LONDON ON THE CHEAP - Travel Guide

LONDON:

If you go to London, you must realize it is one of the most expensive cities in the world.  Yet it is still possible to experience the city without breaking your budget.

Here is a list of low cost things to do in London:

 Get a Free Map. The official tourist office charges for maps but if you grab the pamphlets for the walking or bus tours, they contain maps. Also, the Museum of London gives away a map for free if you ask. Some Travel Guide maps can sometimes be hard to read and these others maps give you a good idea as to where the location of all the sites and underground stops are without having squint at a book.

Visit Museums. Most of the museums in London are free- the Museum of London, the British History Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum are all free. Get your fill of British history without spending a pence!

Vist an Art Gallery. The National Gallery and the Tate Modern are also free.

Buy an Oyster Card. This may not be free but for 28 pounds, you get unlimited usage of the bus and trains. I’m not sure why they call it an Oyster card. It’s not shaped like one.

People Watch. Sunday is market day in London. There’s the Camden Market, the Portobello Market, the Flower Market, and a million more markets. People watch, get great photos, and enjoy local London life without spending a dime.

Watch Iconic Symbols. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace at 11:30 a.m. as well as the horse guards at Whitehall at 11:00 a.m. are both free and interesting to watch.

Free Internet. Looking for your online fix? The city libraries offer free internet. There are five library locations around the city. You get a free half hour but if it’s not busy you can stay on until you are finished.

Walk Around. London is a huge city and there are beautiful historic buildings all around. In fact, London beat me. I found this city to be totally un-walkable. I walked for four hours and barely made a dent on the route I was going to take (hence the need to get the Oyster Card.) I’ve walked countless other European cities and never had this problem but there is simply too much to see here. However, once you walk and get out of the tourist area around the Thames, you’ll get to see London the way the locals do.

Lounge in the Parks. Spending a day in the park is free wherever you go. London has some great parks and when the sun comes out (which hasn’t been too often), Londoners flock outside. Join them for some fun in the sun.

See Westminster Abbey. You can get into Westminster for free. You have to cheat slightly though. Westminster will not charge you entrance if you’re there for worship. (Maybe worshiping its beauty?) If you want to get in and not pay, say you are worshiping. I didn’t do it but I’m just putting it out there that you can do it.

Get Cheap Theater Tickets- The theater in London is one of the best in the world. However, it’s also bloody expensive. A night at the theater can blow any traveler’s budget. However, there are plenty of ways to find discount tickets.

Get a river taxi pass and hop on hop off sightsee from the riverside stops. Much more interesting than the godawful tube. Go for a drink in Chelsea then hit the west end.

Time: Extended-stay passes will bring down your daily rate.  And because you are not in a rush to see everything in a day, you now have time to shop for other deals on food and souvenirs.  Plus relax and skip the stress of rushing.

London maybe expensive but it is very possible to fill your days with free activities. If you do want to go in to see the sights you will have to pay, sometimes as much as £25!!! So try out the above activities and save some money.

Using a Credit Card in London?

LONDON - TRAVEL TIPS - USING A CREDIT CARD

(1) Beware of foreign transaction fees
You almost always are going to be charged a foreign transaction fee when using your cards in the UK (or any other country too, for that matter). This fee varies by issuer, but most banks charge a 3% fee. So if you spent the equivalent of $1,000 USD while in London, there would be an extra charge of $30 (3%) on your credit card statement. When you consider that credit cards are much safer than cash, for many the 3% fee is worth it. But there are ways to pay a lower fee… or none at all! How? Well, Discover cards charge a 2% fee so that’s a bit cheaper (but acceptance will be limited). Then there’s one credit card company that charges no foreign transaction fee at all – Capital One. To be honest, I hate them, but they are the only issuer that doesn’t charge this fee. So if you travel to the UK a lot, you may want to consider a Capital One card solely for that purpose.

(2) Credit card acceptance is different
In the US, the major credit card companies are Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. However if you whip out your Discover card in the UK, the cashier may not know what it is! But that should be changing soon; Discover acquired Diners Club a couple years ago and starting this year, you will be able to use your Discover card at UK merchants that accept Diners Club (but that’s not widely accepted). The acceptance of American Express in the UK has grown quite a bit over the past decade, but it’s far from being universally accepted. Therefore you should definitely plan on bringing a Visa/MasterCard. In fact, bring a couple in case something happens to one.

(3) Notify your credit card company before your trip
If you haven’t left Ohio for five years and the next day you’re in Glasgow making a purchase, don’t be surprised if your transaction is declined. Why? Because it’s not normal for your spending pattern, so your bank will flag it as possible fraud. This can be a real headache if you’re trying to check into a hotel, pay for a taxi, etc. and your card isn’t working. So what you will want to do is call up your credit card company a couple days before traveling to let them know where you’re going. That way they will be expecting these overseas charges and will be much less likely to flag them as fraud.

(4) No “smart chips” can sometimes be a problem
Pretty much everywhere in the world (other than the United States) uses what are known as “smart chips” on their credit cards. These add an extra security measure; a four digit pin is encoded and it must be entered when the card is used (similar to an ATM card here in the states).  The UK is a very tourist-friendly country so most places – like hotels and restaurants – should still be able to process your US credit card (which only has a magnetic strip). However there are some places where you may not be able to use them, particularly anywhere that has self-service payments (automated kiosks). For example, vending machines at regional rail stations, parking meters in parts of London, etc. For now there’s no easy solution for this problem. If an attendant is available they should be able to run your card manually. U.S. banks have tossed around the idea of issuing smart chip credit cards for cardholders that travel internationally, but so far that has not happened yet.

(5) Merchants may set minimum purchase amounts
In the United States, technically a merchant is not allowed to set a minimum purchase amount. For that reason, I use my travel rewards credit card even if I’m buying a candy bar, simply because I love earning my miles! However that won’t fly in the UK – merchants often set minimum transaction amounts if you’re going to pay with a card (like 20 euros, for example). So if you’re accustomed to using your card for tiny transactions, that might not always be possible.