Tips and Tricks for visiting London on a Budget
Tips and Tricks for visiting London on a Budget
(From someone who has lived here)
London is a very expensive city where you tend to fly through money the entire time you spend there, But still, I love London, it is such a vibrant and lively city and was my home for a few years.
It was a heart breaking decision to leave, but while there and during previous trips before I moved there I came up with some tips and ticks to help get around London easier and save some hard earned cash at the same time! Here are 19 tips and tricks for visiting London!
1. Getting from and into London from the Airports
London is very well connected to all the airport- yes airport(s)! London actually has five. Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Stansted, and Luton. Depending on where your flying from will normally determine which airport you will fly into.
If flying from outside Europe it will likely be Heathrow or Gatwick, the others tend to be more budget friendly airlines and mostly to Europe destinations.
Heathrow airport
From Heathrow airport you have a couple of options to get into London.
✈️ Heathrow Express- Takes roughly 20 minutes from the airport into Paddington station, where it arrives and departs from, this is the most expensive public transport option costing about £25. From Paddington you can connect to the Tube through the Elizabeth (Purple), District (green), circle (yellow) Bakerloo (Brown) and Hammersmith (pink) Lines.
✈️ Piccadilly (Navy) and Elizabeth (purple) Lines both run frequently to and from the airport. The Piccadilly doesn’t start until approximately 5 am and 7 am on Sundays so beware if your travelling early morning.
✈️ Buses- there are two buses that run from the airport. The National Express, Flix bus and Mega buses leave from the Heathrow bus station and go to the Victoria Coach station that is just next to Victoria train and tube Station.
Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports
✈️ The Gatwick Express and the Stansted Express go on a regular basis to each airport. Approximately every 15 minutes. The Gatwick express leaves from Victoria station and the Stanstead Express leaves from Liverpool station. You can buy tickets at the station or online. There are also options to catch a bus to all three airports from the Victoria coach stations.
✈️ Trains to Luton airport leave from St Pancreas station and will arrive at Luton station, where you then need to hop on a bus that will then take you the last couple of miles to the airport.
2. Download a offline London tube map on your phone.
So as of 2024, phone service on the Tube system is still non existent. Having this handy little free map on your phone makes it so much easier to figure out where your going, where you need to change and make sure you got on the tube, travelling the correct way (most of us have been there at some point I think!).
It also saves time trying glimpse of the map in the station surrounded by all the other tourists.
3. Skip the Tube and walk
Chopping and changing tube lines to go one or two stops isn’t worth it a lot of the time, but also London is a very easy walkable city! Most of the time it will take longer (and cost more) than if you just walked in the first place.
By this I mean a lot of the tube stations are actually closer than they appear on the map. For instance from Oxford circus you can easily walk to Bond street, Tottenham court, Piccadilly Circus, Charing cross, Covent garden and Leicester Square in a 10 minute walk but are nearly all on different lines.
Check out your map and see what you can do along the way. Personally I prefer to walk down Regents street or Carnaby Street, through Soho to reach Piccadilly Circus than changes lines and catch the tube, plus you see so much more of London this way!
4. Use the Buses
A great alternative to the tube for getting around London is to get on a classic icon! The red double- decker London Buses!
It is cheaper (£1.50 per ride) and depending on where you are going can sometimes take less time (and without the crowd) and easily links up parts of the city the tube isn’t near.
It is also one of the best ways to see London! Hop upstairs and try and get a front window seat as so many routes go past some amazing places and things you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
You can then also cross ride a double decker bus around London off your bucket list! Whenever I was going somewhere I always checked how long it would take tube VS bus and if they were similar I would always go bus!
5. Budget Food Ideas
Eating out while travelling adds up very fast and this is especially true in London. I always like to save a bit of money on lunch and/ or dinner, so off to the supermarket I go! London is dotted with Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Marks and Spencers (M&S) and Boots and all of them have a pre-made food section where they have meal deals and for roughly £3.
You can get a main such as a salad or sandwich, a drink and a snack like chips (crisps) chocolate, or some pre-cut fruit and veg.They will also generally have price reductions or 2 for 1 deals in the evenings. Talk to any Brit- they love their meal deals!
Alternatively London markets are great places to get food on a budget, places like Old Spitalfields, Borough and Camden markets are great ways to try different foods. If you like Curries, Brick Lane in Aldgate is a great place to get a cheap curry with many places doing cheap deals.
6. Cheap theatre tickets
The Todaytix app is the easiest way to book west end theatre tickets, which means you don’t have be paying crazy prices at the ticket booths around Leicester square for last minute tickets!
7. Carry a umbrella
London is one of those cities that has four seasons in 1 day. The weather is unpredictable and a umbrella is one of those accessories that most Londoners always carry around in their bags. Save some money by bringing your own or even a rain coat or poncho to save having to buy one when you get there.
8. Check out London by Night
Like many cities around the world, London lights ups its monuments at night and wow is it pretty!
Some places to check out are big Ben and the houses of Parliament and Westminster abbey, with the London Eye across the Thames and London tower and tower bridge.
Covent garden and seven dials lit up with fairy lights, Piccadilly with the big ad screen, china town entrance lights, Regents street, Carnaby street and so many more!
9. Take day trips
There are many great towns in such a close distance to London that you can head off to for the day, which you can easily catch a train and head to for the day. The Trainline app is a great way to prebook you train tickets and pick what time you want to leave (it is also cheaper if you prebook).
Just bare in mind that if you buy a ticket for a particular train departure, you have to catch that train, if you miss it or arrive early, you cant just hop on the next one as your ticket will be invalid and you will need to buy another one, the train inspectors will check and may fine you if your not on the correct train.
