How much will a trip to London cost?

Even though London is a hub of entertainment and a city that many people travel all across the world to visit, it comes along with the reputation of being one of the most expensive cities in the world. As I live in London, I know first hand how expensive certain aspects can be but there is ways to avoid this and this blog post is dedicated to outlining how much money it would cost per day to visit London. The factors included will be: accommodation, transport (including transport to and from the airport), food and drink as well as tours and attractions. 

Accommodation
There are hundreds upon hundreds of different forms of accommodations in the city of London. There are a range of different hostels, apartments, hotels, B&B's and homes that can be rented out for your stay. In London a rule of thumb would be that the closer you are to Central London the higher the cost of your stay will be, if you stay around areas near London Bridge, Waterloo and even Westminster you will begin to see the star rating of these hotels go up as well as the prices. One of the most famous hotels in London is the Shangri-La At The Shard, with prices starting at just over £400. However, there are a lot of cheaper options in London with brands such as Premier Inn and Travelodge offering a basic hotel room with basic amenities with a low price tag. If you just want a room with a bed to sleep in, a shower and bathroom area to use then this would be your best bet. After a whole day of walking around, shopping and then seeing the attractions London has to offer this would be your best bet as you'll be too tired at the end of the day to make a fuss about the amenities of the hotel. If you're staying in London for an extended period of time then an Airbnb would be perfect - a room or an entire flat/house to yourself would be the way to make yourself at home and save money on going out for meals. The same applies to B&B's in London, you're given a room and breakfast - all you need to get you ready for the day ahead of you!

If you're unsure on what form of accommodation you would like to stay in during your visit to London, I made a blog post regarding the advantages and disadvantageous of each accommodation type. More information can be found by clicking here! 

Prices:

• Hostel - £30 
• Apartment/Home (Airbnb) -  £30-100 
• Standard Hotel Room - £35 
• Luxury Hotel Room - £150-500
• B&B's - £50-100

Total: £50 (Average)

Transport:
Transport is one area that I've gone into extensive detail about: whether it's buying an Oyster card or travelling to and from the airport into Central London as well as the different forms of transport around London. The cost of transport depends on whether you're determined to save money by walking throughout London during the day or whether you're the person that would prefer to get private taxis everywhere. Mostly tourists use a combination of buses and Tubes on the London Underground to get around London as they're the modes of transport that cover nearly every place in London, especially the tourist attractions and landmarks. I would roughly estimate that a tourist visiting London would spend around £15 if you stick to using public transport but can go up to £50-100 if you're using private modes of transport such as taxis. Another use for public transport would be getting to and from the airport, which can cost as little as £3.10 for a single journey, which I made a whole blog post dedicated to as it was highly requested. 

Links to other blogs regarding transport around London and the use of an Oyster card can be found here: 

• Travelling from Gatwick and Heathrow Airport into Central London
• Using an Oyster Card
• Travelling Around London
• Tips for Using the London Underground

Total: £15 (+£5 if you need to purchase an Oyster card)

Food & Drink
London has over 80,000 restaurants within London, all with their different cuisines and price ranges. If you want an expensive and rather fancy meal then this may set you back around £80+ per person for a three course meal and a drink. In my opinion as much as these restaurants pride themselves on their star rating as well as their high quality service, there are much cheaper places to eat in London that would be able to fit everyone's budgets. I would suggest at least trying a full English breakfast while you're there as well as the fish and chips - they're the best! There are a range of different options to buying food and drink while in London, some people prefer to buy food from supermarkets whereas others prefer going out for all three meals during the day. I've listed both of these options to give you guidance in terms of price: 

