London for a Fiver Archives

October 1, 2023October 3, 2023

Budget London Red Bus Tour using Public Transport

Looking for a London Red Bus Tour and don’t want to pay through the nose for an overpriced tour? Have you thought of seeing London on a public bus?

A one day bus pass for an adult costs £5.25 and you can hop on and hop off all day long. Some bus routes are better than others for touring London. I recommend numbers 9, 11 and 75.

Let’s start our series of budget London red bus tours with the number 9 route which passes iconic London sights like Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, Harrods, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden.

Photo credit: It’s No Game

Itinerary for the Number 9 London Red Bus Tour

The number 9 bus route can be seen on the Transport for London website. We are going to concentrate on the section from Kensington Palace to Covent Garden

Buses in central London leave every few minutes so there’s no need to get hung up on bus arrival and departure times.

You can get off the bus whenever you want and then simply go back to the same bus stop when you are ready to resume your journey.

The best seats for this London Red Bus Tour are the top of the double decker at the front…otherwise choose a window seat with uninterrupted views.

1. Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace

Obviously, you’d be mad to miss Kensington Palace . It was the birthplace of Queen Victoria and continues to be home to Royalty including Prince William and Princess Catherine. When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were courting they had a cottage in the grounds.

The state rooms are open to the general public. Kensington Palace’s forte lies in its display of court jewellery and costumes. There are beautiful clothing displays including Princess Diana’s much photographed dresses.

The controversial Princess Diana sculpture is the Sunken Garden which you can visit free of charge. You decide…does it do her justice?

The scones and cream in the cafe are particularly good and there is a nice outside courtyard area in which to enjoy them.

Kensington Palace: The King's Staircase — Kensington Palace: The King’s Staircase

Now its time to begin your budget London red bus tour adventure…board the Number 9 bus at Kensington Palace.

2. The Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall

Our London Red Bus Tour goes past the Royal Albert Hall which is a famous concert space known for the annual classical music festival the Proms.

The Prince Albert Memorial

The Royal Albert Memorial. Photo by Karen Roe

Facing the Royal Albert Hall, is the Prince Albert Memorial which Queen Victoria commissioned in memory of her husband Prince Albert with whom she had nine children. It’s our equivalent of the Taj Mahal; a tribute to enduring love.

The Royal Music College

Behind the Royal Albert Hall you will find the Royal Music College with its exciting programme of low cost music recitals. You can find out about their current programme here.

3. Knightsbridge Station

Harrods

Our third stop is Knightsbridge where you will find the ultra exclusive Harrods department store. Nestled inside is a shopping arcade of high-end brands, luxury designer handbags and a jaw dropping food hall.

Harrods food hall is just the place to pick up a sandwich, sausage roll, pork pie, quiche or any other portable delight to enjoy on your London red bus tour.

Harvey Nichols

Equally luxurious is the nearby Harvey Nichols department store with its focus on fashion and premium makeup.

Return to the bus stop to continue your budget London red bus tour as we are now going to chill out in London’s best known park.

4. Hyde Park Corner Station

Hyde Park

Hyde Park is the largest London Royal park. It has two outdoor cafes overlooking a man-made lake and is dotted with hire by the hour deckchairs.

The more energetic may enjoy a boating trip or an outdoor swim.

Hyde Park is just the place to decompress. Take a stroll through the Rose Garden or have an ice cream in the Italianate garden.

The Rose Garden at Hyde Park Corner. Photo by Kotomi Creations

Relaxing in Hyde Park. Photo by Duncan Cumming

Get back on the bus as our next stop will involve art, more royal palaces and afternoon teas.

5. Green Park

Park Lane

The bus crosses the end of Park Lane, home to luxury 5 star hotels including the Dorchester, the Four Seasons and the London Hilton. Which has the most luxurious foyer? You decide.

The Wellington Arch and Green Park

On the right, you will see the Wellington Arch, Green Park and the walls of Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace

You can get off the bus here for Buckingham Palace which is a 10 minute walk through Green Park.

The Ritz

Look out for the world famous Ritz Hotel which has hosted celebrities and royalty for decades. Afternoon Tea is a spectacular affair but it will be necessary to book well in advance and adhere to their strict dress code.

We have a useful blog post on how to have a day out at Buckingham Palace and the Ritz. We include exploring the St James’s area.

The Wolseley

You are now on my favourite street, Piccadilly. It has the Wolseley with its beautiful monochrome interior and one of the best afternoon teas in London (a bargain compared with the adjacent Ritz).

It is almost worth visiting the Wolseley just to eat their banana split.

The Royal Academy

On the left you will see the Royal Academy which is home to the celebrated Summer Exhibition. Any artist can submit a piece of work for consideration…you will see the most bizarre ideas.

