London Is Expensive - But Worth It!
 

Last week, my husband and I took our two grandchildren and their parents for six days in London on a Virgin Vacation. We had a great time and were aware that London was expensive, but didn't realize just how much. We stayed at a basic but comfortable hotel at Earl's Court, less than a block from the Underground and in an area with lots of restaurants and other services. I had purchased week fare cards for the Underground before leaving the US.

What we were amazed at was how much the admission was to many of the sights. Fortunately, I had learned from Fodorites about the 2 for 1 vouchers available on the internet and must have saved over a hundred dollars when going to the Tower, Kensington Palace, and the Cabinet War Rooms. We took five London Walks, which were economical, interesting and lots of fun.

Restaurants and pubs were our other big expense. I expected prices for meals in inexpensive restaurants to be in the same range as here in the US, but they turned out to be almost double. Just to compare, I stopped at a Starbucks, and the drink that costs me $3.85 in the Washington, DC area was almost $6.00.

But it was a great trip, and my grandchildren loved London and want to go back. We saw all of the usual sights and didn't mind the somewhat cool and rainy weather.

lilla, sounds like you had a wonderful trip with your family!

Sometimes pricing makes no sense regardless of where you are. Just yesterday I bought a water at a NYC ballpark for $4.25!! Last week, I purchased an even larger bottle of water at Epcot and it was only $2.00. Go figure! :)

Isn't it great that you were able to save on the advice of those on this site? I think that's great!

I sure have to ditto the title of your post! I always know I'll have a great time & have learned to cut some costs by renting a flat instead of a hotel & usually have only 1 meal a day out & really prefer that. I'm tired at night so take-away is fine with me.
Heck, it's fun just walking around & that doesn't cost anything.

That British pound and the exchange rate can really make it easy to lose track of what your spending in American bucks. You go into the simplest souvlaki joint for lunch, see an entree for 8 GBP and a drink for 2.50 GBP, then a coffee after for another 2.50 GBP and you've just spent 23 bucks for lunch -- shy the VAT and tip.

London is such an exciting place right now I can't wait to go back. But I go armed with a list of cheap eateries and cost saving tips, and am constantly on the prowl for good hotel deals.

Hi Lilla. Glad you enjoyed yourself. London is wonderful. Perhaps, on a next trip you might explore the amazing array of free things to enjoy in London - like the Museum of London (which children adore), the Victoria & Albert, the Imperial War Museum, the British Museum, etc. - some of the world's finest museums - and all for free. Gives you an excuse to go back!

lilla, can I ask which of the London walks you chose? Did your grandchildren accompany you, and enjoy the walks as well?

Our grandchildren are 13 and 14, so we tried to choose London Walks they would enjoy. We did the Harry Potter Walk and Jack the Ripper, which are obvious choices. The folks at London Walks suggested the Pub Walk Along the Thames, and they were right. We also did the Greenwich Walk, which involved taking the boat to Greenwich and the Docklands Light Rail back. The kids especially enjoyed visiting the observatory and standing with one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and the other in the Western. The children were free on the Walks.

Hi there Lilla - would really appreciate it if you could let me know what links/where on the internet the 2 for 1 vouchers are - I will be there in June/July.
Thanks kindly,
Jeff

The 2for1 vouchers up now are only good until May 31st. http://www.2for1entry.co.uk/
I don't believe they continue the offers through the summer unfortunately.

What hotel did you stay at and what coupons are you talking about?

I am going to London soon and could use to cost cutting tips!!

http://www.2for1entry.co.uk

In the summer, <u>Time Out London</u> usually has coupons that you can download from http://www.timeout.com/london/

thank you, robespierre!

I just checked...22 bucks to see the London Acquarium!!!

Wait...fish is fish is fish, right? I have seen fish in Canada and fish in California...just how different are the fish in London??????

Sigh....22 bucks...or 11 pounds, if you want to speak in pound terms.

Funny you should mention. Admission to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California is $21.95.
Tickets to the Baltimore Aquarium is $21.95.

Sounds like price fixing to me!

really? no, wait, I paid a lot less...like around 15 or 16 bucks...maybe I went during off peak or something.

but I would have remembered paying 22 bucks...especially back then....about 4 years ago.

Meanwhile, what site did you see those prices for the London Aquarium? The site I just looked at said adult tickets are 9,75 pounds -- that's $17 dollars (or bucks) or were you talking about other than US books?

US books? I meant bucks.

Neo----sorry to make you such a sleuth when I post, but I looked at the site posted for coupons

btw, what sign are you? You like to....debate a lot......:)

If you think it's expensive to visit you want to try living here!

ok, slightly off track, but why come to London and go to the aquarium?? It's not as if London is known for it's fish! I've been to the aquarium with my kids and didn't think much of it. Far too many other things to do in London!

Glad you had a good trip and I know what you mean.

I'm in London right now and yes, it is STILL expensive and yes, it is STILL great and worth it IMO.

But I do think there are lots of ways to do things here on a budget to include where one stays.

&quot;btw, what sign are you? You like to....debate a lot.&quot;

Huh? You wrongly said it costs 22 bucks to visit an attraction. This is a forum for travel information. You made it sound outrageous. I merely pointed out that you were wrong on the price by $5 (nearly 25% wrong) and at the same time pointed out that such prices are common in the US as well. Sorry, I ruined your chance to spread false information and rant about something totally unfair. If that's called anxious to debate, then so be it.

I wish more people would take the time to correct wrong information posted here. How good can this forum be if people make totally bogus statements and they go ingnored. By the way, let me make clear I'm not talking about debating simple spelling or grammatical mistakes, but rather information and prices regarding travel.

It did take me nearly two minutes to look up the accompanying information. It would have been nice if the original poster would have spend that time first instead so he wouldn't have been giving either false information or spreading false values.

