London is an amazing city to visit! However, it is also one of the most expensive cities to visit. Be that as it may, there are several ways you can cut costs without missing out on any of the activities London has to offer.
1. Stay in unconventional yet inexpensive accommodations.
Accommodation costs will be one of your top expenses. We cut our costs by staying in a university dorm room (Wigram House with the University of Westminster).
Wigram House is located on a quiet residential street but close to numerous tourist sites, shops, cafes, and the Victoria tube station. It has at least one common room on each floor (but we never visited ours), two kitchens, and multiple bathrooms scattered throughout the floor.
These bathrooms were different from American dorms. They're more private with facilities for only one person at a time (instead of multiple shower and toilet stalls), and one bathroom had a bathtub instead of a shower.
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| Road where our dorm was located |
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| Cute and quiet residential street tucked away in downtown London |
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| Wigram House with the University of Westminster |
The room was small, but there was plenty of room for two 20 something girls with two suitcases each. The bed was high enough to store our suitcases under them. There was a small wardrobe with a rod for hanging clothes on one side and shelves on the other. There was also a desk, (we used the drawers for storage), small chest of drawers, and two open shelves above one of the beds.
It was nice that the room had a sink in it so we could get ready in the morning in our room. Linens, pillows, and towels were provided and changed weekly.
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| Our room |
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| Wardrobe |
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| Sink in our room |
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| Kitchen |
One negative about this accommodation was the wifi access. The front desk gave each of us a wifi code upon check-in, but they did not tell us that the code only worked on one device. Once we discovered this, we asked for another code and were denied our request. That was inconvenient for me because I used my code for my kindle so I didn't have wifi on my phone in our room, but I survived :) . Also, the wifi speed was decent.
2. Purchase groceries and eat breakfast in your room.
There were two grocery stores within walking distance of our room (a Sainsbury's and a Little Waitrose). We stocked up on granola bars, bread, jam, tea, milk, etc. and had breakfast in our room each morning. Also, there was a Starbucks near our accommodations. We stopped by once or twice on the way back to our room from a day of sight-seeing and picked up pastries for breakfast the next morning to mix things up :) .
Not only was this nice on our bank account and afforded us extra money to see more sites, buy more souvenirs, etc, but also we could sleep in a little later because we didn't go to a restaurant for breakfast.
3. Walk or use the Tube (subway).
The subway system in London is amazing! There are a plethora of stops, it's easy to navigate, it's clean and safe, and their is an app that will tell you the best route to get to your destination.
We saved money by purchasing two 7 day Travelcards for our trip (we were there for two weeks) and used them as many times as we wanted on the subway and buses within those days. Also, we purchased our Travelcards in advance and had the shipped to our homes in the USA before we left on our London adventure.
Additionally, the city is extremely walkable and many of the top sites are close together making them easy to find and easy to walk between.
4. Buy take away food and have picnics in parks.
There are several places that you can buy take away food. A chain called Pret a Manger was our favorite and they have stores sprinkled throughout London. Not only is this a good cost saving measure, but also it saves time if you do not have enough time for a sit down meal between activities.
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| Take away lunch from Pret a Manger in the park |
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| Lunch from food stalls in Portobello Market |
5. Take advantage of London's free attractions.
The majority of London's museums offer free admission to their permanent collection, but there may be a fee if you want to visit any special exhibitions on view. London's markets, parks, and some of the smaller churches are also free to visit.
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| Victoria & Albert Museum: free admission |
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| Tate Britain: free admission |
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| Tate Modern: free admission |
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| Borough Market: no admission required |
6. Book train tickets for day trips in advance.
Train tickets in the UK are similar to plane tickets. Their prices rise significantly the closer it gets to the departure date. You can purchase train tickets up to 90 days prior to travel. The cheapest fares are booked during off-peak times (weekdays between 9:30am-5:00pm and weekends), on a specific date, and with a reserved seat. The most expensive tickets are the most flexible (travel at any time without a reservation).
There are significant financial advantages to purchasing tickets early. However, a few of the days we originally planned to take day trips it rained and/or the weather did not cooperate in another way. It turned out to be a blessing for us that we had not already purchased our tickets because we had the flexibility to rearrange our trips to days with nicer weather. Although, depending on the type of train ticket purchased, you can change your ticket, but it will incur fees. Just another factor to consider.
7. Purchase tickets for attractions online for discounted prices.
If you plan out your activities in advance (even the night before) you can save money by purchasing tickets online and save time by not standing in line to buy tickets. The London Eye, Tower of London, the Jane Austen Centre, etc. all offer discounts online.
8. Consider value vs expense / know when to splurge.
When we rode the London Eye, we purchased fast track tickets online the previous day. Fast track tickets are a little more expensive than standard ticket rates (approximately £9), but it was well worth it. With our fast track tickets we were in line for 10 minutes. Everyone who purchased standard tickets had to wait in line with hundreds of other people for their turn (I would guess at least 2 hours).
To us it was worth paying a little extra and saving 2 hours of waiting in line so we could see more of the city.
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| London Eye |
9. Look for deals.
If you are planning on going on three or more London Walks tours, consider buying a London Walks Discount Walkabout card. The card is £2 and it will save you £2 on each walk and £4 on each day trip. It is valid for one month for visitors and three months for UK residents.
Also, the TKTS booth in Leister Square offers discounted theatre tickets for shows in the West End. The shows that have tickets available changes daily, and they only sell tickets at the TKTS booth (not online or over the phone). However, they do have a list of the shows and ticket prices available for that day on their website so you can do your research before making a special trip to the booth.
10. Get local currency before you leave your home country, visit an ATM, and get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees.
Before our trip, I went to my local bank and ordered some pounds to take with me. My bank charged a flat fee of $14 and I could order as many pounds as I wanted.
Another way to obtain local currency is to visit an ATM in that country. Either of the banks (your bank back home or the ATM's bank) may charge a fee so I would recommend trying to pull out all of the cash you will need in one visit. That way you can avoid multiple fees from using the ATM multiple times.
It's always a good idea to have at least some cash with you because many markets do no accept credit cards and/or you can haggle for a lower price if you pay with cash. Also, if your credit card is lost or stolen while you are on vacation you are not completely broke.
Additionally, you will need a credit card at least few times during your trip. Just like some people only accept cash, other people will only accept credit cards. Therefore, get a card with no foreign transaction fees. Trust me the foreign transaction fees add up.
Also, let your credit card company and bank know that you will be traveling out of the country before you go on your trip. Otherwise they might put a hold on your card while you are traveling and nobody wants that.
To recap:
1. Stay in unconventional yet inexpensive accommodations.
2. Purchase groceries and eat breakfast in your room.
3. Walk or use the Tube (subway).
4. Buy take away food and have picnics in parks.
5. Take advantage of London's free attractions.
6. Book train tickets for day trips in advance.
7. Purchase tickets for attractions online for discounted prices.
8. Consider value vs expense OR know when to splurge.
9. Look for deals.
10. Get local currency before you leave your home country, visit an ATM, and get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees.
I hope these tips are helpful. Happy travels!!
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