Don't worry, I'm still alive- welcome back to evine.travel, where today I'll be detailing my spontaneous, cheap and surprisingly easy London trip, and how you can do the same. I'll be including the prices where I can so you can see how to optimise a London experience on a budget, as well as things I probably could have made some better financial decisions on if you're looking to cut back on costs everywhere you can.
Getting there
Your first purchase is gonna have to be a London All-Day Rail Pass- this will give you access to zones 1-6 of the city, as well as your trip inbound and outbound of the capital. I managed to pick mine up for £31, which sounds expensive, but when you consider that covers travel all across the city for the entire day- as well as your journey in and out- its really not too bad. Of course, I am UK-based and not too far from London so your way into the city will vary from mine depending on the place you set out from- if flying into the country at Gatwick airport for example, you can catch the Gatwick Express at a fee around £30 return, or if taking the Eurostar; well this places you at Kings Cross, where a simple underground journey can take you pretty much anywhere in London with an All-Day pass. The tube transport network, much like Paris's Metro, is the beauty of the city; anywhere can be accessed within around 20 minutes simply due to the regularity and speed of these systems.
All that being said, I made my way into Paddington- (normally Waterloo for me- I have bank holiday railway repairs to thank for that), actually a first to the station for me, then asked my mate a slightly nervous "Now what?"
Photograph- Great Western Railway to London Paddington, April 2022
The Big City
We decided the best thing to do would simply be to just keep moving and hope for the best. It feels like a sort of unspoken rule in London: everyone has somewhere to be, and getting in their way isn't the best idea. Put on a confident walk in one direction whilst you pull up Google Maps, and once you discover you're going in the right direction (or completely the wrong way to Hyde Park as Zac and I found) you're good to go. After meandering our way past many a London souvenir shop, closed Indian takeaways and apartments that cost more per calendar month than I'll ever see in my lifetime, we crossed over Bayswater road towards Victoria gate. And what a day for it! We must have picked one of the three days a year the UK gets decent weather, and took the opportunity to head South through the Park, down towards the Albert memorial (although, at this point we thought we were heading East towards Buckingham Palace).
After realising the Ethiopian Embassy was positively not Buckingham Palace, we readjusted our bearings and started making our way towards the Wellington arch, which we would then follow through to go and see the most expensive house in the world.
Now a minute of your time to promote one of the only things I have to credit Boris Johnson for- the Santander bikes around the city were a lifesaver this day. We picked one up each for just £2pp, and this sped up our way to the Palace by loads. If you're not looking to fork out too much cash on the underground whilst in London, the Santander bikes are a great way to go about things. As I said, £2 for 24hr use of a bike, and as long as you secure it back at a docking point anywhere in the city (make sure to wait for the light to flash green), you're sorted!
Once finally cycling it the rest of the way, we were surprised to see we'd actually somehow managed to time it right for the changing of the guard- not bad for a trip that had been conceived less than a day beforehand. Watching this pass, we made our way carefully through waves of tourists round to the front of the Queen Victoria memorial, soaking in the view, before making our way back down the main path towards Trafalgar square. Now we were in familiar territory for me- heading over to Big Ben to check off another London landmark.
Photograph- Buckingham Palace, April 2022
Sunny South Bank
A brief cycle past Big Ben and the Parliament building, stopping in the gardens nearby for a snack. We were genuinely amazed by the size of the building, and the intricacy of its architecture. I'd visited before- even been inside of the building twice, but never actually taken time to consider how long it must have taken to build, how old it actually is.
Once I'd finished being a philosopher, we then decided to cross back over the Westminster bridge, finally saying goodbye to our trusty Santander bikes and docking them at Waterloo station. We headed down the South Bank and spent longer than we probably should have watching a man with a dancing skeleton puppet, before heading under the railway bridge and checking out the stalls set up. There was something authentically British about it- I'm not a very patriotic person but I have to admit I found it pretty cool. Another highlight was the skate park- which, Zac told me, was originally meant to be a car park, now used for a much more entertaining purpose. Make sure to spend some time checking this out if you find yourself on the South Bank; its not difficult to miss!