We reviewed Loneliness of the Soul by the controversial Royal Academician, Tracy Emin. This will give you a taste of what to expect.

The Royal Academy has free galleries and loos…the outdoor cafe with its tables and umbrellas is a nice place to sip cappuccino away from the bustle of Piccadilly.

The Burlington Arcade

Next door to the Royal Academy is the Burlington Arcade an indoor shopping street with luxury brands and a distinctive period feel.

Fortnum & Mason

Opposite the Royal Academy is Fortnum & Mason, the Queen’s Grocer. Pay a visit to see its beautiful food displays. Tourists beat a path here for its legendary loose tea and quality preserves.

No need to buy groceries, some say that afternoon tea at Fortnum’s is the best in London.

Fortnum & Mason with its fabulous window displays and artistically arranged food.

You may enjoy our post on Where to buy tea in London and you can get an idea of what they sell from our post on a Fortnum and Mason Hamper for for a Londoner.

Hatchards

If you walk up Piccadilly, past Fortnums, you will see the Royal book seller Hatchards. It has an old fashioned, very British style and service making it a fascinating place to browse.

There are a couple of notable book sellers in Piccadilly including Waterstone’s which is the biggest book store in Europe with 8 miles of books.

St James’s Palace

Behind Fortnums and Hatchards you will find Jermyn Street with its small artisan shops selling everything from cheese to toiletries, men’s clothing and chocolates.

From here you can walk to St James’s Palace and Clarence House, the London Residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

5. Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is London’s equivalent of New York’s Times Square.

If I am honest, it’s not my thing not least because it is crowded with young people enjoying raucous street entertainment.

Visit to take souvenir photos of the Eros Statue, Piccadilly Circus and the LED advertising which is especially spectacular at dusk.

If you are one of the gilded youth, you maybe able to pick up the man or woman of your dreams by sitting on the steps of the Eros Statue.

The Criterion Theatre and the Criterion Restaurant

The charming Criterion Theatre with its distinctive 20’s vibe faces the Eros statue.

Next door, you’ll find the preserved gold mosaic interior of the former Criterion Restaurant . Lately, it has gone downmarket and is now a chain Indian restaurant. Not all progress is improvement.

Brasserie Zedel

If you are hungry, I can recommend a hidden gem. Brasserie Zedel with its well priced set menus is a basement restaurant on the Regent’s Street Side of Piccadilly Circus. It looks like a small cafe above ground and nothing alerts you to its gleaming Gallic interior and crystal chandelier.

The plush French brasserie styled interior of Brasserie Zedel

We have produced a detailed review of the Brasserie Zedel set menus.

At Brasserie Zedel you will also find the Art Deco American Bar which serves classic cocktails and the vibrant red and black Crazy Coqs night club.

The Crazy Coqs night club at Brasserie Zedel

Regent’s Street

Regent’s Street is less crowded than Oxford Circus with more style and class. It contains many mid priced stores like Zara and H&M alongside luxury brands.

At the top of Regent’s Street, you will find Liberty with its Revival Tudor frontage constructed from the timbers of three ancient battle ships.

Now return to Piccadilly Circus and get comfy on the bus as we are heading to a famous sight…one that screams London.

6. Trafagar Square

Trafalgar Square

This historic square was designed by John Nash to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar. It is now a popular meeting point and site for political demonstrations. Look out for the fourth plinth which is a showcase contemporary art.

The National Gallery

At the north end of the square you will see the National Gallery with its free public exhibitions containing the works of almost every painter of any note from Rembrandt to the Impressionists.

The National Portrait Gallery

Around the corner from the National Gallery is the newly refurbished National Portrait Gallery. This used to be a dusty mausoleum of an art gallery until they hired Sir Roy Strong as its flamboyant and creative director. He breathed a new life into its exhibitions and you will see all sorts of work that push the boundaries of what’s possible in portrait painting.

The London Coliseum

Opposite the National Portrait Gallery in Saint Martin’s Lane, you will find the London Coliseum which is home to the English National Opera.

The ENO is famed for its inclusivity with seats starting at £10. There are some fantastic offers for new opera goers, school children and the under 35s.

All of its operas are sung in English. Note the the opera season here is from Autumn to Spring.

7. Southampton Street/Covent Garden

Covent Garden Market

Now you are probably on your knees with exhaustion, so I would recommend making Covent Garden your final stop. This used to be a fruit and vegetable market but now it has a lively street market selling art, crafts and London souvenirs.

Covent Garden Street Performers

A Covent Garden Street Performer on her lunch break.

Covent Garden is just the place for a coffee, drink or ice cream while watching street performers. Last time I was in Covent Garden I stumbled upon the ice cream bar Milk Train. Their sundaes looked amazing. There were queues round the block so clearly they tasted amazing too.

