do for all types of person. I have been really lucky to have done so many different things here. In fact, I have it as a little thing, that each time I go I do something different. Perhaps I will do a post in the future of London tourist things I have done!
Anyway, back to the money saving point, if it isn't already, Tesco needs to be your new supermarket of choice. On the Tesco Clubcard Voucher's website, they offer you to trade your vouchers in for 28 London attractions.
For example, The Tower of London - £25 on the gate or £10 worth of Tesco vouchers get you in. So that's at least 2 adults for the price of one.
Alternatively, if the Tesco clubcard vouchers aren't a possibility for you, try plan ahead and book online where you can....there is anything from 5-20% online saving if you pre-book rather than on the door....also you generally get to queue jump too! Hooray!
Another top tip too is pick up leaflets and booklets where you can. It is unbelievable how many 2 for 1's, or 'discount with this flyer' type bargains you can pick up in the tourist leaflets!
Even certain train companies offer 2 for 1 on London attractions with your train ticket, so do plan ahead and keep your eyes peeled!
5. Accommodation
There must be every single type of accommodation on offer in London. Ranging from the swankiest, most luxurious hotels, to chain hotels, to independent bed and breakfasts. hostels...and everything in between.
Now, unlike perhaps the other things, places to stay are something I struggle to compromise on. It has to be clean, in an area I am going to feel safe and then price comes into the equation.
Staying in London, I do generally go for a Premier Inn or Travelodge - you just know exactly what you are getting and they are in every location you could possibly want!
However, if you wanted to stay outside of London for a little escapism, I have stayed a 20 minute train journey outside of London before, and commuted in each day. I have stayed in St Albans and Harpenden. Both lovely little places and I stayed in amazing bed and breakfasts. It is an idea perhaps not many people may think of.
Now, unlike perhaps the other things, places to stay are something I struggle to compromise on. It has to be clean, in an area I am going to feel safe and then price comes into the equation.
Staying in London, I do generally go for a Premier Inn or Travelodge - you just know exactly what you are getting and they are in every location you could possibly want!
However, if you wanted to stay outside of London for a little escapism, I have stayed a 20 minute train journey outside of London before, and commuted in each day. I have stayed in St Albans and Harpenden. Both lovely little places and I stayed in amazing bed and breakfasts. It is an idea perhaps not many people may think of.
6. Baggage Storage
If you are lucky your hotel will store your bag for you, again, another great reason why you should try to get a hotel close to the train station you will depart home from to save you time...and ideally, money.
However, if this isn't the case, at most of the main train stations, they offer a left luggage facility. I have used the one at Kings Cross a couple of times before and it is so efficient. You hand your bag over, get a ticket....do your day. Then you return to collect it, flash your receipt and trundle your case away!
The price here varies for how long they have your case for. These figures aren't exact but it is something like 0-3 hours is so much, 3-6 is so much and 6+ is so much. I am often over 6 hours and have never paid anything more than £10.
However, if this isn't the case, at most of the main train stations, they offer a left luggage facility. I have used the one at Kings Cross a couple of times before and it is so efficient. You hand your bag over, get a ticket....do your day. Then you return to collect it, flash your receipt and trundle your case away!
The price here varies for how long they have your case for. These figures aren't exact but it is something like 0-3 hours is so much, 3-6 is so much and 6+ is so much. I am often over 6 hours and have never paid anything more than £10.
