sarah

<BR><BR>How much cash would you budget for a day in London - not counting accommodation. Just light lunch and supper, underground, museums - no souvenirs. I assume one can't pay for food with a credit card.<BR>Thanks for any help.

xxx

Hello? Yes, you can pay for food with credit cards at many restaurants.<BR><BR>Sorry, I can't help you on the approx. pounds you need per day as it depends on where you're eating. Generally, London is very expensive and food especially.

Ruth

Good news - most museums in London are free. An off-peak travel card is under 5 GBP per day - a weekly pass could be cheaper (covers underground and regular buses). Food - can be anything, but some days for lunch you could pick up sandwiches from Marks and Spencer, Boots, or Pret a Manger, or picnic stuff from a deli or food hall. All of these take credit cards (even M&S, these days).

xxx

Pret a manger for the most part does not take credit cards....the branch at the airport does but most others don't; at least that's the way it was yesterday.

xxx

A very general rule of thumb that worked for us...budget (for meals) what you would spend per day in a large US city in dollars, then expect to spend that same number in GBP.

anon

if you budget 100 pounds per day per person, you are sure to be fine unless you decide to go to really fancy restaurants (you probably won't spend this much, just good to have that sort of cushion for the splurge you might want once in a while)

KS

Sarah, I would budget roughly &pound;25 - &pound;30 a day on food and travel. That's for a weekly tube pass, a 2 course meal plus drink in a mid priced restaurant, a light sandwich lunch and a some drinks/snacks.<BR><BR>This is how I break it down:<BR><BR>Light lunch - &pound;3 - &pound;6 per person<BR>Sandwiches from places such as Pret are usually between &pound;2 - &pound;4. They also have some nice drinks and desserts. Any of the big chains such as Boots, M&S and Tesco are also good for sandwiches or take-away salads. <BR>Pub or bar lunches will cost you an average of &pound;5<BR><BR>Dinner - &pound;6 - &pound;15 is the cost for a main course in inexpensive to medium priced restaurants. &pound;3 - &pound;5 for a dessert or starter. &pound;1 - &pound;2 for a soft drink/coffee/tea and &pound;3 for a glass of wine.<BR>I rarely pay more than &pound;10 for a main course anywhere, but then I don't eat in expensive restaurants very often.<BR>

KS

<BR><BR>...continued<BR><BR>Drinks<BR>If you want to stop for a drink or snack except to pay about 50p for a can of coke or up to &pound;1 for a larger bottle of water, juice etc in somewhere such as Boots.<BR><BR>Museums - as previously mentioned, most are free. Entrance fees for other attractions can vary from &pound;4 - &pound;12, so I would plan where you would like to go (you can check entrance fees online for most places) and set aside a separate budget for that.<BR><BR>Travelcard - &pound;4.10 for a one day card for zones 1&2. &pound;19.30 for a 7 day card (so about &pound;2.75 a day)<BR><BR>Hope this is of help to you.<BR><BR>Oh, credit cards are taken pretty much everywhere, except for small sandwich bars.

bettyk

Sarah, we (4 adults) spent 3-1/2 days in London in May. Our total expenses in pounds broke down as follows:<BR><BR>Tube/Taxis/Train: 73 pounds<BR>Entrance Fees: 165 pounds<BR>Meals/Drinks: 270 pounds<BR><BR>We also spent 125 pounds for airport transportation by London Transfers (55 pounds from Heathrow to London and 70 pounds from London to Gatwick including tips).<BR><BR>We did not buy any weekly transportation passes since we were only there for 3-1/2 days but we did buy "carnets" (10 tickets at one time) for 11.50 pounds which saved us several pounds.<BR><BR>We did not eat extravagantly but didn't try to cut corners either. We also had dessert that we'd share at dinner plus the guys had some beers.<BR><BR>We used our credit cards almost everywhere (except for taxis and airport transportation) including entrance fees. I even used it for the tube tickets at Victoria Station.<BR><BR>The above also includes the train to Hampton Court and entrance fees to the Palace plus the Cabinet War Rooms, Tower of London and Westminster Abbey as well as a ride on the London Eye. If you plan to visit both Hampton Court and The Tower, you can get a discounted combination ticket for 19 pounds and save several pounds per person this way. You just need to ask for the joint ticket at the ticket counter.<BR><BR>Let me know if you have any questions.

