mr_texas

Hello all. I've come seeking to tap into the vast brain trust possessed by the Fodors community.

Here it goes: I am Europeanly-challenged as this will be a first time to London...and to complicate things further:
1-I'm on a BUDGET.
2-I will be traveling alone, so I can't take advantage of any of the great double occupancy package deals.
3-I'm past crunch time because I'm planning to travel in late Sept. or mid-October...for anywhere from 5-7 nights.
4-and again I'm on a BUDGET...I'd rather not disclose how much...I can already hear the collective laughter.

I've been watching airfares for awhile and I'm pretty sure that I can get a fare on AA direct from DFW to LGW in the low $500's. That's covered...unless anyone knows of any secret sales I haven't heard about.
What I'm having trouble figuring out is the accommodations....there are so many neighborhoods and so many hotels. I am afraid of picking a dive and being stuck there for my entire trip. I read in Frommer's that Bloomsbury and the Paddington/Bayswater areas were pretty nice and reasonable. I am looking for room with an en suite toilet and shower that is clean, safe, near transportation , and includes full breakfast for around $80/night (including VAT). I have to believe there are some hidden gems out there. Is this unrealistic?

Also, any advice on some good places to eat (various cuisines)? Does London have the US equivalent of casual dining establishments (Chili's, Bennigan's, etc.)? Some places where I won't look pitiful eating alone...and easy on the pocketbook of course ($10-$20)

I want to save money wherever possible so I can splurge on a couple of nice dinners, a show and maybe a daytrip to Paris (although I don't speak French) or Spain (I do speak a little Spanish). I'm under the assumption that I will return to London in the future with a larger budget and more time to explore in depth. So the purpose of this trip will be to get an overview of the city. I hope there is someone out there who shares my philosophy of living within your limits but not sacrificing a great experience. Thank you in advance for the helpful advise I know you're going to share.

Indymajic

Hi Mr Texas, My wife and I leave this Sat. for London, I will be back Sept. 9 and I'll post a brief travel report, I will also be looking to eat on a budget, so I will post whatever I find out. I believe a good, and inexpensive way to get an overview of the city, is the big red bus. You can hop on and off, and they run every few minutes. If you take a day trip to Paris, save your night to splurge on food, for then, your tummy will thank you.

Kascha912

Hi,
we were in London on a budget in June - and found it to be as terribly expensive as everybody says...
You'll save on meals by doing the Londoners' thing: sandwiches. ;-) Or take a look at this site http://www.lastminute.com/lmn/pso/ca...amp;POSITION=3
It's the UK version with restaurants deals for 10 - 15 pounds. Also http://londonrestaurantsguide.com/ They have a section 15 pounds and under.

For hotels I suggest you also consider the Kensington/ South Kensington area.
And you may want to consider priceline (first get informed on biddingfortravel.com) or take a look here: laterooms.com (perhaps in a couple of weeks). I guess, I'd make a reservation for a reasonable hotel that can be cancelled until shortly before the actual date. And then try to get something better for the same price.

I second the hop on hop off bus tour. It was a very good start for us. Take a look here: http://www.bigbus.co.uk It includes a river cruise and a walking tour.

Speaking of... Very inexpensive is WALKING! Either get an itinerary at londontourist.org/ or simply get lost on your own in the more interesting parts of London.
Also, the `Original London Walks' have a tour that hits the major sights.

Well, have a great trip!

Tulips

A daytrip to Spain will be difficult since you will spend most of the day travelling. Paris could be possible if you can get a cheap deal on Eurostar; without a special offer Eurostart can be very expensive.

ben_haines_london

Your brief and clear note makes it easy to start to reply. You will spend eighty dollars for your room. If will e-mail me, I shall send you a folder I keep of what people on this forum think of various hotels near Victoria and on the Strand. These can be as cheap Bayswater and Paddington, and are nearer the tourist attractions. You need not spend twenty dollars (ten will suffice) if you lunch in pubs and sup in various places I like: again I can e-mail you my folder. On another folder I have notes on what is free: again I can send it you. For this, can you please say when you will be here, and whether you have special hobby, academic or work interests.