Covent Garden Restaurants

Notable restaurants here are the historic Rules which specialises in British cuisine like pies and puddings and Balthazar – a stylish French restaurant.

Regular opera goers also recommend Le Garrick and Frenchie for their reasonably priced pre opera menus.

The Royal Opera House

A grand finale for your could be a trip to the opera. You can have the experience of a lifetime by visiting the Royal Opera House where you will hear world class performers singing opera in glorious burgundy velvet surroundings.

Concluding our London Red Bus Tour

Don’t you think that it is amazing what you can see for the cost of a £5.25 one day bus pass? If you take this tour as a single journey without leaving the bus it will cost £1.75. You can pay by Oystercard or credit card. If you have travelled in by tube, your budget London red bus tour will be part of your capped daily spend, therefore it may cost you no extra.

September 4, 2023September 15, 2023

The Museum of London Docklands – A Gory and Gloomy Past

The Museum of London Docklands in Canary Wharf takes us on a gory and gloomy voyage through hard manual labour, executions and slavery of this major London port. Housed in the Grade II listed No 1 warehouse of the West India Docks the museum shows life on the docks at the pinnacle of their importance.

Time to Visit the Museum of London Docklands

I have very fond recollections of the London Museum, Barbican with its ornate Art Deco Selfridge’s lift doors, the charming video of waitresses serving afternoon tea at a Lyons Corner House and the exhibits of various cabs and carriages that plied their trade in London’s West End. Sadly, the London Museum, Barbican is temporarily closed as it plans its relocation to a more central location in 2026.

I decided it was now time to head East to explore the Museum of London Docklands. Would it be up to snuff?

Our Journey of Gloom and Despair Begins in the Dockland’s Warehouse

The route through the museum galleries starts on the third floor. As the lift doors ping, we glimpse a darkened gallery of ropes, weighing scales, pulleys and trolleys operated by overworked dockers.

Trolleys and pulleys used by the London dockers

Dock Inspectors and Managers Ensured that All Goods Were Measured, Sampled, Weighed and Inspected. — Dock Inspectors and Managers Ensured that all Goods Were Measured, Sampled, Weighed and Inspected.

And on to more doom of fires, prostitutes, ram-shackled, housing and irate dock managers.

The Museum of London’s Executions Exhibits

Can we come up for air yet?

Nope!

Our dear curators have decided that we need a full immersion experience of executions and hangings with a liberal spattering of torture instruments.

You couldn’t make this up.

Children these days are monsters and I am sure they are thrilled to see these horrors. I saw no signs of modern parents shielding their little darlings’ eyes.

Sailor’s Town With Its Lodging Houses, Dock Offices and Shops

There was a temporary respite with a stunning alleyway of Victorian era shops, boarding houses and offices. Pure Disney.

If you are enjoying this blog post on the Museum of London Docklands you may also like to read our reviews of the Charles Dickens Museum and the Churchill War Rooms.

The Museum of London Docklands Stomach Churning Slavery Exhibition

Shocking images of tortured slaves — Shocking Images of Tortured Slaves

Onwards and downwards…to the stomach-churning London, Sugar & Slavery exhibition replete with whips, images of tortured semi naked women hanging from trees and metal restraints used to prevent slaves escaping.

Modern Art as a Response to the London Museum Docklands Slavery Permanent Exhibition

If the purpose of museums is to elicit an emotional reaction this was highly successful. I was holding back the tears.

A Talk on the Victorian Wine Trade is a Merciful Respite

Thankfully, I was rescued by an announcement of an imminent talk on the Victorian wine trade. A talk! They should provide wine dispensers at regular intervals through their gory exhibits.

A Coopers' Workshop with Wine Barrel Repair Instruments — A Coopers’ Workshop with Wine Barrel Repair Instruments

A Bottling Station Where the Wine is Corked and Labelled

Our lecture on bottling, corking and labelling wines…historical taxation and wine consumption statistics all championed by one William Gladstone was riveting.

I thought of limping to the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese which was rebuilt in 1667 but alas too far, so I limped towards the Exit in search of nearer victuals.

A Beacon of Quality Souvenirs in the London Museum Docklands Shop

Suffragette Christmas Ornaments in the Museum of London Shop

The bright spot in the Museum of London Docklands…the part that makes your spirits soar and your heart sing is the museum shop near the Exit.

This is the very place for London souvenirs that are the pinnacle of good taste. There are purple and green stuffed Women Suffragettes to adorn your Christmas tree…

Quality, embroidered hoodies emblazoned with the London Underground logo and lined in a cotton fabric depicting the tube map.

Their book department on all matters London would have you browsing for hours.

