London freebies & cheap eats
 

Going to London for a week at the end of May, with far less of a budget than originally planned. Looking for sugestions for London's best "freebies" and "cheap eats" - lots of suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Lots of free stuff in London. On my last trip I didn't pay admission to anything except the London Eye and the London Transport Museum. Some of the things we did:

British Museum
Natural History Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
National Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
Science Museum
Walking through Westminster
Walking along the Southbank
Watch the change of the Royal Horseguards
Hyde Park
St. James Park
Check out the Harrods food hall

For inexpensive eating we would pick up a premade sandwich and crisps from Tesco Express. We also went shopping for dinner supplies at Sainsburys like rolls, meat and cheese for sandwiches. Round it out with some fresh fruit. Much cheaper than sitting down in a restaurant. Pub meals and fish and chips can be a good way to go as well.

Have a great trip.

Hi dianeg - We'll be in London on Wednesday and I have noted only two cheap eats besides the famous Waggammama & places in China Town.

Bistro 1 - 75 Beak street, Soho.
- 33 Southampton street,
Covent Garden.

The New Picadilly Cafe - address not known at this stage.

Last time in London we noticed food that has reached it's 'sell-by date' but is perfectly fine, at very reduced prices in fridges at the front of the supermarket on Paddington station (Sainsbury's?) and I think a Marks & Spencers in Whitely's Building? in Queensway, Bayswater.
I'm sure every supermarket does this.

Time Out London "Cheap Eats - The Thrifty Fifty":
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...tures/173.html

As others have suggested, I find it cheaper to buy food from supermarkets or Marks & Spencer - they have lots of yummy premade stuff which you can heat/eat in your hotel room if you have any kitchen amenities.

Some of the bigger supermarkets have a bakery section. You could buy rolls, sliced meat, pre-made salads, fruit, yogurt, pre-made sandwiches, drinks etc etc. It's a bit more hassle, but saves a lot of money and can be healthier than eating cheap takeaways or rich restaurant meals.

In London we tried to buy what would be considered cheap but reasonable takeaway here in Australia (hamburger and chips) and it was expensive and awful. You really have to spend that much more again even to get a "cheap" meal.

Besides a lot of the major museums being free, some of the smaller off-the-beaten-path ones are as well. I loved the Hunterian Museum.

If you have an iPod, you might want to download some free neighborhood walking tours from the travel podcast section at iTunes (also many free audio museum guides available on iTunes for larger museums - saves your money on having to rent a guide at the museum).

There's a lot of cheap restaurants on Panton Street (near Piccadilly Circus) - like West End Kitchen (kind of like Diner food - big menu).

You can usually find great cheap eats at many ethnic restaurants (sit down or takeaway) - Indian, Thai, African, etc.

Marks & Spencer has great stuff for picnics - really good salads, sandwiches, cheeses, etc. Not all of it has to be heated up, so even if you don't have access to a microwave, you can find something.

Free things to do in London:

The parks are fantastic - Regents Park, Hyde Park, Green Park etc.

Nearly all the museums and galleries seem to be free and they often have nice cafes that aren't too expensive.

Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

The markets are free to look around and absorb the atmosphere. Borough Market is terrific for food, Portobello Rd can be fun depending on what you like to look at, Spitalfields, Petticoat Lane etc.

To watch the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace is free.

Walking is free and the best way to see things, in the tube you are underground and not only don't see anything but you have no perception of where you have been or are going. At least walking (or in a bus, which is cheaper than the tube) you know where you are headed.

Kay

Here is a tip for Harrods....At least it used to be like this....They used to have displays of things like hand-made chocolates behind counters...You were allowed to try one of each kind....Then choose which one or ones that you wanted to buy....I usually felt too guilty to try a few without then buying some....But I am pretty sure that people on a tight budget could have politely said,"thank you very much",and moved on after sampling some......
I was always flabbergasted at the type of stuff that you would see in charity shops....Really well-known designer labels...You could totally dress up in Jaeger etc.,for a matter of pounds...'Though I used to frequent these places before the internet,so do not know if it is as good,(or are people buying them now,to sell on-line)?.....

We had a tasty, inexpensive dinner one night at The Stockpot in Soho.

Take a look at www.fancyapint.com for recommended pubs.