10. Citymapper
Citymapper is a great app that works in a lot of big cities around the world. Better than google maps, it gives you multiple ways of how to get your destination using public transport (buses and the tube) taxis, or even the bikes, and also shows you if there are any current issues, such as track work on a line. choose your option and off you go!
11. London is a big place
London is a big place and it can take a long time to get from A to B. Bare this in mind when planning you days.
It is easier to plan your days in certain areas such as spending 1 day down in the city of London and do St Paul’s, the Monument, Tower of London and another day around Victoria and do Westminster and Westminster abbey, Pall Mall, Churchill war rooms, trafalgar square and Buckingham palace another day for example.
12. Leave Zone 1 (Central London)
London is a huge place and central London is only a very small part of it. There is plenty to do outside in the neighbouring boroughs, Such as Richmond park, Hampton court palace, Eltham palace, Brixton markets and Hampstead health just to name a few. Places like Richmond park make it hard to believe your still in the middle of London.
13. Pre- book in advance
If there is something you really want to see and know you’ll be upset if you miss it- pre- book it! Especially during summer, which is the main tourist season, most attractions fill up weeks in advance- yes weeks! Also during covid a lot of places, even the free ones introduced slotted times, which they have continued with post covid.
To avoid disappointment, check out the attractions website and see if you can prebook tickets. For example you can pre-book the natural history museum (free- slotted times available), the British museum (free tickets online), Tower of London ( paid tickets), Kensington Palace (paid tickets) and Buckingham Palace (paid tickets- books out far in advance).
Some places also have peak and off- peak times where tickets may be a few £ cheaper during the off- peak times too, so keep an eye out for these. This also goes for popular bars, cafes and restaurants as well.
14. Take day trips
There are many great towns in such a close distance to London that you can head off to for the day, which you can easily catch a train and head to for the day. The Trainline app is a great way to prebook you train tickets and pick what time you want to leave (it is also cheaper if you prebook).
Just bare in mind that if you buy a ticket for a particular train departure, you have to catch that train, if you miss it or arrive early, you cant just hop on the next one as your ticket will be invalid.
You will need to buy another one as the train inspectors will check and may fine you if your not on the correct train. Alternatively you can buy a open ticket at the station meaning you can catch any train and return anytime, but it is normally more expensive.
15. Mix up your days
There are so many free things to see in London, so take advantage of it. On the flip side, is that most attractions that you do have to pay for is unfortunately not cheap. On average most are between the £20-40 mark.
So to be a little more friendly to your wallet, mix it up with plenty of free activities like the British museum, the Natural History museum, a free walking tour or visit one of the famous parks like Hyde park, Regents Park or St James Park.
16. Buy a Oyster card
A Oyster card is a preloaded travel card by Transport of London used for buses and the tube network. The card costs £5.00 to buy and you can add money at any station in London or online instantly.
All you have tot do is tap on and off and it will automatically calculate and cut off at a certain amount each day, depending on the travel zones you are in.
You can of course use any contactless debit or credit card which is also great, but if you are using a overseas card, you need to remember each time you tap on and off you are getting charged.
Especially if you don’t have a card that gives you free international transactions and will also charge you for the exchange rate, so it can add up very fast in a few days. If you have a card that doesn’t charge these fees, a Oyster card is your best bet! Individual tickets from a station also cost more as well.
Just remember that you you can only use a Oyster card in London, it doesn’t work in other cities in the UK or on regional trains coming in and out of London.
Tips for catching the Tube
🚂 As nearly everyone who lives in London catches public transport, it gets incredibly packed during peak hour and you may be waiting a while before you are able to get on the tube- try and avoid these times 7.30-9.30 and 4-6pm.
🚂 Get your card out BEFORE you get to the barriers, so your not holding everyone up behind you- Londoners get very impatient!
🚂 Stand on the right on the escalators and walk on the left to pass people.
🚂 The Platforms will have signs saying North, South, east or west bound, so it is easier to check you map and see which direction and line and station you want to go to is before entering the barriers as in some stations they actually have different barriers for different lines and they don’t connect.
17. Groupon
Download the Groupon app and select London and see what you can get for a discount! From discounted afternoon teas, attractions and restaurants and bars, there are plenty of options to choose from to get some great discounts!
18. Attraction Passes- The London Pass
There are a few different types of London attraction passes that you can buy online and the list of attractions included.
One of the best is the London attraction pass which covers over 90 attractions and you can choose how many days to cover from a 1 day pass up to a 10 day pass. Although it looks expensive to buy at first, it can save so much money for you over your trip.
The average price for attractions is around £30.00 or more. The more days that you add for the pass the cheaper it becomes. The only down side is the days are consecutive, so deciding what you want to do each day is a must as you will still need to book a slot online.
You can also add a travel card as well, which you can pre-order and they will deliver it to you before you leave for you holiday. This is essentially a visitor Oyster card that you can preload with money beforehand, which you can use for the tube and buses.
Check it out the London Pass Here
19. Go shopping in London at night
London and especially Oxford street are world famous for its shopping, and so of course it is packed!
Rather than use your precious day light hours to shop, go check out the attractions at during the day in opening hours and head back to Oxford street later in the evening. Shops are generally open until 8pm most week days and later on Thursday and Fridays and are generally a lot less buy.
Just off Oxford street is probably the second most famous street in London, I am of course talking about Regents Street! The beautiful architecture with some very famous shops on the street as well.
A short walk away is also Marylebone high street and New Bond street which are also great places to shop in central London, just try and avoid Oxford Street at Peak hour- it gets pretty hectic!
Other London Posts
The best 7 day London Itinerary