Baring My Budget: London
11 October 2007 by poetloverrebelspy
Five days in London, including flights to/from Berlin, cost me under £100. How did I do it? I lay my budget bare and reveal the winner of the London Reader Tips contest after the jump.
Transportation Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ Flights to/from Berlin (RyanAir): .02 euro cents
+ Additional zone to airport in Berlin, return: 2.60 euros
+ Oyster card (for public transport): max £23.60 (based on Oyster daily travelcard limits; I’m not certain how much remains from my £25 top-up; £3 deposit on card, which I kept)
+ Stansted bus, return: £14
Subtotal: 2.62 euros and max £37.60
Food and Drink Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ Groceries: £23.32
Subtotal: £23.32
Admissions Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ Ticket to Shakespeare’s Globe: £5
+ Kew Gardens Entrance Fee: £10.25
Subtotal: £15.25
Other Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ Luggage storage (2 days): £7
Subtotal: £7
TOTAL: £83.17 and 2.62 euros
Lest you think I wasn’t doing anything on my vacation, here things I did, but did for free:
+ four nights accommodation (with a friend)
+ three walks through London (Bankside, Soho and the Square Mile), outlined in my guidebook
+ a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe, when someone just gave me an extra ticket to a sold out show because his friend stood him up
+ birthday dinner and drinks (thanks friends!)
+ Leadenhall Market
+ Spitalfields Market
+ Monument (underwhelming — it’s all covered up!)
+ walked around Tower of London to Tower Bridge
+ Tate Modern
+ walked across Millenium Bridge and around St. Paul’s
+ Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
+ Victoria and Albert Museum
+ around London Eye, Westminster, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben
+ passed 10 Downing Street
+ St. James’ Park and around Buckingham Palace
This trip followed my typical no-budget rules: free accommodation, ride public transport (£4-5/day), eat only groceries (£3-4/day), BYOB (£2-3/day), do lots of cheap or free activities. A daily budget of £9-12 ($20-25) is fairly respectable considering prices in London are incredibly high. With my savings, I “splurged” on a ticket to the Globe and entrance to Kew Gardens and probably would have eaten Indian food once if my friends hadn’t treated.
There is so much free stuff I didn’t see that the city certainly warrants another trip, which is why I kept my Oyster card. Now I just have to wait for RyanAir or EasyJet to have another sale . . .
Winner of the London Reader Tips contest is akdmyers, whose answer outlined many of the things I set out to do while in London and many which I plan to do in the future, giving great ideas for lots of free activities and even free admissions to paid sites. Thanks Ann!
Liked this post? Try these other budgets on for size:
Baring My Budget: Malta
Baring My Budget: Stockholm
Baring My Budget: Hamburg
Baring My Budget: Venice
Budget Analysis: NY Times’ “Frugal Traveler”
Budget Analysis: NYT “Frugal Traveler,” Part Deux
Looking for more London advice? See
No-Budget Tips for London and Stockholm, Revisited
Navigating London Stansted Airport
You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help.
Now the all important question: what did you see at the Globe?
Merchant of Venice was the one I got to see for free. It was the better of the two. Second production was Love’s Labours Lost. It was still joyous and bawdy and there was a hilarious moment when pigeons began swooping onto the stage to eat the breadcrumbs that had been part of a food fight minutes earlier, but I nevertheless had the feeling I was watching a play rather than being part of the experience.
It is hard to stand for so long on concrete, tho — and that two days in a row. Yikes!
Erik and I saw Twelfth Night there in the pouring rain. We were so caught up in the play we didn’t even notice how wet we were until intermission. Standing did get a bit tedious after awhile though!
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Sounds like a great trip! I’m very impressed with how much you saw on your budget.