There are lots of articles and books with guides to cheap days out in places like London that usually break the bank if you’re not used to them.
Many of these lists often forget to incorporate the costs of travel, which in a city like London can be what ends up meaning you have to cut your trip short. So I’m going to be honest here, a great deal of your ten-pound limit is going to go in one press of a button at the ticket machine. An adult day travel card, which will allow you to travel on any Underground train in zones 1-2 (these will be all you’ll need if just doing the tourist type thing) as well as any bus too will cost you £7.20. You might have sighed there but don’t worry, it’s the investment that will make the whole day worthwhile. This leaves you with only £2.80 so treasure it.
Any day out is going to be tiring. A day out in the one of the biggest and busies cities in the world is going to be much more so. I’d therefore head to the places you will be doing the most walking first so you don’t end up there later when you’ve run out of energy. Head to Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street (all in the same square-mile in central London) at about 9am. This might sound mad but if you time your trip into this area for this time then you’ll hit rush hour. Why would you want to hit rush hour? This sound like madness. You’re going to have to stand on the tube and weave your way through all the commuters yes, but one of the best ways to really feel as though you’ve experience London is to join in this mad half and hour before work at 9am. It’ll all be over sooner than you think and then for nothing you’ve people-watched your way into the real side of the capital.
Window shop for a few hours. Try on clothes you know you aren’t going to buy. Watch as many street performers as you can in Covent Garden. Sit in Leicester Square and count the number of pigeons bothering people. Then hop on the tube and head up to Hyde Park Corner. Before you get there find a cheap looking supermarket and with your remaining £2.80, pull your resources and buy some bread and cheese and ham and fruit and drinks and go over to Hyde Park for a picnic. The biggest park in London is brilliant to explore. The lake in the middle is a great spot to nibble at your budget lunch. If it’s raining or cold then don’t panic there’s a few little sheltered areas in the park you can hide under.
After lunch get the tube over to Euston station and find the Wellcome Collection museum on Euston road. People often say things like, “He’s more of an artist and she’s more of a scientist”. This is where art and science meet. It’s one of the most brilliant museums in London and hardly anyone knows about it. The Wellcome Trust is hugely wealthy and funds thousands of great scientific research projects every year. What they do at the Collection though is make science interesting to look at. There are often medical feels to the exhibits, one such installation was hundreds of tiny pills all carved into the shape of the body that is was designed to treat.
You’ll probably be feeling quite tired after this day now so I’d suggest a tube to Embankment and then a walk across the bridge over the Thames, where the sight of the Southbank will take your breath away. The Millennium Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, The Royal Festival Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral in the distance. It’s all here and all for free. Have a seat on the benches under the sparking tree-lights and soak up the capital in its element.
Top 5 Budget Hotels in London
- Hotel Caring – 2-star hotel – from £ 50 – Bayswater
- Hotel Reem – 3-star hotel – from £ 49 – Bayswater
- Crestfield Hotel – 2-star hotel – from £ 50 – Covent Garden
- Notting Hill Gate Hotel – 1-star hotel – from £ 45 – Notting Hill
- St George’s Hotel – 2-star hotel – from £ 50 – Victoria Station
Photo of 10-pound note by S_Migol
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