Visit London on a Budget

Inside: Learn the tools and tips that I used to travel to London on a budget!

In September 2023, I was able to take the trip of a lifetime to a place I have always wanted to go: London! Ever since I was a child, I have dreamt of traveling overseas, I even had a Paris-themed bedroom! As I got older, London became the top destination. All I needed was someone to go with me. After a little convincing, my mom and sister-in-law signed up for this amazing — and somewhat last-minute — trip of a lifetime. 

When we decided to go, we had four months to plan and book everything. I took the lead on this task and originally provided a budget-friendly itinerary complete with economy seats and limited activities. As we discussed further, we noted that we may never have the opportunity to travel like this again, so we made the decision to spruce up a few options like upgrading our flights, accounting for a fancy dinner out, and adding an excursion to Paris. For us, this made sense within each of our budgets. Each step of the way, we were tallying the costs and trimming expenses where we could to afford the “luxury” upgrades. 

I could write many words on how the trip came together and how completely amazing it was, but I mainly want to focus this blog on the ways that I was able to save a few dollars here and there while planning. Disclaimer: I am not a world traveler. This trip was my first overseas and major international trip. I learned a lot while researching, and I want to share a few of the budget-friendly ways we kept costs low on an expensive international trip.

How we traveled to London on a budget

For background, we each spent roughly $2,900 per person on our eight-day trip. We spent six full days in the country, visiting mostly London, England. We also included a day trip to Paris, France, as well as Windsor, England. Over the course of the week, our days were full as we did all. the. things! We saw all of the historic sites, such as the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. We shopped at a few markets and devoted much of our time to activities related to the British royal family. Have you ever had afternoon tea at Kensington Palace? It is dreamy.

London is an expensive city. Everything from food to cab fares is pricey. Plus, you also need to account for the exchange rates. A big way we saved was on our shared hotel room. Hotels in London are at least $200/night for a 3-star hotel, and that cost can really inflate your budget. Thankfully, I had been saving travel rewards points up solely for a time such as this and was able to completely reimburse myself for six nights ($1,200) by cashing in my credit card rewards after booking. 

Overall, we spent an estimated:

• $0 on our hotel – The Villa Kensington (YAY travel rewards!)
• $1,400 on Delta Economy Plus flights
• $800 on activities and multiple tours (though most of this was spent on the day trip to Paris)
• $500–$700 on food and in-country purchases such as souvenirs and cab rides

Total: $2,900

4 tips to visit London on a budget

If there are other newbies out there traveling to London (you’ll LOVE it!), make sure you consider these four easy ways to travel on a budget!

1. Research and get organized.

Identify travel zones. Planning an international trip can be daunting, but the first thing to do is narrow down the ideal location of your hotel that is near a good portion of your activities. This will save you on daily transportation costs. London is huge, but thankfully all of the main attractions are close together. We stayed near the city center as most travelers will do, but about two miles away in South Kensington. The closer into the city you go, the higher the hotel costs. Research safe areas that may be a little out of the city center and choose a hotel that is close to public transportation or easily walkable to your activities.

Determine how you will pay for the trip. Identify the source of funding for your trip. Will you pull from your savings account? Pay off the credit card after booking? Enroll in a payment plan if utilizing a travel company. Travel spending can add up fast, so aim to spread out the bookings to alleviate budget pressure. You’ll want to avoid derailing your regular monthly budget with extra travel expenses. 

Utilize travel rewards if you have them! You can save big on flights and hotels with most reward credit cards. I had saved my travel rewards for quite a while, just waiting for the chance at a big trip, and this strategy paid off big time. I booked all three of our flights and our hotel room on my travel rewards card, waited for the rewards points to settle, and then “reimbursed” myself by cashing in my rewards points as an account credit. These reward credits equaled the cost of our hotel room! 

Side note: If you haven’t heard of travel hacking and want to have your mind blown, check out ChooseFI and listen to Episode 9 of their podcast! 

Clarify your budget. Once you have sourced your funding, identify how much you are planning to spend on this trip. If you are new to international travel, I recommend setting a budget and then giving yourself an extra 10% buffer. This is because things will inevitably come up that you couldn’t anticipate (or simply didn’t know was an expense you should plan for) and you can handle that expense while still staying on budget. 

• Use a budget planner like our Vacation Budget Planner to estimate expenses and help keep you on track. 

• If splitting costs with a group, ensure that you are communicating your budget limits and checking in with others to confirm costs. No one wants to be caught up in a trip they can’t afford, so start by brainstorming low-cost activities and provide options for upgrades and splurges from there. 

2. Book in advance and directly.

Hotels may offer special discounts or perks when booking directly with the hotel instead of third-party sites. I did all of my research on multiple hotels and read reviews on Booking.com, then visited the final choice hotel website to book directly. We received a 20% discount by booking 90 days in advance and received free breakfast! This saved us so much!

You can utilize this method for activities as well. Instead of booking through a third party, book directly to save on ticket costs. We got a £25 discount on our West End show tickets by booking directly and 12 weeks in advance for Mousetrap! In that same vein, booking tickets ahead instead of the day of typically saves you a small amount per ticket. 

I am not sure if we saved any significant money on our flights by booking more than 90 days out, but generally, the earlier you book your flights, the cheaper they will be! You can use low-fare trackers like Google Flights (it’s free!) to monitor price trends before you purchase. 

