As you all may know by now I was super happy to be visiting London again. My bank account? Not so much. I already cut down half of my costs by flying Easy Jet and staying in my mum-in-laws home. But still, I love a little challenge and decided to spend as little money as possible. So here’s a little list of things to do, eat and see in London when you’re visiting London on a budget.
THINGS TO DO
Market hopping at Brick Lane
Brick Lane is pretty awesome. There’s loads of markets to visit. You can buy art works or unique clothes from indie designers or browse vintage stalls. This might make you hungry after a while, but don’t sweat. You can find plenty of food stalls, with fresh food from all over the globe, all for around 5 pounds a dish. If you’re looking to buy souvenirs, look no further. You’ll find plenty of novelty gems, which will make for a much better gift than your average miniature red phone booth. Even if you’re not planning on buying anything (because hey, we’re on a budget) there’s enough to look at. All hipsters hang out here, so feast your eyes with all the street art and streetstyle that’s around. And if you really want to impress your company (or Instagram followers), visit Columbia Road Flower Market, which is pretty close.
Primrose Hill
Walk up Primrose Hill for a very romantic view over London. Obviously this works best when the weather’s lovely. Bring a bottle of wine and a salad and watch the sun set. The area is also very nice to just walk around during the day. It’s a nice and quiet break from the city center. Walk around the pretty streets and you’ll come across pastel houses and cute bars, restaurants and boutiques.
Westfield Shopping Mall
Yup, I’m still aware of the fact that I’m talking about visiting London on a budget. But if you do want to go shopping, go to Westfield Shopping Mall. It’s a lot less crowded than Oxford Street and you’ll still find all the high street chains there. And since it’s less crowded, you might even find a thing or two in the sale section of Topshop or River Island. Be sure to pay a visit to the bottom level, where you’ll find Waitrose supermarket. British supermarkets just have the best selection of products and it’s an easy way of finding cheap lunch.
THINGS TO SEE
Saatchi Gallery
If you want to do something a little more cultural but have no idea where to start, go to the Saatchi Gallery. No need to break the bank, because here are the magic words: it’s free. It’s nice to be surprised by art you might not have discovered otherwise. Plus, if you’re still looking for that cool souvenir: hit the gallery shop. Walk outside to find a square filled with beach chairs and two big screens so you can watch Wimbledon, also for free!
The Barbican Gallery
This gallery has loads of cool exhibitions. Right now there’s The Fashion World Of Jean Paul Gaultier (which I already saw in Rotterdam) and Digital Revolution, which apparently has Will.I.Am’s head following you around everywhere you go. I didn’t get to see any exhibitions because of a lack of time, but the building in itself was awesome enough. To be honest you don’t even need to buy a ticket to see something cool. I was really intrigued by this building’s architecture, kind of what people thought ‘the future’ would look like in the 80s.
THINGS TO EAT & DRINK
Breakfast at Oyster Rooms
Visiting the U.K. means you gotta have English breakfast at least once. There are plenty of pubs like this one, but I loved this one in particular because it had such a big breakfast selection. You’ll get a 1200 calories brekkie for only 4,50. Now that’ll (almost) get you through the day!
Burgers at Byron
This burger chain is definitely not the fastfood place you’d expect. The interior is really well designed and it doesn’t feel cheap when you’re there, even though meals will cost you around 10 pound. Unfortunately there was only 1 veggie burger on the menu, so there’s room for improvement. I went for a salad this time though, which was lovely.
Pasta at Pesantissimo (Primrose Hill)
If you do plan on going to Primrose Hill or Regent’s Park, go to this little Italian restaurant. It’s the most inexpensive one on Regent’s Park Road and their butternut squash ravioli is absolutely delish.
Curry rolls (!) at The Kati Roll Company
The Brits love a good curry, so there’s plenty of curry houses to be found in every neighbourhood. If you want to try something a little different, definitely try the curry rolls at this place. It’s kind of like putting curry in a burrito. The fresh spices make them über tasty and they’re only 4 pounds a roll.
Coffee at Giddy Up Coffee
Yummy fresh coffee on the go. We came across this cute coffee stall when we were walking around the Barbican neighbourhood. The coffee is freshly brewed and they even offer cappuccino with almond milk! There’s 4 of these stands across London, but the one we visited was next to Fortune Park, where we could sit on a bench and sip our lattes.
Bubble tea at Moo-boo
If you haven’t tried bubble tea, you should. Bubble tea is a typical Taiwanese iced tea which comes in loads of different flavours. You can add some popping pearls or jellies for some extra sensation when drinking it. There’s loads of bubble tea shops in London and obviously I don’t know if this is the best one. The yellow outside and cute English wallpaper just made it too cute to pass.
Beer at Liquor Store London
This is one of those places you would probably never find out about. The atmosphere is like being in your own living room and they have everything to accommodate your average hipster. A fussball tabel, bikes hanging from the ceiling, mix & match chairs, tables and even couches. They serve comfort food, like hot dogs (haven’t tried them, but they even had tofu hot dogs) and their home brewed beer, which was very fruity and refreshing. We came here to watch the World Cup Game and being here definitely made the experience into something different!
This goes to show you that you don’t need to be rich to visit London. I hope you’ll find these tips useful and if you’ll visit something from my list I can’t wait to hear how you liked it!
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