My Bargain Book With Fabulous Photography

My find was a book on London at Night remaindered at £2 from a previous Museum of London Docklands exhibition. London during the blitz, the seedy side of London’s Soho and Londoners on the night bus kept me entertained on the tube journey home.

Recovering from the Museum of London Docklands at Browns

Browns West India Quay in the first dock warehouse has a lunch menu at £17.95 served until 5pm. Chain restaurants have a bad rap but I was very happy with my smoked duck starter accompanied by crisp croutons, fresh watercress with a delicate orange dressing.

Smoked Duck Starter at Browns near the Museum of London Docklands

The main course steak was a perfect medium rare and they were happy to switch out the chips for broccoli.

Steak and Broccoli (instead of chips) from the Lunch Menu of Browns near the Museum of London Docklands — Steak and Broccoli (instead of chips) from the lunch menu of Browns near the Museum of London Docklands

Friendly and unobtrusive service made it the perfect place to recover from a trip to the Museum of London Docklands.

Pass the smelling salts.

Getting to the Museum of London Docklands

The museum is a short walk from the exit of the Canary Wharf Elizabeth line. Follow the signs for the London Museum. As you leave the tube you will see a row of dock warehouses and the museum is in the last building.

You can also take the DLR to West India Quay,

Buses D3, D7, D8, 277, D6 15, 115, 135 stop near the museum.

Museum of London Docklands Tickets

You are encouraged to make a voluntary contribution but entry to the museum is free. There is no need to prebook your ticket.

The museum charges for entry to some of its temporary exhibitions. More information is available on its website.

Museum of London Docklands Opening Times

The museum is open from Monday to Sunday 10am to 5pm.

Museum of London Docklands Parking

There is a public car park behind the Museum of London Docklands on Hertsmere Road.

August 30, 2023September 17, 2023

Marylebone on a Budget – Shopping and Sight Seeing Paradise

Marylebone on a budget? It can be done! Explore this little known area sandwiched between Marble Arch and Baker’s Street with a unique village atmosphere, many independent shops, a church that rivals some cathedrals and a sumptuously ornate, free museum. Here is a nuts and bolts guide on how you can have a fabulous day in Marylebone on the cheap.

Each month I show you how to plan a budget day out in an interesting part of London, I throw in some cheap eats, shopping and culture and help you do it for less than £15. If you are travelling on a shoestring budget read on…

Rules for the Marylebone on a Budget, London for £15 challenge

I don’t include tube travel …the over 60s with a London address have a Oyster 60+ card which gives them free travel on the London Underground and buses. Many working Londoners are using Oyster cards with capped daily spends and and most tourists have a prepaid Oyster card.

And I don’t include memberships. If you are a Londoner on a low budget, I advise you to stock up on every subscription and membership that you can lay your hands on…just make sure that they are for venues that you will actually go to several times in the course of the year.

Why Marylebone High Street?

Marylebone is probably the only place that I can think of in the centre of London that has a village feel with markets, charity shops, churches and museums. It has a great foodie vibe with a handful of artisan food shops with authentic produce…no E numbers or factory produce here. What appeals to me is the sheer variety of sights and activities all with the feel of London a hundred years ago.

Moxton Street – a Foodie Heaven off Marylebone High Street

Moxton Street is the epicentre of foodie heaven with some surprising budget finds. At the weekends there is a food market at the end of the road where locals buy their produce and they then stop off at La Fromagerie to recover from their exertions and catch up with friends. Bill Nighy is often spotted in the restaurant Aubaine opposite.

Ginger Pig

The Ginger Pig is renowned for offering a roast lunch which is costed by weight…pork, stuffing, gravy…roasted vegetables with minty, lemony seasonings and gravy. There are also pies worthy of any Charles Dickens novel…hot sausage rolls, Cornish pasties etc. You can easily pick up allow cost takeaway lunch here for £5-£8.

A good selection of high quality low priced cold meat pies

Great value sausage rolls. Choose the hot ones.

Roast pork with vegetables and salad priced by weight. Infinitely more delicious than the photograph.

La Fromagerie

And then head next door to La Fromagerie which prides itself on sourcing its ingredients directly from top artisanal producers in the UK and Europe.Their food is fresh and beautifully presented. At the rear of the shop are tables dedicated to people sampling cheese boards and wine and there is a cafe with a small kitchen menu that includes the very popular Portuguese Sardines on toasted sough dough with caper berries and Amalfi lemon at £11.50…but as we are on a shoestring budget, I recommend sticking with the picnic idea from the Ginger Pig. Or to hell with it…blow your budget on a Yorkshire Salt Beef Sandwich with homemade slaw at £12 and focus on free activities for the rest of the day!

Beautiful Food Displays at La Fromagerie.

