London on a budget
From Wikitravel
This article is an itinerary.
[edit][add listing] Do
London has more visitor attractions than any other city in the world and draws some 30 millions visitors each year. If you have only a day you'll have a lot to cram in, but the good news is you can still see a great deal of London's many famous sights and attractions on a limited time frame, budget or both!
All of London's municipal museums and galleries are free, including the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the V&A, Tate, Tate Modern and the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
If you're unsure of how to get around London, it's worth taking one of the jump-on jump-off bus tours that take you to all the main sights and costs around £12, otherwise get yourself a Zone One day ticket for the Tube for £6.20, or if you're feeling adventurous a good pair of shoes and an umbrella - just in case!
Most people will start a tour of London at Buckingham Palace. Best time to get there is about 10:30 in the morning to see the Changing of the Guard at 11:30a.m. - each day (if dry) throughout June and July. From Buckingham Palace make your way on foot down Birdgage Walk to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Parliament is open to public view during the summer recess of August and September, but prior booking is strongly advised. To visit Westminster Abbey, you may have to queue (and maybe for some time during peak times), as its capacity is strictly limited, but it is well worth it. All of Britain's Kings and Queens are crowned here and many are buried here also.
From Westminster, Whitehall passed Downing Street to Trafalgar Square, officially the centre of London. Here you'll find the National Gallery containing some of Britain's greatest art treasures ranging from the 13th to the 20th Century and boasting works from greats such as Botticelli, Da Vinci, Rapheal, Michelangelo, Rubens, Rembrandt, Turner, Monet, Cezanne and Van Gogh. Round the corner, the National Portrait Gallery is a must see, it's here that you can put faces to all the famous names throughout Britain's history that will keep cropping up as you visit London's historic attractions.
From here you may want to use some transport (Tube - Charing Cross to Holborn) to get to the British Museum. If there was one visitor attraction I would recommend you see in London it is this, the British Museum contains around 6 million artefacts from the four corners of the globe outlining the history of world civilisation. Basically it's the store house for the treasures plundered throughout the world during the days of the British Empire and there is no place like it in all the world nor will there ever be. At the British Museum you'll find the controversial Elgin Marbles, the sarcophagus of Cleopatra and a collosal statue of Rameses III. It also houses the library in which Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital.
From here head towards Tower Hill to see the World famous Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. If anywhere is worth spending your day's budget it's the Tower of London, its walls are packed with history, intrigue and even the odd ghost or two -- not to mention the Crown Jewels. From here, hop back on the Tube at Tower Hill to St Paul's where you'll get off to visit the stunning St. Paul's Cathedral, where many of the great and good of Britain are buried and where a climb up the 530 steps to the top of the central dome will grant you amazing views across the city of London - and at a fraction of the price of the London Eye.
From St. Paul's you could walk across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern to enjoy some splendid modern art!
[edit] Get around
London's world famous (yet somewhat hated) underground system is often tempting to use as a method to get around, but there are a couple of things to help you save money
- Get a travelcard, they allow you to travel all over London for marginally more than a single
- go by bus - you'll see more than the inside of a tunnel and its usually much cheaper (£1.50 for a single compared with £3 on the tube)
- Walk - free and you can really get in touch with London (and its pollutants) buy a cheap map (avalible from stations or news agents) most of them show the main sites. The nowhere is more than 2 miles from anywhere else.
- try to avoid cabs - London is fairly congested so for what can be upto £20 you'll find that you can walk faster than a cab can drive. If you have a lot of luggage, both bus and underground services can be a difficult option, so look into minibus services such as Dot2Dot from London Heathrow Airport. They will get you to the front door of your final destination in about half the time and with half the price of a taxi.
[edit][add listing] Sleep
London is regally touted as the most expensive city on earth, which is fairly justified, however stying in cheaper accommodation can severely lower the impact on your wallet
[edit] Hostels
Are not necessarily as unpleasant as you may think, and as long as you don't mind sharing with others, they can be the most cost effective option, and also offer breakfast as well as kitchens for self catering. The Youth Hostel Association of England and Wales [1] (YHA) operates four hostels in Central London. Like everything else, you should book online well in advance - the hostels usually fill up on Friday and Saturday nights about 14 days before. A top tip is don't be put off if there are no beds left online, phone the hostel in question to see if there are still beds available or if there has been a cancellation. Some of the YHA's properties also offer a limited number of private family rooms - expect to pay £61 per night.
- Holland Park, Holland Walk, Kensington (tube: High Street Kensington), ☎ +44 (0)870 770 5866. Spectacular location in one of London's most prestigious areas. from £17.95. edit
- Oxford Street, 14 Noel Street, ☎ +44 (0)870 770 5984. Located in the middle of the shopping district. from £21.95. edit
- St Pancras International, 79-81 Euston Road (tube: Kings Cross St Pancras), ☎ +44 (0)870 7706044 (stpancras@yha.org.uk), [2]. The largest and newest of the four, minutes walk from St Pancras International railway station. Dormitory from £21 including breakfast. edit
- St Paul's, 36 Carter Lane (tube: St Paul's), ☎ 08707 705764 (stpauls@yha.org.uk), [3]. Small hostel converted from one of the City's oldest buildings. Cheap for Central London accommodation, range of room sizes, basic facilities. Dorm from £18.95 including breakfast. 6 rooms for 2 people and 3 singles.. edit
There are a number of other hostels all through the city.
- London Backpackers, (tube: Hendon Central), ☎ +44 (0)20 82031319 (info@ukhostels.com, fax: +44 (0)20 82039339), [4]. checkin: 1PM; checkout: 10AM. Virtually next to Hendon Central tube station and about 20min from central London. £10. edit
- St Christopher's Inns, (tube: London Bridge, Camden, Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith, Greenwich), ☎ +44 (0)20 86007500 (bookings@st-christophers.co.uk, fax: +44 (0)20 74037715), [5]. checkin: 2PM; checkout: 11AM. St Christopher's Inns run 7 independent hostels in London Bridge, Camden, Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith and Greenwich. £9.50 with very basic breakfast. edit
In the summer season, many of the colleges and universities in Central London open up their student Halls of Residence as hotels during vacations, at usually much lower rates than proper hotels, but expect very basic facilities and no catering.
Capsule-style crash spaces are just arriving, but currently these are only in central locations.
[edit] Hotels
Generally the further you are from the centre the cheaper you can stay; try to book hotels near rail stations or underground stops, since this will decrease your travelling time considerably and allow you to have a night out without worrying about having to walk too far
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