• Breakfast - It may be included in your accommodation - whether it's a continental or cooked breakfast, I'd eat as much as I could to fill myself up for the rest of the day. If you prefer to buy supplies for your breakfast this will barely break the bank. Anything from supermarkets such as Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's or Wairose would barely cost over £5 for all the supplies for an English breakfast or a quick bite to eat. If you prefer to go out for breakfast then there are cheaper places to eat such as Wetherspoons with options ranging from £3 to £8. The general price of a full English breakfast with a cup of tea or coffee will set you back around £8-10 depending on the restaurant you've decided to eat in as well as if it's located next to a tourist attraction. 
• Lunch - Some people prefer to get a quick bite to eat for lunch, once against supermarkets would be your best bet with meal deals starting from £3 which include a sandwich, drink and a bag of crisps. If you have an apartment then you may be able to make your own sandwiches and bring your own drinks with you to save even more money. If you prefer to go out and have lunch this may set you back around £10-20 once again depending on where you visit and the location of it. Throughout the day there are deals such as unlimited pizza from places such as Pizza Hut for as little as £8.99 - this is one of the best places to eat for a quick bite to eat as well as making sure you've had enough to eat. 
• Dinner - Mostly everyone I know loves to go out for dinner while in London, the reason being would is the wonderful scenery along the river and to be able to go back to their accommodation and chill out for the rest of the night. There are many restaurants in London with different set menus and cuisines, there is a big difference in price as well as being dependant on the food you're ordering. If you're in London take advantage of the ethnically diverse food in London and support the local businesses rather than supporting chain restaurants if you can. You can even order a takeaway to your accommodation, if the rules in the place you're staying in allow you to do this, which I've done before. I ordered Dominos to my room and for £20 I got one large pizza, a bottle of drink and two sides and a dessert if I remember correctly. Dinner would roughly cost £20-50 depending on the amount of courses you get and where you eat. 
• Snacks - Buying snacks from a supermarket will always be your cheapest option as newsagents and stalls in Central London will charge you extortionate prices. You can buy bottles of water for as little as 40p in some supermarkets and if you want a bag of crisps or even something from the bakery - these can cost as little as 50p.  
• Drinks - London is one of the most expensive places to buy an alcoholic drink in London. I live in Zone 2 and I currently pay £4.20 for a vodka and coke. Once again if you want to drink in London then take advantage of happy hour specials and even buy your own drink from a supermarket. A glass of wine can cost around £4/5 in some restaurants which is the same price as some bottles in supermarkets. If you're visiting London in the summer then it would be a perfect way to spend a day in a park by bringing a picnic as well as the drink of your choice. This won't break the bank and gives you a chance to relax in the heart of a city that's constantly moving.  

Total: £40-£50 (Average)

Tours & Attractions:
There are a range of major landmarks and attractions around London that everyone wants to visit such as The London Eye and The Shard. These attractions can become very expensive depending on the time of year you're visiting as well as if you have prebooked your tickets or not. I cannot put an accurate price on how much a tourist would spend per day on tours and attractions since some walking tours are pay as you feel as well as some attractions having no admission fee. For example, the Tate is completely free to visit as well as tours such as Strawberry Tours means you can see the sights of London with added information for a price that you can decide that fits your budget. Regardless, not all sights are free and most require a fee to enter such as The London Eye, The Tower of London and London Zoo. These can create quite a massive dent in your budget but on a previous blog post I went in detail regarding The London Pass and whether it was worth it. You pay a specific price for the amount of time you want the pass for and it allows you free admission into certain attractions. More information can be found here!

If you chose to buy souvenirs for friends and family I would not recommend doing this on Bond Street or Oxford Circus since these shops have very high prices as they know tourists will pay them. If you want to get a souvenir then I would recommend either buying some from the attraction you've seen or buying them from smaller souvenir shops around Westminster and surrounding areas. If you also want to do some shopping while you're in London then Oxford Circus and Westfield would be the best chance of finding something you'd like. Within these places there are a range of different places to eat as well as shops, the most popular being Primark at Bond Street and the three floor Lush Store located just next to Oxford Circus. If you want to travel further down onto New Bond Street and Mayfair then be warned that the price tags will make you read it twice - it's very expensive. 

Total: £50-200 (Average)
This price is also dependant on whether you've prebooked attractions and tours as well as if you decide you want to go shopping while on your trip to London. 

Overview

• ​Accommodation: £50
• Transport: £15 
• Food: £40
• Attractions and Tours: £50

Total: £155 per day
You could certainly spend a lot less than this when planning to visit London, if you decide to go for a cheaper hotel and to walk to certain attractions rather than using public transport. On the other hand you could spend a lot more if you have the budget and want to have a luxurious stay while in London with a luxury hotel and visit high class restaurants.