3. Find ways to save on food

Restaurants in London are plentiful but often pricey. Food was a huge expense in our budget, but we tried to save on food purchases where we could and set a daily spending cap. We budgeted $50/day to spend on food expenses, not including breakfast. Here are a few ways you can make this happen:

Choose a hotel with breakfast. We purposefully chose a hotel that had breakfast included. Was it the most amazing spread? No, but it did provide us with full bellies to start our busy travel days and avoid the extra cost of breakfast each day. 

Pre-plan meals. When putting together your itinerary, come up with a list of restaurants in various areas of your trip to have on hand. This helps you avoid just popping into any restaurant you see and being caught off guard by the menu or the prices. Check out one of the many food markets, like the Borough Market, for more options in one place that may better fit your budget. 

Save by purchasing groceries. There are little grocery stores all over London, and we often found ourselves popping into the stores to grab snacks to take back to the hotel. We munched on grapes and trail mix and bought extra water bottles. Although we didn’t have a refrigerator or microwave in our room, the shelf-stable snacks and fresh fruit were the perfect pick-me-ups after a long day of activities.

4. Compare activities

Other than our flights and lodging, a great portion of our budget went towards activities. There are multiple free or low-cost things to do in London, but we did purchase tickets for several attractions. 

We first started our itinerary planning by making a list of the top places we wanted to visit. Then we narrowed down a few places as possible destinations and areas where we wanted to splurge. Once we had a list of activities and a rough outline of our week in London, we started researching ways to book tickets or find free ways to do that same activity. 

Consider the London Pass. The London Pass is an activity pass that gives you entrance into 80 top London attractions over several days. This pass not only offers a great deal to see a lot of London but is also an easy way to build an itinerary. We did not end up purchasing the pass only because it had to be used on consecutive days and it didn’t have a handful of attractions we wanted to visit. Had it better fit our dream plans, we would have loved to take advantage of it. I suggest carefully reviewing the included activities and your itinerary to make sure this pass actually makes sense for your trip. The London Pass often goes on sale for 10–20% off, so keep an eye out for sales before purchasing!

Compare budget alternatives. A few of the items we wanted to do had budget-friendly options outside of purchasing a ticket. For example, if you want to take a bus tour, you can hop on one of London’s regular public transportation buses and see the city that way. A big way we saved was by avoiding the Tea and Sunken Garden Tour at Kensington Palace and reserved tea at the Kensington Palace Pavilion ourselves. The Sunken Garden is free to visit and does not require a tour guide, in my opinion. Finally, we could have taken a half-day guided tour to Windsor, but we decided to buy train tickets and entry to Windsor Castle separately. Windsor is only 20 miles outside of London and very easy to navigate on your own via train. You can also find tour packages that combine multiple activities which often saves on costs. 

Tip: Not every tour demands a live guide and most tours come with complimentary audio guides. That said, I highly recommend a guided Westminster Abbey tour. That was worth every penny, and our guide helped us navigate the large crowd with ease. 

Plan activities in the same area. The tube (subway) fare can add up if you ride all over the city each day. When you plan your itinerary, organize activities in the same area that you can easily walk to. Before starting your day, determine your tube stops. For us Midwestern girls, figuring this out ahead of time made navigating the tube system much easier. I suggest getting a visitor Oyster Card to take advantage of daily fare caps throughout your trip. The Oyster Card can be used for other public transportation and can be pre-loaded with funds and mailed to your home prior to your trip.

Tools to help you budget for London

As you can imagine, planning an international trip with a group bears many details. To keep track of the estimated costs, actual spending, and itinerary planning, I used the all-in-one Budget Blueprints Vacation Planner. You can grab your copy in our shop! 

When it comes to purchasing and splitting costs, we used the Splitwise app. It helps you keep track of who owes what when planning or while traveling. Another favorite app was Tripit, which allows you to create a shared digital itinerary! Simply forward your tickets and reservation information emails, and it will automatically populate in your app. You can then make notes and map out transportation routes to and from activities. 

What to do in London on a budget

Finally, I want to leave you with a few fun things to do on a budget in London! Research the many neighborhoods and attractions, then take a peek at what you can do for free or at a low cost, such as:

• Changing of the Guards. Our favorite activity was watching the pomp and circumstance of the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Grab a spot to watch on the Victoria Monument and enjoy the 45-minute show!

• Free museums. Choose from over 30 free museums in London. We especially loved visiting the Natural History Museum. The Victoria and Albert, The British Museum, and The National Gallery are a few more top destinations. 

• Markets. Strolling through one of London’s many markets like the Jubilee, Apple, or Borough Markets can be a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. From delicious food to homemade goods, to vintage wares, you can be sure to find a market that fits your style. 

• Sight-seeing destinations. Take a stroll around London and you will find cool (and very pretty) streets and neighborhoods like Notting Hill, the Seven Dials, Soho, and Camden! Plus, anywhere you turn, you can often run into massive monuments and historical places like the Monument to the Great Fire of London, Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, to name a few. I loved taking the Queen’s Jubilee Walkway for a fun walking route that passes by many landmarks. 

• Budget-friendly tours. Finally, hop on a tour to dig deep into London and its history. Compare prices and packages across different tour companies to get the best deal. We booked various tours and excursions through London’s Golden Tours and Premium Tours companies. Our 2.5-hour bus tour was only £35 per person and allowed us to get a feel for the city on our first night there. You can find other tours, like walking tours or river cruises, for relatively inexpensive ticket prices as well. 

There you have it! Four easy ways to travel to London on a budget. Are you a world traveler? Have you taken your own trip to London? Tell us your favorite budget-friendly travel tips in the comments below!

Related Posts:

• How to Budget for Vacations