To put it on a large scale, nearly all the great museums and galleries are free, and many of them are worth a day each. The British Mseum, the National Galthe National Portrait Gallery, the Victoiria and Albert, the Svience Mudreum, the Natural History Museum. Then there is a string of small museums and galleries that are free. Madame Tussaud?s is is expenbsive rubbish. The Tower and the London Eye (the wheel) are expoensive and good, but you can leave them till next visit.

I like the idea of walking, but not of paying somebody to guide you. So I offer still another folder, of self guided walks in London.

The cheap bus tour comes on the ordinary busses, which are often red. A day travel pass for the two central zones of London costs 4 pounds, and covers bus, tube, and local railways. You hop on and off all you want. I think the open-topped tourist busses are ten pounds a day, and of course they cover only set routes. To see where you can go on a normal bus you ask any tube station ticket office for a free bus map.

I hope to hear from you. Welcome to London

[email protected]

flanneruk

The two quickest - and free - introductions.
The National Portrait Gallery, mentioned by Ben, is the closest thing to a Museum of Britain, if you're vague on the more arcane bits of our history. A portrait, often with brief bio, of just about every important Brit since portraits came into fashion (effectively in the late 1200's).
And the Museum of London, in The City (the financial district, at the east of the central area)is really the other National Museum, if you accept the common view that not much ever happens outside London anyway (The British Museum is mostly about the rest of the world. Though its Roman artefacts from England are among its most fascinating, and least publicised exhibits. The letters home from the soldiers at Hadrian's Wall are just extraordinary)

If you're on a budget, St Pauls and Westminster Abbey do not, of course, charge for entry during services. And their choirs are sublime

WillTravel

Mr_Texas - I have been to London on a serious budget three times. It is fabulous. You are not past crunch time at all. The first time I went to London in September 2002, I bought my plane ticket two days in advance and got a great charter deal, made my accommodation bookings the same day, and started reading Lonely Planet in earnest. Several weeks is plenty of lead time. (Why did I do things in such a hurry - it's just that I realized I had a gap in my freelance schedule and that was a good time to go. Lucky me, because I just happened to get a permanent job the same day I returned!)

For accommodation, I will once again suggest Priceline. Try a bid of $50-55 for 2* or 3* hotels (see http://www.biddingfortravel.com or http://www.betterbidding.com to get help with a strategy). If you look around when you get to London, you'll be able to find cafes that have breakfast for a few pounds, or you can go to the grocery store. If you want to go even cheaper, consider hostels.

One cafe I really liked near the National Gallery is called Bella. Unfortunately, I can't give you the address, but if I were in London I could point it out to you. Never fear, though, you can find lots of places where you can get a $10-20 meal (although there are lots of places where you can't also). There are so many places that I could suggest to start looking that I don't know where to start. But trust me, you need not starve on the budget you are describing.

And make good use of Marks and Spencers, Sainsbury, and Tesco grocery stores and their good-quality prepared foods.

My budget per day for my solo trip in September 2002 was something like this in US funds:
$15 food + $7 transport + $20 hostel + $5 attractions + $15 theatre
The cheap theatre tickets were for very good shows, including My Fair Lady and a Tom Stoppard production. I went to a play or concert almost every day. There are lots of free or by donation lunch-time concerts in London churches (see Time Out).

I was in London again in June 2003 and then back again in July 2003 (after going through Scandinavia). I had my son with me so we spent more on accommodation for a hotel on Priceline, but we didn't go to the theatre (since he wasn't interested). But the budget was quite similar.

Get the Time Out magazine when you get to London. Get a copy of Lonely Planet now. You'll be set.

Anonymous

Use Priceline.

After you arrive, buy a 7-day travelcard for the subway/buses, which allows unlimited rides all day. You'll probably need just Zone 1, where most of the hotels and tourist attractions are, though the zoo and Greenwich are in Zone 2.

Go to the free museums, parks, and other sights.

Eat picnic meals from markets rather than going to restaurants.

Skip the international day-trip, you'll spend much of your time enroute and eat up a large chunk of your budget; if you're planning on a return to Europe, do your side-trip(s) then.

TuckH

To save some money, I suggest you look into the B+B idea. This might not be in Central London, but say Zone 2 or 3 on the Tube, for example Chiswick or Ealing, where there are many single family homes. There are sources for names and addresses of these places and staying in someone's spare room can be inexpensive for you and beneficial to that someone.