Go for the Carrot Cake a bargain at £3.20

You can return to La Fromagerie for afternoon tea. They have home made cakes with deep buttery icing that they serve in gargantuan slices…enough for two people. Their cakes are are really good value at £3-£4 a slice, approximately.

If you are enjoying this post on shopping and sightseeing in Marylebone on a budget you may also like to read 20 Free Things to do in London (or Nearly Free) That You’ll Love.

Marylebone High Street

Pret

After that culinary overload you need to rest, so off to Pret. For frequent low budget adventurers I recommend the Pret Subscription as it allows you to have a free drink every 30 minutes, up to 5 times a day, for £30 a month and 10% off the food menu. Get a free barista coffee, or a cup of British Breakfast tea and leave the tea bag in to steep to get the full malty caffeine hit. I usually park myself on one of their outside tables and eat my picnic there. I know that this is frowned on but no one has said anything yet!

Charity Shops

The adjacent residential houses in Marylebone are all worth millions. They are where the super rich live. So it should come as no surprise that the charity shops on Marylebone High Street are choc full of discarded designer clothes, many unworn and still tagged from Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

Unlike the London suburbs. where you can pick up a piece of bargain second hand clothing for a couple of quid, these charity shop managers know how to price but you’d still be paying a fraction of the cost new.

Even if you don’t buy anything in the charity shops it is fun to look.

Found in a Marylebone charity shop. Is this a bargain? A £150 Pucci silk scarf.

Daunt Books

Welcome to Daunt Books which is probably the most photographed book store in London – an independent bookseller with an original Edwardian interior featuring a two storey gallery which contributes to its olde world charms.

This is the place where celebrities come to do their book signings, so be sure to check out their Events page. Boris Johnson was photographed here recently.

Daunt Books exterior on Marylebone High Street.

There is a huge selection of London books including this one on London for free.

St James’s Church a Marylebone Church with a Beautiful Gothic Interior

St James’s Church in Spanish Place is not on the tourist circuit but it has an interior that would rival that of many a famous European cathedral. It’s in an early Gothic style. There has been a church in this site for centuries and the current church opened in 1890. There are beautiful paintings, statues and brasses. The church does a lot of work for the homeless. There is a daily mass. The church is free to visit and is a must for your Marylebone on a budget day out – you can make a small donation in the boxes provided.

St James's church exterior in Marylebone with its flying buttress — St James’s church exterior in Marylebone with its flying buttress

Wallace Collection is Marylebone’s Glitzy Glamorous Free Museum

The Wallace Collection is the jewel of Marylebone – a gilded, glitzy, glamorous museum in Manchester Square. It is stuffed with objet d’art, hand carved furniture, armoury and marble statues. And best of all it is free to visit but a small donation is encouraged.

Visit Marylebone's free museum and see this amazing ornate fireplace offset by red flock wallpaper. — Visit Marylebone’s free museum and see this amazing ornate fireplace offset by red flock wallpaper.

The grand marble staircase with gilded balustrade and burgundy carpet.

Are you thinking of a day out away from London? We have a fabulous post on a day trip to Lewes (East Sussex) and its surrounding villages.

Wallace Collection Museum Shop

The Wallace Collection museum shop has things that you might actually want in your home which makes it a rare find in the world of souvenir type shops and it is not too pricy.

Stylish dressing gowns many with London maps or typography.

For those looking for a tasteful apron depicting a naked man.

Entry to exhibitions is currently £14 but you can buy annual membership for the Wallace Collection that would give you free entry to exhibitions for a year for £45 (single adult membership 2023). If you have a National Arts Club Fund membership you can gain admission at a 50% discount for £7. And of course, if you are on a tight budget and without the necessary memberships, there’s plenty to see in the free permanent galleries.

Harley Street and Selfridges

I ended my day with a walk down Harley Street gazing at the practitioners’ plaques and window boxes and did a bit of browsing in Selfridges.

Instead of heading south towards Oxford Street you could extend your day by going north towards Baker’s Street and visiting the free Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regents Park. We have a blog post entitled Queen Mary’s Rose Garden – A Sublime Floral Display.

Total Spend for my Marylebone on a Budget Day Out

My low cost day in Marylebone was only £3.20! I only spent money on the cake in La Fromagerie. I was gifted a few food samples as part of my blog research which kept me going.

If you had a picnic lunch from the Ginger Pig or one of the many cafes in Marylebone High Street, used your Pret subscription and focussed on free entry to the church and the Wallace Collection you could have a fab day out for well under £15.

There’s far more to see in Marylebone on a budget, so please subscribe so you don’t miss another London for £15 blog post in the area.

March 8, 2023September 17, 2023

London on the Cheap – How I Changed My Life.

