When I started my trip the first place I wanted to visit was London. Everyone and their brother told me about how expensive London was going to be, but I ended up having no problems at all! In fact I spent less than $50 a day while I was there and I stayed for a whole week! Here is how I did it.
Accommodations
The first thing I had to take care of was my accommodations. This should be the most expensive thing you need to deal with while in London. I left for my trip in September so I just out of peak season by less than a month. Since I wanted the backpacker experience I started my search with hostels. The first site I used was HostelWorld.com and I looked about a month before my flight for the week I wanted to stay and sorted by price. The best place I found was a brand new hostel called Travel Joy Hostels Wimbledon. Wimbledon is out side of the city center but is still super easy to get into town with the Tube or DLR.
I spent 6 nights there in total. Guess how much it cost me. The 6 nights only cost me $130.00 USD. That’s right. For the price of just ONE night in a normal hotel in London I was able to spend 6 nights!
- It’s ok and cheaper to stay outside the city center.
- London is amazing in September! But they consider it the off-season. Take advantage of this!
- It’s just a bed! Hostels are great for cheap accommodations. You will spend 98% of your time exploring the city. Why spend a fortune on a fancy hotel room you will hardly ever see.
Transportation
London has an amazing public transportation system! I knew I was going to stay in London for one week so before I flew out I went to the Transport of London website and bought a Zone 1-3 7-Day Travel Card for $55.00 USD. You can buy these travel cards from any ticket machine once you get to London. I ordered mine online and had it mailed to me.
Your travel card gives you UNLIMITED travel on the DLR, Tube and Public Buses for your time period. I had a full 7 days of unlimited travel with my card. Since I picked zones 1-3 this allowed me to stay at my hostel in Wimbledon and also let me visit Greenwich while I was there. If you buy separate tickets they cost $7.00 USD each ticket! If you are a tourist in London you have to buy a travel card. It will save you a fortune on tube and bus rides. I only had to ride the subway 8 times to break even on my travel card. I probably did that much traveling by day two there.
- Ride the tube! It’s fast, easy to learn and cheap with travel cards.
- Want to view the city? Ride the bus! It’s easy to figure out the bus routes in town and they are free with your travel card. There is no need to travel like a mole in the tube underground.
- When traveling a lot a travel card will save you a fortune. If you are traveling less get an Oyster Card to pay half price on Tube tickets only $3.50 a ride.
Food and Eating Out
As a budget traveler don’t expect most restaurants to be out of your budget. I found that there are places for every price range. When I travel I always eat local food and try regional dishes. London was no exception. My hostel provided free breakfast so I took advantage of that while I was there. It made the hostel even a better deal and saved me even more money.
For lunch I was always in some random part of the city trying to explore while it was still light out. So for lunch I always grabbed quick food. England is famous for white bread sandwiches. Every little convince store and grocery store will have almost a hundred different flavors for sale. They also nearly all offer a “lunch” deal which runs all day. Get a sandwich, drink, and candy for about $7 (5 GBP). It was quick and easy and each day I got to try a new and weird type of British sandwich. There is even a chain called Pret A Manger that only severs these little sandwiches.
But did I only eat white bread sandwiches? Of course not! As you explore more and more you will see plenty of little shops with great deals on food. Right down the street from my hostel was a place that served a full British breakfast for $7 (5 GBP) it was a massive meal for 5 GBP. I also found a fish and chips stall at Camden lock that also cost me 5 GBP. In fact after a few days I set my max budget for a meal in London to be 5 GBP. I had found so many places to eat there was no need to go over that. London is a massive city. Do you really think that all of the locals are spending a fortune on food each time they eat out? There is tons of affordable food if you just look for it.
- Eat outside of tourist areas! Prices are always higher near attractions.
- Don’t be afraid of quick food, everyone else does it. It’s part of the experience.
- Avoid “British Pubs” they all look different but they are all owned by one company and have the same food and prices. Just look at the menus at a few, they are the same.
- Find small independent restaurants. A dinner in London will give you the same if not better English Breakfast than a fancy place charging way more.
Attractions and Tickets
Think you got me now eh? Well jokes on you I also saved a fortune on tickets while I was there. Before I left for London I looked up prices and they were just crazy. Nearly everything has tickets and they are not cheap. But I couldn’t go to London and not see the sights! So I bought myself a London Pass. The London Pass is a card for tourists that lets you visit over 60 of London’s best attractions for one price. Since I was there for a week I bought the 6-day London Pass for about $150. This let me skip the lines at most places and let me see everything I wanted to and more. I saved a fortune over buying tickets and even got to see some stuff I didn’t plan on in the first place. Here are a few things I visited with my card.
- The Tower of London
- St.Pauls Cathedral
- Tower Bridge Exhibition
- Jewel Tower
- Westminster Abbey
- Windsor Castle
- London Zoo
- London Bridge Experience
- Shakespeare’s Globe Theater
- Churchill War Rooms
- Thames River Boat Cruise
- Jason’s Canal Boat Trip
- And more…
These are the main attractions in London! Not just side things no one wants to visit. You get to visit them all with just one card. If you want to go all out you could buy the 3-day card and cram in as much as possible!
But is that all I did? Nope. Did you know that all public museums in London are FREE? Yup, that’s right free. Everywhere in the UK you will find public museums are totally free. They do ask for an optional donation at exit though. So I also visited…
- Tate Modern London
- National Gallery
- National History Museum
- London Science Museum
- National Maritime Museum
- and The Albert Victoria Museum
All of these places were free and most of them were even grouped together in the same spot so you could walk between them. You can spend a full day just museum hopping totally for free.
So there you have it. Were you expecting some great secret? I bet you didn’t believe me when you read the headline of this article. Heck before I went I would have even doubted it was possible. But London does not have to cost a fortune. You don’t have to drink $7.00 pints of beer and eat $15 plates of fish and chips. There are tons of ways to save money around the city. The city is full of wonderful cheap restaurants and things to do. The experience should be about actually being in London and experiencing the city not just going broke.
If you have any questions about London or want to post your own money saving tips feel free to post a comment.