Donna

Our first time to London was also last year and we were on a budget (returning in Nov and still on a budget). B&Bs are a great deal because you get a full breakfast. If you are traveling alone you can get very reasonable accomodations especially if you share a bath down the hall. Rick Steves has some good suggestions at his website: http://www.ricksteves.com/news/archive/698lonhotel.htm. We are staying for the second time at Morgan House in Belgravia a five minute walk from Victoria Station. http://www.woodvillehouse.co.uk/morgan.htm. A single room is L46. Spring for the cost of the Tower tour and take the bridge across the Thames and walk to the Globe Theater (that tour is also cheap. You see a lot of the city and the walk is fun. We took subways everywhere, after 9:30 a day pass is cheap. They also have American fast food restaurants that are inexpensive, but pubs are a great bargain (there is a really good one across from the British Museum). If you want to visit another country from Britain, try the airlines (EasyJet, Ryan Air) - much cheaper than the Chunnel. Also, buy your theater tickets at the 1/2 price booths, a good value for great entertainment. You are going to have a great time.

johnian

Go...you will have a great time. I have travelled on very tight budgets in the past. For accomodation, try Frommers or Rick Steeves. For very inexpensive try Let's Go. Food: Ensure that you do not eat in places that are filled with tourists. So in Paris or Rome, go three blocks 'in' to where the regular folks eat. Forget about ordering Coke(comparatively expensive)-stick with wine, beer, or local fizz. Water will cost you unless you clearly say tap water. Tap water is safe in London, Paris, Rome. Make you own meals, ie buy one or two buns and get some sliced meats etc at the deli's and have a picnic. In London, stick with the pubs, in Italy use the family run tratorrias or the small take out places that sell pizza etc by weight. Get used to the fact that meat is more expensive in Europe, hence the higher costs.
We found bus/metro reasonable in Rome/Paris. Check out the some of the British Visitors cards that MUST be purchased prior to arriving. There is one that includes the London tube and it is a good deal OR just by one, two or... day passes for zones 1 and 2 only. Don't take a taxi from the airport into town unless there are 4 of you or you can pool. For London, take the Airport bus to downtown or use the tube. Cab will be $90. Museums are free in some cities on certain days. Check this out if you want to do this. If you are travelling on any day trips in the UK, ensure that you buy cheap day returns- they are essentially 1/2 price train tickets that can only be used after 9:30AM. Some of these return tickets are actually cheaper than buying a one way ticket. Finally, try packing. Once you have done this, take half of that stuff out of there and put it back in your closet/drawers. You do not need it and you will regret taking it-particularily if you are on a budget and will be using public transport and staying at hotels with only narrow stairs such as Paris/London. Take you comfortable shoes not the newer ones that are not comfortable and pinch your toes.Have a wonderful time.

erinb

hi mr. texas,

FYI, British Airways was advertising a special to london recently, leaving most major us airports including DFW. Round trip was about $298 plus tax. I think that special has ended, but I am sure it will run again in the next week or two.

hope this helps some!

Anonymous

From above: "Check out the some of the British Visitors cards that MUST be purchased prior to arriving. There is one that includes the London tube and it is a good deal OR just by one, two or... day passes for zones 1 and 2 only. "

These are the London Pass and the Visitors Travelcard. You can learn a lot about them just by searching on this site. Neither of them is a particularly good buy, IMHO.

elaine

Hi
I've been to London several times on my own. You needn't worry about appearing to be "pitiful" eating alone. Most people quite frankly don't notice or care, and it doesn't mean that you are
friendless or unloved, merely that you are brave enough to travel on your own!

Take Mr Haines's advice, and if you want even more information:
you can email me for my own London file
(some of which may duplicate Mr Haines's info) by emailing me at
[email protected]

Go elsewhere here at Fodors.com under Destinations and look at all the basic London info. Other good sources of info, esp for the budget-minded, are
frommers.com, timeout.com, slowtrav.com, roughguides.com, ricksteves.com etc etc

As mentioned, many of the world-class museums and other sights in London are free; others have reduced admission prices on some days or evenings.
Avoid the expensive tourist traps, especially the London Dungeon. I also think that Madame Tussaud's is too expensive and disappointing, but some disagree.

