Hey Royals,

Get on the chariots and adjust your crowns because today we’re going to London to see the Queen in her kingdom! Yeah right, on today’s post I’ll be showing you how to explore and enjoy magical London for 3 days on a good budget.

…I mean, I absolutely love London, who wouldn’t? But my bank account definitely doesn’t especially when I convert those pounds ??, so I’ve put up a list of hacks to help you save cost and enjoy your time while in London.

TOURING & EXPLORING.

Friends, never fall into that trap of attempting to see everything in one day, DON’T! It will be a waste of time, transportation and money. Hence, I always use a divide and conquer strategy *wink*.  Many tourist attractions are within an easy walk of each other so you can start off by choosing a particular area to conquer each day, and map the routes you will take and voila proceed to enjoy London. Below is how I map my touring in London.

• DAY 1-Westminster – Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye and Buckingham Palace. You can take a free tour of the Houses of Commons if you are interested in seeing where the BREXIT talks happen.
• DAY 2- Kensington – Visit 3 museums for free; National History Museum, Victoria and Albert V&A Science , Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park. Also if you are up for it do visit Kensington Palace, I hear its home to Will and Kate.
• DAY 3- London Bridge – Tower Bridge, Tower of London and St Paul’s. South Bank – Tate Modern, Borough Market and Globe Theatre.

MOVING AROUND

 Now that you know where to go, the question is how do you get there without blowing all your cash on buying transport tickets?…The trick is get yourself an Oyster Card which you preload with credit. It gives you access to both the underground metro and buses. It is way cheaper and saves you the time of waiting on the queue to purchase a ticket. Quick example, a journey that might cost you around £4.90 with tickets, cost £2.40 with an Oyster card so basically it’s a WIN WIN situation for a tourist as it saves you those £££ ?. On arrival you can get an Oyster card at any underground station.

 

London Pass is another great option it covers over 32 tourist destinations and offers free public transportation, it’s also very practical for those that want to visit places that are not free. But as for me I’m all about seeing only free places ?.

CHEAP TRILLS & EATS

My first trick is to reserve a place that offers free breakfast or that has a kitchen, that cuts out the cost of having to buy breakfast.  For lunch I realized that the best way to eat out on a budget is to look for lunch specials, most restaurants offer that and it cost less than trying to build up your own dish from the menu.

If you love to eat just like me then this is the most important part ha-ha… and while on a vacation, it’s ok to enjoy dinner in nice restaurants, gives you a chance to dress up and meet people. Central London has a few fancy and inexpensive places that serve a variety of dishes be it traditional English dinners or Asian delicacies.

Another very important hack is getting the Taste card which offers 50% discounts on tons of restaurants as well as two for one specials. Trust me this was very helpful in saving cost for me.

Also, while in London I discovered the amazing Free Refill App and it saved me a few pounds honestly. Since it’s safe to drink tap water in the UK, all you need is that sustainable water bottle and you are good to go! Download the free app and refill your water bottle on the go!

 

ACCOMODATION

This is perhaps every tourist biggest nightmare in London. But I got you covered! Depending on what exactly you are looking for, London offers a wide range of options in terms of where to stay. Personally I opt for Wimdu an affordable apartment rental company with good deals and nice apartments starting from £33 per night. Most come with a kitchen that saves me cost of eating out.

If you are a fan of dorms, there are amazing hotels here  starting from £15 per night, and you get 10% off your first booking including discounts on tourist sites also.

Lastly is another option I like a lot which is Airbnb and as usual I can offer you £25 off your first reservation if you book with my discount code right here

FINAL THOUGHTS…

No matter how you arrive London, horse, bus, car pool, train or plane (because I know there a loads of cheap options ?), Suffice it to say that cheap travel does not mean bad travel…By investing just some extra time to plan a trip, you can enjoy a very high quality travel experience on a budget especially in big Metropolitan cities that are known to be very expensive like London.

Thanks for reading…until next week, when I bring you hilarious stories from my escapades in Canada…enjoy your week ? and send me pictures from London.

xx

Sarah Dangana.