5 days in London-money question
 

Hi guys,

I am probably going to do the same thing that my fellow poster sessa is going to do, to see London in less than a week's time, in my case 5 days and nights.

What is a reasonable amount to bring with me? $1, 500? I am not a huge shopper, but I do love a good meal and beers..:) Although I am decent at finding good deals.

I plan on seeing the sights, and am an avid walker...

It's just that the dollar is still getting beat up by the pound (though not as much as before).

I plan on staying at a youth hostel..at first I thought this was an awful idea-but then when I went to Berlin I found it was an awesome experience. It was much more fun than staying at a nice hotel, simply because there is less privacy. So you get to meet and interact with people from all over.

Anyway, please chime in...thanks as always.

Eric

$1500 is a very generous amount! Does that include airfare?

I went to London last fall, wasn't really on a tight budget, for 5 nights/6 days. At £1 = $1.6, I spent a total of $1661, which includes airfare. Without airfare, I spent $1043.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-2717466

BTW, most of the museums are free, and if you're traveling with someone else, you can take advantage of the 2-for-1 entries. If you are traveling alone, look at
http://www.discountbritain.net/
and
lastminute.com (the UK site)
for coupons/discounts to attractions.

I agree - $1500 is quite a bit, especially if you're staying at a hostel. You should be able to eat quite well with that!

You said "to bring with me". Hopefully you don't plan on bring $'s in that amount? To exchange dollars to pounds will cost a lot. Use your ATM card for the best rate.

Thanks for all the replies...I have heard legendary stories about how expensive it is.

No that is apart from airfare.

No I certainly would never carry that around with me, I just mean to have available when I go.

Thansk for the link yk, and yes the ATM will be in full use..:)

London has a reputation for being expensive, but really it's one of the easiest cities to do inexpensively. As yk mentioned, most of the museums are free, and you can eat well at chains like Pret a Manger and wagamama, as well as other restaurants. Stores like Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer also have much more (and better) prepared food than we're used to in the US. Walking and just looking are always free. :)

That is true, thanks much! Many of the hostels also include a free tour of London so that's something I'm looking forward to as well.

2 more examples:

May 2008 with £1 = $2.
I spent 6 days/6 nights in London. I spent $2001.5 including airfare, Minus the airfare, it was only $1400 for 6 days (at 1:2 exchange rate!!!)
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-2006724

September 2007 with £1 = $2
I spent 6 days/5 nights and used $2262; of which $1000 was for airfare. So the actualy amount I spent in London was $1262 for 5 days.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-5054325

That is awesome yk!!!

Yes when I just checked www.xe.com, this is what they gave me:
1.00 USD = 0.681773 GBP
United States Dollars United Kingdom Pounds
1 USD = 0.681773 GBP 1 GBP = 1.46676 USD

I was in europe as well in May of '08, but in Holland, France adn Germany. Right now it seems the pound right now is more like how the Euro was in May 08.

Yep, it's a GREAT exchange rate right now. Here's hoping it holds off till my trip's over in two months. :)

I would never travel with that amount of money. We rarely carry more than $200 or so. To get the best rate of exchange you should pay for as much as possible with CCs and pull walking around money from your checking account with your ATM card.

As for prices - figure NCY prices - but in pounds not dollars. You can eat modestly if you like, but sights are often expensive - and alcoholic drinks - except local beer - will be a fortune.

and alcoholic drinks - except local beer - will be a fortune.>>>

Hardly. There is an outcry at the moment that booze is too cheap, leading to binge drinking.

Compared to greece or swaziland it may be a bit spendy but compared to anywhere else booze is cheap. Unless you go to poncey places - then you get what you deserve.

Oh I am king of the dive bars, so I'll be OK...thanks guys for the advice.

"sights are often expensive" - All depends on what you see. If your itinerary consists entirely of the Tower, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's, the Cabinet War Rooms and the London Eye with some theatre mixed in, yeah, sure. But of the better part of a week I plan to spend there in June, over half my to-do list is free. Museums, parks, concerts, all free. And if you're not picky about theatre, you can get discounts on that too.

I agree with jent103. There are so many excellent museums and galleries in London that offer free admission. In comparison, most NYC museums charge $15-$20 for admissions, and offer very limited free entry days (or just a few hours on a certain day).

Here are some handy lists:
Free London Museums
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/free-london-museums.aspx

Free London Galleries
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/free-l...galleries.aspx

Actually it's all relative...I was in the UK last summer and the UK£ was close to $2....now it's down around $1.46 or so...being from NY, I can almost (but not quite) call London more or less reasonable.

I don't know if you use credit cards or ATM's....London has become a lot like NY as more and more merchants and chains take credit cards (the chains usually don't set minimums)...I could go a week easily and only pay a few quid mostly for a couple of pints in pubs and my friendly internet cafe....for those I use my ATM card to take out British currency on a need to use basis (my bank doesn't charge any fees so I have no trouble pulling 10 or 20 quid out of the machine and that can sometimes tide me over for a few days!)....you can get some real bargains on theatre tickets (as a student I assume as you mention youth hostels)...try the theatres for same day tickets but even if you don't get a discount, with the current exchange rate, theatre in London is cheaper than in New York!

"<i> . . . figure NCY [sic] prices - but in pounds not dollars. You can eat modestly if you like, but sights are often expensive - and alcoholic drinks - except local beer - will be a fortune.</i>"

IMO absolutely not the case. Next month I'm taking 6 friends to London/the UK for two weeks and they are absolutely amazed at how little things are costing us. You can most definitely do London on a budget (and not having to hostel/back pack/scrimp) and the current exchange rates make it that much easier.

Yes - there are some expensive sites - but there are even more that are free. And w/ the 2 for 1 offers or other concessions and passes, even the "expensive" places are pretty cheap. Meals - you can splurge for sure, but also have really good set meals in upscale restaurants for really reasonable prices.

And theatre - heck w/ some tickets from TKTS and some at full price from the box offices you can do London Theatre for a fraction of Broadway prices.

I'm going for <u>2 full weeks</u> - have pretty expensive tastes and am planning on spending about $1500 or possibly a little more total. I'll be going to at least 4 plays, tea at the Ritz, a champagne flight on the Eye, two upscale dinners in London and one out in the country, a little shopping at Harrods and Harvey Nicks, etc etc - and won't be spending that much. And that includes accommodations in apartments in London and a posh farmhouse in the countryside, rental car, Oyster card, car services, etc etc (though not including airfare of course).

I look forward to your trip report, Janis. BTW Can I persuade you to swap Harrods for Liberty, which is much nicer?

Oh - I'll go to Liberty too - a tradition.

I go one time to Harrods every trip because I buy a certain collectible from the 'Luxury Gift & Objet' department (told you I have expensive tastes :) )- and then maybe to the creperie for champagne/lunch