Lee Ann

The Ceremony of the Keys, at the Tower of London, is free. You have to go to the website, get directions for requesting the tickets, and get them via mail. (Unless they've updated the process in the past two years.) It's a cool historic ceremony, at dusk, of the traditional locking of the Tower.
:)>-

See suggestions in this article
http://golondon.about.com/od/thingst...ree_London.htm

(note it has a link to a second list of things to do for free)

My mom and I survived very comfortably this past week on Marks & Spencer food, Tesco ready-meals (we had an apartment with kitchen), and sandwiches every day for lunch. We found sandwiches that were quite good when we were out and about (Kew Gardens, V&A Museum) but also at coffee places like Caffe Nero and Starbucks.

It may be too late to get the Ceremony of the Keys tickets, but definitely try -- it was well worth the journey to the Tower at night!

Museums and window shopping filled most of our days, all free. If you're looking for evening activities instead of the theatre, you can visit the National Gallery until 9PM on Wednesdays, the National Portrait Gallery till 9 on Thursdays, and the Tate Modern late both Thursdays and Fridays.

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One of my favorite cheap treats in London is sitting in their parks. If you find a bench, it's free. If you rent a deck chair, it's about two pounds for four hours, if I recall. You can take a picnic lunch and watch the action, or read the local paper.

The Sir John Soane's Museum in Lincolns Inn Fields is free. See:
http://www.soane.org/

The Wallace Collection is also free:
http://www.wallacecollection.org/

The National Theatre offers £10 tickets for performances in it's Travelex Season. These can be booked online, and they are good seats. Also, there are free music performances in the theatre foyer. See links to Travelex £10 Tickets and Free Music on this page:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

At Shakespeare's Globe, a ticket for the yard (standing or sitting on the ground)is only £5. www.shakespeares-globe.org/

This Sunday market is great for cheap "street" food: http://www.sundayupmarket.co.uk/

Combine it with a walk past the old silk weavers' houses around Princelet Street and Folgate Street, or take a bus to the Geffrye Museum in Hackney (Free)
http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/

I spent most of yesterday in the V&A. HAving seen about a third we had to dash for another appointment and dashed through more and more amazing rooms to get out. It has to be one of the best free things to do in most countries

Here is an excellent article from this month's National Geographic Traveler.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tr...ondon0804.html

&quot;<i>at Shakespeare's Globe, a ticket for the yard (standing or sitting on the ground) . . . .</i>&quot;

The Groundling tickets are for standing only. Sitting is not allowed except for during the intervals.

But as suggested above - you could spend weeks in London w/o paying admission to anything. Some of the biggies (Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's) do charge. But Many others don't - Southwark Catedral, all the museums/galleries already mentioned, the Geffrye, viewpoints like the OXO Tower, the top floor of Tate Modern, Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath, Primrose Hill near Regent's Park, etc etc

Despite the conventional wisdom, London does not have to be expensive. There are more free sites/activities in London than in many European cities.

Kensington Palace isn't free. But it's worth the moderately expensive admission fee, if you are interested in seeing where the royals lived. I especially liked Diana's designer ball gowns on display, with photos of her wearing them.

It's also a nice walk through Hyde Park to get to it.
:)&gt;-

another great thread!!

Some churches in London run cafeterias to help support the church and some do it as a service for students and poor travelers.
One is St. Martin-in-the-Fields near Trafalgar Square. They have sandwiches, salads and regular meals. Food was quite good and prices cheap when I ate there. They are open for lunch and dinner. Hours vary.

They also have free noontime concerts some days.

Another church that runs a cafe more as a community service is very near Westminster Abby, no more than a block or two away, but I can't remember the name of it off hand. Lunch was very good, soup and sandwich, and very cheap. If I can track down which one it was, I will post it.

There are a couple of others, just don't remember which ones. Worth checking out.

I just looked on the Tower of London website to see about obtaining two tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys for September (wish me luck--I bet everyone who's read the National Geographic article has the same idea!).

If you do not have an English address, you are asked to provide two &quot;coupon-response international.&quot; For Americans, these coupons can be bought for $2.10 each at the post office, but the terminology is slightly different. Ask for an &quot;International Reply Coupon (IRT).&quot;

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The British have totally mastered the art of the takeaway sandwich. They are my staple when I'm visiting London. Avoid getting crisps with it, which can cost almost as much as the sandwich.

Good value for London are small, all-you-can-eat buffets, for instance of Thai food. There are a number of these (and other good small cafes) in and around Charlotte Street, west of the Goodge Street tube stop, for example.

This last trip I was on a very tight budget, and packed along a small jar of peanut butter. With fruit and Melba toast from Tesco, this made a good morning or late-night snack.

If you have access to a fridge, cheese is a great value in the UK.

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