London on the cheap? That is the question. Can you go out for a fiver for a full day of London food and entertainment? This is a story of my £5 a day experiment and how I had a fabulous time and restored my health and sanity. My life was a mess there was no denying it. Suffering from exhaustion and overwhelm, a chance reading of a blog changed me forever…

Events that Led up to Doing London on the Cheap

A London in the Cheap experiment wasn’t in my horoscope but here is how it came about.

My mother had been ill for some years and was now confined to a wheel chair. My father at 87, was a bit doddery but still a practising pharmacist. And I was working 80 hour weeks managing the e-learning output for a large organisation…and managing my investments and properties…think deadlines, mold, damp, repairs, neighbours, tenants. It wasn’t kittens and roses.

And just when it didn’t look as if it could get any more complicated, my father had a fall on a bus sustaining a bleed on the brain. So now I had two parents, both frail and bonkers, and a pharmacy to close down, plus everything else.

On the exact day of my father’s death, the phone rang…I had won a lucrative but complicated project in Sweden, the land where a glass of wine costs £15, the sun sets at 2pm in December and waiting for a bus causes icicles to drip from your nose.

My face was red and puffy from exhaustion. My eyes had shrunk further into my skull. My whole life was subcontracted to cleaners, gardeners, virtual assistants and doctors. And my sole entertainment comprised going to the local pub for lunch on Sunday.

And all of this came at a monetary cost too. I was earning a fortune and spending £21,000 a year on foreign travel, meals away from home and the plethora of other useless things that go with an executive consulting career.

A Blog Post on a £5 a Day Challenge Changed my Life

Late one night I was researching investments, when I fell upon a blog written by a business school professor. She described how she was was paying off £60k of debt by eliminating all unnecessary outgoings with the exception of gym membership and a meagre £150 a month for entertainment. This worked out at a fiver per day.

Her story preyed on my mind. Could this be the key to changing my life? Where would a fiver in London take me?

My plan on how to do London on the cheap took some working out. I would ignore any transport costs. I joined a luxury gym. And I wouldn’t take into consideration any of my existing memberships which were:

In turn this £5 a day challenge became the inspiration for me starting the Londonology bog as I explain in Hello World.

London on the Cheap, or for a Fiver, per Day

That left me with a fiver, or £5 a day, to go out..and as a cup of coffee in London was about £2.50, I was clearly not going to get very far.

But what if I stayed local to my home in West London on one day, used my memberships and took a picnic lunch? My expenses for those days would be zero. Then on alternate days, I would have £11 to spend. This was much more viable. The plan was born.

My “Free” Local Days

My local days didn’t involve much suffering despite all expenditure being (largely) forbidden.

Invariably, I would start my gallivanting, with a trip to the gym where I spurned any form of strenuous exercise and headed straight to a hot foaming jacuzzi alternating with the steam room, solarium, a brief swim and the sauna.

My gym and the jacuzzi where I whiled away my mornings

Sometimes I would swing by Waitrose for a free coffee (it’s shame that they stopped that source of profound pleasure).

Then I would drift between a walk in Kew Gardens…

Kew Gardens in West London is cheap if you have an annual membership

Or a free Tai Chi class overlooking a grand tree lined vista…

Or a trip to Richmond Park to see ancient trees and deer…

I discovered that the Odeon ran a scheme for the over 60s (Odeon Silver cinema) where I could have tea and biscuits and watch a movie for £2…so not zero expenditure but fairly close.

Ultra cheap Odeon Silver Cinema screenings

My “free days” were, in fact, quite a lot of fun!

My First London on the Cheap Adventure

On an overcast day in December 2013, I embarked on my first budget adventure with a well researched plan.

I started at the V&A, where I joined an organised museum tour of the little known Theatre and Performance Collection.

Among the costumes, set designs, advertising posters and oil paintings was the horse from the theatre production of Warhorse. Joey the puppet had starred in over 1,640 shows of the stage adaption of Michael Morpurgo’s book before he retired to the V&A in March 2013.

Slightly exhilarated with my no cost V&A success, I walked on icy pavements to the Serpentine Gallery. I was overawed by the cafe extension, built that year and designed by Zaha Hadid; a cloud like edifice of steel and glass where the undulating roof plummets to the ground at various points. I stopped for a pot of tea with a complimentary lavender shortbread biscuit.

The Zaha Hadid designed cafe at the Sackler Serpentine Gallery

There was an interesting, if not unnerving exhibition, of Klu Klux Klan figures and multilated art in their Contemporary Art Space (free and entertaining).

Walking back to South Kensington, I abandoned my plans for crepes when I saw the welcoming orange awnings of Comptoir Libanais.