By this point I was starving, so we grabbed some chips at a food truck (£2.50, and to be honest I've had better, but that's London) and took a detour into the somewhat hidden Gabriel's wharf to have a seat. It gave the atmosphere of a pub garden on a somewhat busy summer day- a pleasant contrast to the bustle of the main street. It was then we became aware of what lay ahead of us- navigating the underground whilst part of the Northern Line was closed to make our way to Camden.
Photograph- Me at Victoria Tower Gardens, April 2022
Bustle of the Underground
The London Underground can be a daunting thing if you've never used it before; hundreds of stops, fast trains, not to mention the sheer mass of people and the fact that it's bloody roasting down there. My key tips: make sure you know what station you want to get to and the lines you need to take before you get down there (you can check this on Google!); don't rush for a train, another one will arrive in less than 5 minutes; and if you are with a group and get separated, make sure you organise before that the people on the train will get off at the next stop and wait for you.
But back to my journey- Camden, our next destination was only accessible via the Northern line, but our route there was blocked by repair works. We instead found ourselves taking the circle line to Euston Square, and then walking the 15 minutes into the Camden. Luckily, this only cost us time, thanks to our All-Day Rail Pass. Of course this would have taken ages by foot (and you would have needed to take out a mortgage to travel by cab), so even in these annoying circumstances the pros still outweighed the cons.
Camden- the Art Capital of the Capital
Finally, we get to what was-for me- the highlight of this completely unplanned trip. I did have the idea to make it to Camden- the market is globally known, yet in the many times I'd visited London I'd never been anywhere near. I was a little unnerved on the walk up, not knowing quite what to expect- but as soon as we made it onto the main street, seeing the bold graffiti art, hearing the band playing in the street, the bustles of an array of people wearing every colour under the sun, I immediately understood why I'd been hearing so much good stuff about it. We headed into a Vans store, realised that we couldn't afford anything and walked straight back out (Zac would rather spend his monthly wages on a new leather jacket [worth it]). Had a browse in some of the weird side alley shops, some futuristic neon robot store blasting EDM music, and just took it all in. I hope this is the feeling I get whenever I go on any future travels- genuine happiness, a sense of freedom that you don't find in your day-to-day life very often. However, at this point we were absolutely starving again and Zac knew of a Nandos down the road so Butterfly Chicken and unlimited refill Fanta it was for me. I did get heckled by my mates afterwards for claiming to be a travel blogger yet going for a Nandos as if I was just in the town at home, but you just can't turn down a cheeky Nandos. This is another point where I would like to point out- not the place to eat if you're on a budget; you can find decent enough street food in a lot of places around London if you really want to preserve your funds, but this was just convenient for us at the time. Another massive key note- if you eat in a restaurant, make sure to use the toilet when you can, so you don't end up like me on the verge of death having to wait til the train ride home.
That being said, our day was coming to an end as we grabbed the train to Oxford street, did some brief window shopping, then took the tube back into Paddington and made our way home.
Photograph- Camden Market, April 2022
Summary of Costs
Like I said, this was a pretty cheap trip all things considered for me;
£31- All Day Rail Pass (inc. Zones 1-6 as well as inbound and outbound journey)
£2- Santander bike rental (24hrs)
£2.50- Chips from food van
£16.25- Nandos dinner
TOTAL SPEND- £51.75, including food and transport, though you could do this much cheaper!
Hopefully this serves as a reminder that you don't have to fork out loads to enjoy a great London- or anywhere for that matter- experience. It costs nothing to window shop, or to walk around the city spotting the landmarks. Great sights are free; the people you meet and the friends you bring with you will only make your experience richer; and the memories you leave with will never fail to put a smile on your face.
As always, Cheers for the read,
EV.
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