London, like many capital cities is expensive. If you’re planning a trip to take in the heritage and history here are some tips that should keep your budget in check:

• Buy a Visitor Oyster card before you arrive
• Use Public Transit from your airport
• Book your accommodation away from the central area
• Dine out in Pubs and Supermarkets
• Use regular buses for sightseeing
• London is a great Walking City
• Visit the free Museums and Galleries

This post assumes that you will be visiting London after things return to some sort of normal following the pandemic. If you visit sooner, please check whether the attractions, hotels, pubs etc. are open before you arrive.

Buy a Visitor Oyster card before you arrive in London

An Oyster card is a smart card that you can top up and allows you to travel on most public transit in the capital. You can use it on the tube (subway), buses, trams and most trains.

London has a zonal fare structure with the central area in zone 1. You can find maps showing the zones here.

If you plan to use the public transit system a lot while you’re in London, an Oyster card will save you money. Pay as you go fares using this card are cheaper than buying individual paper tickets. There is also a daily cap so that you won’t spend more than (at time of writing) GBP13.50 per day for travelling within zones 1-6.

You can buy a Visitor Oyster card online before you travel to London. The card will be mailed to your home address. It also gives you access to special offers and discounts in restaurants, shops and more.

To purchase a card and to learn more about it, see the Visitor Oyster card page on the Transport for London website.

Use Public Transit from your airport

Most international passengers for London will arrive at either Heathrow or Gatwick airport. These airports are a fair distance from central London (20 miles and 38 miles respectively), so taxi fares are expensive.

Much cheaper public transit options are available from both airports. For more information, see the transport pages on the Heathrow and Gatwick websites.

If you bought a pre-paid Oyster card before arriving (see above), these can be used on trains from both Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Book your accommodation away from the central area

Staying in a hotel or bed and breakfast in central London can be very expensive, especially in the peak summer season. London has excellent and frequent public transit, so it usually pays to stay in the outer fare zone areas. The east site of London tends to be cheaper than the west.

Here’s a tip; London’s main exhibition venue is now the ExCel centre located in the former docklands. Quite a few hotels have been built close to ExCel. If you time your visit when there is no event scheduled, then staying in one of these hotels may work out much cheaper than booking downtown accommodation.

Most of these hotels are a short walk from a DLR (Docklands Light Railway) station. Trains run every few minutes and it takes about 20 minutes to get to Tower Gateway station for the Tower of London and connection to the London Underground at Tower Hill. Oyster cards can be used on the DLR.

London accommodation can be found on the major booking sites like Booking.com and Expedia.

Dine out in Pubs and Supermarkets

Apart from in fast food outlets, eating in restaurants can be quite expensive in London, especially in the central area. A great alternative is to eat in a pub. These days most British pubs are family friendly and offer good quality food.

You can find good pubs in advance by using the What Pub Directory. Use the filters to select pubs that offer lunchtime or evening dining.

Another cheap option is to eat in a supermarket café or restaurant. The larger shops usually have at least a café in the store. You should note that the larger branches of the supermarket chains tend to be outside the downtown area. So, this will be a good option if your accommodation is also away from the center.

You can check on the supermarket websites to see if there are stores near where you’re staying and what dining facilities they offer. The main chains are:

• Tesco
• Sainsbury’s
• Asda
• Morrison’s
• Waitrose

Use regular buses for sightseeing

As already mentioned, your Oyster card is valid on buses as well as the Tube and trains. Many buses are double deck and if you travel off peak (avoiding the morning and evening rush hours during the week), they’re a very comfortable and cheap way of seeing the sights.

Here are a few routes that pass well known attractions:

• 11. Take this bus from Liverpool Street Station as far as Victoria Station and on the way, you’ll see the Bank of England, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Courts of Justice (the Old Bailey), Trafalgar Square, Whitehall (past 10 Downing Street), Horse Guards Parade, Parliament Square (Houses of Parliament), Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.
• 24. Join this bus at Victoria Station and it mostly follows the No. 11 route (above) as far as Trafalgar Square, so you’ll pass the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Horse Guards Parade and Downing Street. The bus then heads north passing Leicester Square (for Chinatown and Covent Garden and Tottenham Court Road (for Oxford Street shopping). You can stay on the bus if you like and go all the way to Hampstead Heath for magnificent views of London.
• 15. Start at Trafalgar Square and the route passes the Old Bailey (Royal Courts of Justice), St Paul’s Cathedral, Monument, The Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
• 14. This route is great if you’re planning to visit some of London’s many museums and galleries. Start at Russell Square and the bus passes close to The British Museum, The National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum.

London is a great Walking City

If you enjoy walking then London is made for you. Many of the best sights are fairly close together and, if the weather is good, then there is nothing better than exploring on foot.

An example of a great walk is to start by the Houses of Parliament (nearest Tube: Westminster), cross Westminster Bridge, then turn left and walk along the south bank of the River Thames to Tower Bridge. You can then cross the bridge to the Tower of London (nearest Tube: Tower Hill).

For a selection of free self guided London walks, see the London Toolkit.

If you prefer a guided walking tour, check out Free Tours By Foot where you name your own price for the tour.

Visit the free Museums and Galleries

London has some great museums and galleries and many of them have free entry. Here are links to some of the best:

• British Museum
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• Museum of London
• Science Museum
• National Gallery
• Natural History Museum
• National Maritime Museum
• Tate Modern
• Imperial War Museum

Enjoy your stay!