Neopolitan--I am sorry if you feel I was purposely spreading false information. I am also sorry that you could not tell I was joking.

I clicked on the link provided in this very topic on coupons and I wrote what the coupon stated. Believe me, I don't want to spend more money than things are worth!

You may want to believe that you are the avenger of all things evil and unjust, but we are all human. I wrote what I read, just as YOU wrote what you read. If I was wrong, I apologize.

Cut some people some slack and please don't be so quick to judge or think people are evil and wrong. You were so quick to say I was wrong about checking in 3 hours ahead of my flight for an international flight from LHR. Although the airline and travel agent both stated the check-in time.

Relax a bit. We are all people, and we all make mistakes.

I just like aquariums.....call me odd, but I think aquariums are very nice.

For those who like to think I made up the price...(Yikes! to think someone would heinously purposely misquote the price of an aquarium!)

taken from www.2for1entry.co.uk/

London Aquarium

Description:At London Aquarium, visitors can stand face to face with some of our spectacular sharks in the 1,000,000 litre, two-storey Pacific Tank, or take a walk through the jungles of the rainforest. For opening times and location please see the website. Last admission is 1 hour before closing.

Peak times.
Adult &pound;11.75
Child &pound;8.25
Concession &pound;9.50

Off peak times.
Adult &pound;10.75
Child &pound;7.25
Concession &pound;8.50
;&gt;Open:for 174 day(s)
Dates:09/12/2005 - 31/05/2006
County:London
Also suitable for:Culture , Disabled access , Families
Type of attraction:Galleries &amp; Museums , Animals , Landmarks
Offer Type:2 For 1


So I wasn't purposely misleading anyone. I may have misread, but I wasn't misleading anyone. R-e-l-a-x.

&quot;Evil and wrong&quot;? &quot;avenger&quot;?
Please learn to read. There was nothing rude or accusing about asking where you got your prices, I merely asked, because I actually assumed you had seen that price of you wouldn't have come up with it out of thin air. I clearly mentioned the prices I saw on the one site I checked. Did I suggest you &quot;heinously purposely misquoted&quot;? I think you may be suffering from severe paranoia if someone asks you what site you found the information on and you assume they are accusing you of &quot;heinously and purposely misquoting.&quot; I did wish to point out, however, that the prices you originally quoted were in line with US aquariums -- that's all. On a thread that is all about how expensive London is, I thought it fair to point out that their aquarium prices may be in line with those in the US. Isn't that an appropriate thing to do when discussing the topic?

I think you are being a little too sensitive if you are unable to accept anyone commenting on anything you say. You really did rant about the prices to see fish in London as if it was simply amazing. Yet I pointed out that the first two aquariums in the US that came to mind charge the same thing. Do you really find making the comparison &quot;rude and confrontational&quot;? I don't consider it such, I consider it responsible and intelligent comparison and to the point of the current thread.

On that other thread about arriving 3 hours early, I suggest you go back and re-read it. There was never even a hint of &quot;accusing&quot;, but a simple &quot;has that changed?&quot; since I was just there in January and it was not true of my airline (American) as I later showed with the quote from their website, and still isn't. I sincerely thought you might have been mistaken in the three hour arrival limit, or perhaps your post was a signal that the times have recently changed (and worth noting for future reference)-- and at no time could my post be considered &quot;confrontational&quot;. Meanwhile I had no recollection that you were the same person that I was addressing in both these threads. Please don't let that paranoia you seem to be suffering from make you think I'm stalking you to find misinformation. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let's move on, shall we? I'll try to keep your name in mind in the future so I won't upset you by asking for simple clarification. And thank you for clarifying the prices to the London Aquarium. It also shows how various sites can be wrong in their posted prices.

Neo, I think we just disagree. You seemed very irritated by my posting and my joke, so I tried to let you know I was only joking by asking you what sign you were. You went on this whole thing about how I was off by 5 dollars on a quote and giving the wrong info.

I was just trying to be funny and lively...sorry for the misunderstanding. Let's just bypass each other's postings to avoid any future misunderstandings.

It is not an issue of sensitivity, just perhaps how your writing comes across.

&quot;Sorry, I ruined your chance to spread false information and rant about something totally unfair. If that's called anxious to debate, then so be it.&quot;
&quot;How good can this forum be if people make totally bogus statements and they go ingnored. &quot;

A 5 dollar difference is bogus????

Uhm, sure.

--Sorry, things like this are what may make some people think you are being a bit too aggressive in your desires to prove others wrong. I was not trying to spread false anything, please at least accept responsibility when you get a bit too...fanatical.

OK, I will if you will. Peace. Let's assume we both went a little overboard and both misconstrued the other's comments.
I did not understand that you were joking, just as you did not understand I was merely asking.

Agreed. I would do the emoticon for handshake, but I don't know how.

Can't we all just get along??? :)

To go back to the question before we started on the price of the aquarium, we booked My Place Hotel as part of a Virgin Vacations package. For airfare from Washington, DC, and six nights at My Place with breakfast, it cost around $1,000 a person. We thought that was a bargain; and with our 2 for 1 vouchers, it made the rest of the trip manageable.

Green Dragon, what was the point of your post? Were you upset that we apologized to each other and offered peace?

Neo, I had started reading the post, then went to lunch ... came back and finished it. Evidently I had started reading it before you two posted your last posts, and didn't see them there yet :)

I followed the link (2for1) and see the coupons but the fine print says that you have to present a qualifying train ticket along with the coupon to get the discount. Is that how it really works? If so, what kind of train ticket did you present?

Actually, no one ever asked us to see a train ticket. But an Underground ticket is one of those that are accepted if you are asked.