I had a late lunch feasting on the Mezze Platter of hummus, baba ghanuj, quinoa, tabbouleh, falafel, labne, cheese samboussek, flat bread and pickles. And to drink, I had rose mint tea which arrived in a steaming Middle Eastern silver tea pot and was a refreshing blend of green tea, fresh mint, rose water and sugar.

I then hopped on a bus to Harrods to see the Christmas windows. It was the year that they were decked out like carriages on the Orient Express. Really, they were a 1920s marvel to behold.

I ended my First London on the Cheap mission with a walk round the Harrods Food Hall which was brimming with Christmas treats – bronze turkeys at £120 and all manner of pricy delicacies.

The total for my exhilarating day out had come to £11.34 including tea at the Serpentine cafe and my mezze lunch at Comptoir Libanais. The theatre tour at the V&A was complimentary, as was entry to the art exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. Bear in mind these are 2013 prices but this wouldn’t cost much more today.

My “London on the Cheap” plan was not only born but my plan worked!

Fine Tuning My Days Out

Over the coming months, I discovered a few things that helped me to refine my London on the Cheap plan.

The key was lunch for a fiver, a few coffee stops to rest and get a caffeine boost and a well researched plan of things to see and do.

Of course, anyone can get a sandwich on-the-go but I wanted something better and for £5 there’s a surprising range of tasty morsels.

I was bowled over by both Mr Sammy (such a charming man) and his Beigel Bake shop in Brick Lane where I was given the most enormous white doughy bread roll stuffed with huge amounts of salt beef, neon yellow, nose tingling mustard and gherkins for £4.25.

A Beigel Bake sandwich is delicious and perfect when you are doing London on the Cheap.

Then there was Five Guys, where somewhere at the bottom of the menu they advertised a small beef burger for £4.75 and when they asked me what toppings I wanted, I said “All of them!”. This was a gargantuan lunch time treat as they slapped on tomatoes, mayo, lettuce, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, jalapeño peppers, green peppers and ketchup.

And I loved the soup and crumble combination at Cafe in the Crypt under St Martins Church. Each day they brought out a vat of fresh home made soup, hot baked bread and an apple crumble with a jug of custard which was £5.95 (slightly more now).

These days my caffeine fix is taken care of with a £20 monthly subscription to Pret which includes smoothies, cappuccino, hot chocolate and a large range of barista drinks – useful for someone like me who is always on the go. You can have up to five drinks a day at 30 minute intervals.

It is worth noting that Pret does a black filter coffee for a £1 reduced by 25p (pre coronavirus) if you bring your own travel mug.

It's easier to do London on the Cheap if you use the Pret subscription which provides free hot and cold drinks. — It’s easier to do London on the Cheap if you use the Pret subscription which provides free hot and cold drinks.

The easy part was finding things to do. I discovered the key was to research the day before online, find vouchers and keep an eye open for membership based entertainment. I would try and contain my activities within a small area, or on a single tube line, and have some variety between them eg. an art gallery plus a performance or recital.

I still get excited when I find an interesting lunch deal for a fiver. Look at this one that I found yesterday at the famous Poppies which is arguably the best fish and chip shop in town. But honestly, if you are near a market, or street food stall, you can pick up amazing things in the £5-8 range.

By the way be sure to check out our blog post on free and cheap things to do in London as this is a great way to get started.

The key to doing London on the Cheap is to spend no more than £5 on lunch.

So Where is My “London on the Cheap” Plan Now?

Before my great budget project, the only people I really knew were old friends, neighbours and IT work colleagues.

Now my friendship circle is simply magical…amazing, creative people with interesting stories, who I have met on my London adventures. We hoot with laughter and are always booking things for each other and zooming into town.

As I was having such a good time, I would prefer to be out living it up, instead of chained to a desk and a computer, so I retired.

And I no longer look like the walking dead.

Do I still go out for a fiver? No, sadly not. I did it for years and it was the most fun ever but I decided to pay more to properly recompense the fantastic venues, bars and restaurants that are the backbone of my new life. And I like to be out with my friends without feeling financially constrained.

I think back to 2013, the blog that started it all and my chance decision to click on the author’s About page which was the catalyst for my London for a Fiver project. But even 7 years later, going out every day to fascinating places, all for the price of your average office worker’s lunch is definitely achievable.

Me, Today

Happy and relaxed with friends in our opera box at the London Coliseum.

Me following my London on the Cheap experiment in a box at the London Coliseum.

So I implore you dear reader, get off your sofa now and go out. You can go out for free! And you can definitely have the time of your life in London on the Cheap.

March 7, 2023September 17, 2023

Hello World – Welcome to Londonology

Hello World When I started this blog in the darkest part of the third lockdown, I didn’t know anything about blogging but I did know a fair bit about how to crawl round London, have a fabulous time and make my money stretch stratospherically. In fact, I had such a good time I retired! But now is the time to take this blogging malarkey up a level.

