Ahhh, London! A fashion capital filled with endless parks, majestic architecture, beautiful tea drinkers, and an accent that makes you fall in love under gloomy skies. Our love for this city is out of this world. Truth be told, if the rents were not so expensive, we would certainly own an apartment there (one day, one day!). 

Although we don’t have the means to live there, we cracked a few codes to be able to spend time in this wonderful place on a budget. We both spent a few months in London and we are here to show you how you can marvel yourself… without ruining yourself!

EATING

People tend to think that London is out of reach for them because it’s always branded as one of the most expensive cities in the world. It surely isn’t cheap, but it definitely can be affordable.

A big expense in your trip will surely be the food, so you have to know how to nail this. 

Our first tip would be to prioritize grocery stores instead of restaurants. That’s not rocket science, it’s probably the same in your city, but London has some ridiculously cheap supermarkets. 

Iceland is the cheapest. It will become your best friend along with Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The two latest have this option called meal deals, which include a drink, a meal, and a side for as little as 3 or 3,5 pounds. Expect lots of cold foods like salads and sandwiches. Nonetheless, they have loads of options, including vegan and vegetarian-friendly ones! It is not great gastronomy, but it’s perfect to grab on the go and enjoy in one of the marvelous parks.

Avoid Morrisons and Waitrose, as they are the most expensive. (Although Waitrose can have good deals on ready-to-eat meals at the end of the day.)

Apart from grocery stores, search for food trucks! They’ll save you a bunch. Pair it with a great free activity by going to the ones in Borough Market. Many food trucks are offering international cuisine, all of it taking place in a pretty setting. 

Genius Tip Here: 

If you are a bit of a coffee addict like us, you might realize that your credit card fills up quickly with iced lattes bills. London has countless cute coffee shops and we can’t help but constantly try new ones. 

But here’s the hack: many of the biggest coffee chains offer a subscription with a bunch of benefits. Your best option is paying 20 pounds per month at Prêt A Manger or Costa. Believe it or not, you’ll get as many as 5 drinks per day, and the first month is free! Meaning if you stay for a short period and get the subscription, boom. Free coffee every day! 

Leon also has great deals, so definitely look that up. It takes two minutes to subscribe online. Seriously, who would say no to free coffee?

So go to Costa, order an iced soy latte and think of us! It’s our favourite order 🙂

Now, who doesn’t love a little cocktail on a patio with a sweet beat playing in the background? London is a great party city. Pubs at every corner, entire districts dedicated to nightlife, you won’t be bored at night! However, going out in London costs a lot of money. Here are our top pieces of advice:

Bottom line, regardless of how many hacks and tips you know, drinking in London will be pricey, so we recommend you drink moderately. More money in the bank, less headache in the morning!

MOVING AROUND

Please, we beg of you, WALK AROUND! London is a huge city and you will definitely need to use public transport at some point, but prioritize walking. That’s how we discovered most of the gems we know today and how we learned to orient ourselves through the city. Explore the little streets, the alleys and the parks that cross your way and you’ll understand how beautiful London truly is. 

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

When it comes to public transport, you will need an Oyster card. It’s a card that you can top up with x amount of money and use contactless in any transport. 

If you plan to use public transport many times a day and if you’re there for at least a week, you can buy a week pass for 40 pounds. It could be a cheaper option. You can get an Oyster card in any train or underground station. 

If you don’t get a weekly pass, the best way to save is to choose bus over tube (or the underground, the metro, the subway, it all means the same thing) and if you need to take the tube, travel in the off-peak hours! In London, that means between 9:30 am and 4:00 pm and after 7:00 pm. 

Since London is such a vast city, it can be quite confusing at first to know what underground line or what bus to take. That’s why you need to download City Mapper. This app will change your life! Just enter where you want to go and it will automatically show you the fastest and cheapest options. It will guide you easily step by step to where you need to go.  

Additional tip:  Although there is almost always a way to find wifi somewhere in the city, we like to get a Voxi sim card. It’s only 10 pounds per month and you get 8G of data + unlimited social media and streaming! It’s great to always be able to get around the city.

SLEEPING

Louder for the people in the back: YOUTH HOSTELS! That will save you money. A lot. You might need to sacrifice a bit of your comfort and privacy, but after all, you are only there to sleep. 

We are huge fans of the hostel chain St-Christopher’s Inns, spread across Europe. As mentioned earlier, the ones (there are many) in London are all connected to Belushi’s, a bar where you get to meet like-minded travellers and get great discounts. We always stay at the one in Sheperd’s Bush, as it is close to a tube station and easy to go central from there. But that’s just us! Feel free to book any hostel you want through Hostelworld! 

Additional tip: for the cheapest price, get the biggest mixed dorm possible!

If you fancy a little more privacy, you can always choose to go with an Airbnb. It will undoubtedly be pricier, but you can find some great deals if you book in advance! On the other hand, if you are a very sociable person who likes meeting new people, you can opt for Couchsurfing! This means the host welcomes you for free, you crash on their couch and you spend time with them around the city. Whatever option suits you best! 

ACTIVITIES

A complete article about what to do in London will soon be on our blog, so we won’t cover up all there is to see in this section, but rather how can you save on the things that do require money! 

MONUMENTS

If you love history and want to enter famous attractions such as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Saint-Paul’s Cathedral (as you can see down here, it’s beautiful!) your best option would be to opt for the London pass. Learn everything about it here.

We totally get why you would want to hop in the London Eye to have a panoramic view of the city. But what if we told you that you have the option to see a crazy 360 view of London for free? By going to the Sky Garden. It’s a restaurant during the day and a bar at night, but you don’t necessarily have to buy something while you’re there!

You just have to save a place in advance through their website, and you will get a breathtaking different perspective. We went at night and were amazed by the shimmering of the million city lights. Although they will tell you that you need to spend a certain amount of money on the confirmation message, nobody is gonna check that. Oops, we didn’t say it!

ART

There is something so romantic about seeing an old English play in a classic theatre, such as the Shakespeare’s Globe (to name only one). Since the ticket can bust your budget quickly, go on this website to get last-minute tickets that can be up to 75% cheaper! Just to give you an example, we paid 5 pounds to see a play…

One of the coolest things about London is the free museums!!! There are so many interesting ones that don’t cost a dime or that are free contributions. The unmissable in our opinion are the British Museum, the Tate Modern, and the National Gallery, but there are so many options. Some of them do require that you book your tickets in advance, so make sure you look that up beforehand.

TOURS

Last but not least, a really fun and free activity to do alone or with some friends is a guided tour with a specific theme. For instance, we did a Jack the Ripper tour, where our guide took us to every real historic place where the murders took place and explained to us the whole intrigue and case of Jack the Ripper. This might sound a bit morbid, but it was really interesting! 

A ghost tour is another spooky and very nice one that we loved and recommend. Of course, you can also opt for a more classic historical tour. We suggest you browse and book through the Strawberry Tour website. We love this company!

Even if the tour is free, it is, of course, expected that you give a contribution to the guide, but you give what you can.

As you can see, London can be accessible to anyone if you know your way around it with these few tips and tricks. We can’t recommend this city and its surroundings enough. Take a look at our other articles about England on our blog! And feel free to comment and write to us for any extra tips that you discovered on your own!

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