janis

KS gives good estimates. Add &pound;12-&pound;20 per day for theatre tickets from the 1/2 price ticket booth. Or &pound;5-&pound;30 for concert tickets. <BR><BR>So &pound;30-&pound;65 per day would cover you for everything (food/drink, transport, sightseeing/museums, entertainment) depending on how many for-pay sightseeing places you visit.

topper

ttt

Trying

I would double KS' estimate for food,just to be careful. Not that you couldn't get by on KS' estimate, but you would need to be relatively careful. It is easy to spend 10 pounds or more for lunch, without really trying (even at a pub, particularly with a Pint (which is probably 2 pounds by itself). Just my experience.

pam

Just back from France, Italy and London. London was by far the most expensive city on our trip. It is especially hard to switch from dealing with Euros to dealing with pounds (because the exchange rate is so different. Euros are close to the dollor now so it's easier to figure out what you're spending).<BR>Pam<BR>

xxx

I agree with "Trying...'" even lunch in a pub came close to 10 GBP per person when you add in a beverage.

louise

I agree with the poster who said estimate how much things cost in $$ and that's how much they'll cost in pounds, which makes everything approx. 45% more expensive.<BR><BR>On a very nice dinner we spent almost 100 pounds, similar to what you'd get for $100 here. But we also had many lite suppers for about 40 pounds, which were similar to what you would get for $40 here. We hardly EVER ate lunch, the breakfasts we got at the hotel were so huge! (This really helps hopefully your hotel includes breakfast)<BR><BR>Museums: the following are free, V & A, Natural History, Modern Tate, Imperial War Museum, and I'm sure others. However, other places can be very expensive in my mind, The Tower of London costs about 13 pounds (almost $20 a person!).<BR><BR>Taxis are crazy expensive. We only took them when we were beyond exhausted. <BR><BR>Have fun!<BR><BR>

louise

Hi<BR><BR>I just wanted to say that those meal prices were for 2 people, and usually including a glass of wine for me and a beer for my husband.<BR><BR>

sylvia

I'd agree with the point about estimating the cost in dollars and taking the same number of pounds.<BR>I'd also echo the classic advice about travelling: Decide how many clothes you need and take half: Decide how much money you need and double it.

KS

Trying<BR>Sarah asked for a budget including a light lunch, which is what I quoted. Most pub meals are an "average" of &pound;5, especially if she just wants a sandwich. I was quoting for a person eating at the cheaper places seeing as everyone is always moaning that London is so expensive....

Alec

When I visit London from the North, I try to go budget as much as possible, and it isn't difficult with a bit of forward planning. Travelcard is a must unless all you want is to explore one small part of London (say South Kensington). For lunch, apart from pubs and sandwich bars, try some cheap Chinese restaurant/cafes in Soho. Ones in Lisle St near Leicester Square have a one-plate meal or a bowl of noodle for &pound;3-4 with free tea. One way to avoid entrance fee at St Paul's or Westminster Abbey is to go to an early morning communion around 8-8.30 am, and stay behind (but don't forget donation). For sit-down meals, get a copy of Good Food Guide which picks up recommended places serving a full meal for under &pound;20.

Mel P

For a day that's spare on spending, I'd probably budget &pound;40/day per person to give a little breathing room, you can definitely eat decently for under &pound;30 including Travelcard for the tube. There may be some places you go with admission charges - like the Tower of London - which will probably put you over &pound;40 for the day. Also depends on how much drinkin' you're going to do in the pub &lt;g&gt;. Also you're probably going to want to do something some evenings, like a club, play or movie that will cost you.