Defining My Audience

Who are you?
Where are you?
Why are you here?

I’m going to find out!

Me (maybe you are like me) I’m not in my first flush of youth, I struggle with tube staircases and I like to stop frequently for a gin and tonic but I don’t believe that this has any bearing on my ability to hang out in town with my mates and have fun.

People of our age are often wedged into small places where we think that joining a book club, going to church evensong or fraternising with our neighbours is the place to be. Of course, there’s no harm in that…whatever floats your boat but it doesn’t really appeal to me. For all my introversion and reticence, I like adventure…dark jazz dives, transvestite night clubs (sequins, lipstick), swish hotel bars and sumptuous opera performances (and please invite me to the after party).

I say to myself, as I struggle out to the house wearing something inappropriate, that nothing was ever achieved sitting on the sofa.

So I would love to know who you are and how you spend your time. And please subscribe, so we can virtually hang out together.

Promoting My Blog

I feel that I have held back on both promoting my blog and getting it seen. This is partly because I wanted it to have some substance before showing it off in all its peacock feathers and partly because I hadn’t properly defined what I wanted to write about and who I wanted to touch.

London, it turns out is a big subject!

Creating a Blog Schedule

One of my first goals is going to be to write a blog schedule and identify some hot topics that I feel that all Londonologists have to know about. And if you can think of any great subjects, please let me know.

Finding My Blogging Voice

In real life, I guess I am amusing in a rather dry, understated, satirical way but when I am let loose with a keyboard I can thrash around, mix my metaphors and ping off some zany stuff. I can see that in terms of my writing style, I have been holding back, so you may find future posts that sound a bit more like I do in the flesh but on steroids as it were.

I hadn’t really realised this until I took an amazing course at Cambridge University on Blogging and Online Writing run by Louise Daisy Johnson. What a great tutor she has been, she’s so energetic, knowledgeable and positive. All her insights on my work have been revelatory. Daisy blogs about children’s fiction at Did You Ever Stop To Think.

Optimising My Blog

The buzz that I get out of my blog is mostly in the writing of it but that is not enough. It has to reach a wider audience and I have been struggling with Search Engine Optimisation. I have the vaguest idea of what to do but I haven’t done enough of it. So in the coming days I am going to sort out my blog posts and optimise the hell out of them. I am using this book by Will Coombe called 3 Months to No 1.

Blogging During the Third Lockdown

In the midst of Covid we weren’t able to leave the house which was immensely frustrating as all I wanted to do was race round town taking photos and doing blog research. Instead, I was confined to my office in my mismatching PJs trying to figure out how to get a passable blog up without any technical support and relying on desk research and library photographs.

Apart from some cut price Wix hosting I spent nada – well almost nada…£16 on a logo. But there is clearly a way to go in terms of making this blog truly original and, most of all, useful to my readers. So expect more original content and photos shot by my own fair hand.

An Anonymous Blogger

My journey to this point really started late one night when I was at the end of my personal road, exhausted and in need of a new idea.

I was randomly surfing the net, when I found a blog where the author, a business school professor had “overshared”, she told us of her £60k credit card debt, her determination to pay it and how she was giving herself a mere £150 a month for entertainment.

How is that possible? £5 a day for entertainment? The price of a London sandwich, or a coffee.

I was itching to give this experiment a try. I was going to go out from noon till night on that fiver. And I was quite amazed just how far £5 a day took you in London…I got off the sofa, I used Google to find things to do, I met people, I had fun.

To find out more about my £5 a day experiment and how it changed my life read my blog post London on the Cheap.

Blogging Success isn’t all about Stats

My Londonology blog surprised me in ways that I didn’t expect. I wasn’t inundated with page views but…

Old friends and friends of friends got in touch, I started the Cambridge University blogging course and this week I have been successful in gaining a coveted place on the ENO Response opera critics training scheme funded by the ENO and mentored by Critics Circle.

None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t started the blog and benefitted from Daisy’s helpful writing advice.

So one thing really does lead to another.

I’m forever grateful to that oversharing blogger who put me on this path. I’m sorry that I can’t remember your name or blog.

My Blogging Ambition is to Help You

My greatest pleasure would be if I could inspire someone, maybe you, to get off your sofa and get out there. To find who you really are, not what society expects of a man or woman of your age but the true you.

Oprah has this great phrase “live your best life” as in start where you are now and not at some mythical, perfect time in the future. And I have a dear friend, a former homeless, alcoholic who is now an author and Harvard student and is always exhorting people to “Think big!”.

Perhaps my blog will become your encouragement to surround yourself with the friends, places, entertainment and drinks that make you happy! Hello World!

Maxine

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