London regularly comes up in all the rankings of the most expensive cities in the world. More than ever accessible from Paris, thanks in particular to low-cost airlines, the British capital is, it is true, rather expensive. Especially when you don’t know the tricks to avoid getting robbed every time you want to do something…
1. The hotel
Table of Contents
Anyone who has ever tried to find cheap accommodation in London knows that it is almost mission impossible. The smallest room, as small as it is and even if you have to go out on the landing to find the toilet and the shower, costs an arm and a leg.
2. The metro
It’s already not super cheap in Paris, but in London it’s worse! Especially when you want to have access to all areas (even it is perfectly useless to take an all-area ticket when you want to stick to the city center). It is therefore necessary to count 5.55€ for a classic ticket, valid for zones 1 and 2. The good plan is to take an Oyster Travelcard, which is valid not only for the metro, but also for the bus and the train. You have to pay around €11.5 for a card valid for one day.
3. Food
You can certainly fall back on the eternal fast food but when you want to eat like a real Londoner with full pockets, you have to expect to pay a lot. In 2017, Business Insider ranked the English capital 11th in the ranking of the most expensive cities in terms of restaurants. The good plan? Restock in supermarkets like Mark & Spencer.
4. Concerts
It is more and more expensive to go see the great artists on stage. And if it’s far from cheap in France, in England, it’s downright rubbish. For example, there are tickets to see U2 at the O2 at over €560. More economical: go around the pubs, where excellent artists play for free. Beer is cheaper too!
5. Clothes
Being on top of fashion in London can quickly trigger an uncontrollable flight of capital! Fortunately, here too, there are solutions. Stores like Primark or even better, markets like Portobello, where you can find excellent bargains.
6. Certain attractions and monuments
You can always be tricky and opt for the London Pass or something like that, because otherwise some attractions are really expensive. The London Eye for example, the Ferris wheel on the banks of the Thames. On the other hand, London is also full of free sites. Museums, such as the prestigious Tate Modern and British Museum for example.
7. Taxi
Rather cheap in the United States, the taxi is on the other hand much less advantageous in London where many people choose VTC. We can possibly fall back on the Barclays Cycle Hire, the equivalent of Vélib’.
8. Nightclubs
But there again, it’s magic, there is a solution! All you have to do is get the London Nightlife pass, which opens the doors to several London clubs for an unbeatable price. It was nothing !
9. Become an owner
Imagine that after a stay in London, you want to buy a shack or an apartment there. Well, let’s just say it right away, it’s going to cost you a lot. The London property market is one of the most expensive in the world. The smallest seedy studio costs a blind and bargains are extremely rare. The average price per square meter? €14,737! And it was worse a few months ago!
10. Airport Shuttles
We are exaggerating a bit because the prices to reach London from Gatwick or Stansted airports are not outrageous either. The thing is that given the spectacular drop in plane tickets, it is no longer strange today to have to pay more for a ticket for a shuttle than for a plane ticket.