Buy a good basic guidebook and map.
squaremeal.co.uk has good dining recommendations. Ditto Gustafson's
"Great Eats in London" (used to be called "Cheap Eats...&quot

I'm in favor of staying someplace as centrally-located as possible, even if it costs a few extra pounds per night.
You will not have to waste time or money on longer commuting trips, and you will find yourself eagerly walking to many tourist sights. Many places even above the lowest-cost level offer a full cooked breakfast to tide you over for a good part of the day.

You can also go to Leicester Square for reduced-cost theatre tickets. They may not be for the newest, biggest hits, but you can have an enjoyable night at the theatre anyway.

Best of luck

savannah

Not sure of the rates now, but look for a hotel called the Thistle in Islington. The rooms are quite small, but they ran my friend and I $40 USD per night. That included private bathroom also quite small. We only spent 2 days, but packed all of the major sights and a spectacular concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It's a great city and I can't wait to go back. God save the queen.

Michel_Paris

Hi Mr_Texas!

A few comments. I've stayed solo at a hotel and at B&B's. On one trip I booked a package deal via Britsh Airways and stayed at the St Giles Hotel in the Bloomsbury area. Nothing special in terms of room (small), no AC,hotel was large, but price wise and location wise, perfect. Rates seem OK (L69 in September):

http://www.stgiles.com/londonhotel/specials.html

I also stayed at the following B&Bs in Bloomsbury: Harlingford Hotel (L75), Crescent Hotel (L45-L75) and Mentone Hotel (L55-L60)> Harlingford was the best , big breakfast, but you pay for it!

http://www.s-h-systems.co.uk/hotels/crescenthotel.html

I like Bloomsbury because it is a quite neighbourhood (at least on Cartwright Gardens), there are some cheap restaurants on Southampton Row and Marchmont, there is a small shopping plaza near the B&Bs, the tube (Russell Square) is a couple of blocks away (direct line to Heathrow), the Heathrow bus stops nearby, the British museum is a 10 minute walk, and you can walk to Covent Garden (bit far, but do-able)and...there are a couple of pubs near the Tube in case you need refreshing.

Hope this helps

Mike

mclegal

Hotwire has airfare DFW to London 494 9/24 to 10/1

wed to wed

Equihands

Hi Mr. Texas,
I will be traveling next Friday to London and I'm staying at a B&B on the outskirts of London in Harrow called London Bed and Breakfast. Their email address is www.serenade.ndirect.co.uk I have never stayed here before but check out their website. They were recommended in another travel newsletter website that I get. I am paying 30 pounds a night (that comes out to about $50US. Their double rate is 44 pounds and it includes a full breakfast. The rooms have hair dryers, irons & TV, everything I need for the short time I will be staying in the room. Check out their website. Unfortunately they are in zone 5, 20 minutes train out of central London, so I got a tube pass for 7 days ahead of time for all six zones. I will post after my return trip Sept.7 and let you know what I think of the place. As for things to do, take a London walks, they are inexpensive and fun. Stroll Kensington Gardens, check out the markets. Most of the museums are free. There are tons of things to do on a budget. Have a great trip.

TXStone

Mr. Texas -

When we were in London in 1996, we stayed in a B&B near the British Museum. I can't remember the name, but there were several in the area. We paid either 60GBP or $60, but that was in 1996, so they are likely more expensive. They also served a full breakfast (not a continental breakfast of bagels and juice, but eggs, sausage, fried tomatoes, etc.).

I second (third? fourth?) the suggestion to get a 7 day tube pass. Riding the underground and the buses are great ways to see the city.

We saw Les Miserables for 24GBP total - there were three of us, and we bought 4 obstructed view seats in a box to the right of the stage. We had to buy all 4 tickets, and they were 6 GBP each. The view was amazing, not obstructed at all. We just walked up to the ticket window on the day of the show (it was a matinee that we saw).

We used Let's Go Britain for ideas for inexpensive things to do, as well as when museums have "free" days, etc.

Have a great trip!

mr_texas

Thank you all for taking time to respond to my questions. You've offered some great advice. I'll spend this weekend looking into the various websites/books you have suggested. Please continue to post if you think of anything else. I appreciate it!