Jonathan Thomas (00:32)
Welcome to the Angotopia podcast where we discuss British travel history and culture This week is a little bit different. I'm doing a solo podcast to announce two things One of them is our next target for the Friends of Angotopia membership club and the other is I want to discuss doing London on a budget of $100 a day This was inspired by a New York Times article. So

To address the elephant in the room. I am in a different location I am actually at work at my day job But it's okay that I'm doing this at work because I'm married to the boss Mrs. Angle topia. This is her office ⁓ where I work doing web stuff. So That's the different location it has a space theme ⁓ I figured since my office at home has a British theme. I should my office at work should have my

other passion which is space and science fiction. So, sorry that was me touching the notifications. I'm doing this on my phone which I've not done before. So hopefully this goes well. Got a microphone and hopefully the audio sounds good. So, the reason I'm doing this podcast is we announced last week our next membership target for the Friends of Anglotopia Club. Now we currently, well our first goal

was 200 members, which we set last summer, and then we reached last month. And so with that goal, we took the Google ads off of Anglotopia.net. They've been off for about a month now, and it's been fantastic being able to use Anglotopia myself without ads. the response from readers has been fantastic. It's now super easy to read the site. I don't have to constantly play a whack-a-ball with the Google ads, and it's been wonderful. so we wanted to think long and hard about what we wanted to do for our next goal.

And so the next goal is 300 members. And if we reach the target of 300 members, we will remove the Google ads from Londontopia.net our sister website dedicated to all things London, which has been around almost as long as Anglotopia has. So that's the goal. So we reached 300. The Google ads come off as of today. We're at 220 members. We added about 10 over the weekend when we launched, when we announced things.

And so hopefully by hopefully by midsummer or the end of the summer, we'll reach 300 members. And then in addition to reaching 300 members of getting rid of the ads, we're going to launch a monthly feature article about London called the London Post that will be available to all members. And so the London Post will be long read articles about London.

history, culture, travel. We're hoping to commission some writers who can write about London as well as writing about ourselves. And this will just be an extra benefit for all members of the club. And so it'll be available exclusively to club members. You have to be a member to get it. And we're really excited about this because it's really going to help us expand the club and talk about more things than what I have been talking about. So ⁓ so if you're not a member of the Friends of Anglotopia Club, please join.

You can do so for the cost of two cups of tea. It's six dollars a month and you get billed every month on the first or you can save 10 % by subscribing for the year. It's $64 for the year. And when you do that, you support great long form writing about British travel history and culture and you keep the lights on at Angotopia LLC so that it can continue to provide you all this great content for everybody and without obtrusive advertisements. So

And I should mention in addition to the new London post and the ads coming off of Londontopia you'll also get the weekly Sunday post, which we send every Sunday, which is a long article about something British, something related to either we've seen, heard or done through our 25 years of travel in Britain. ⁓ It's a lovely little love letter to Britain every Sunday and everyone the feedback from it has been fantastic. So.

And then you also get early access to this podcast. So we release new episodes on Fridays, but if you're a member of the club, you can get them on Wednesday instead of and you get it here in advance. So that's a very popular feature. My favorite feature is the private forum community. So at Anglotopia.chat we have a private forum where you can discuss all things British and you have to be a member of the club to access it. So when you...

When you sign up, get an email that gives you all the access instructions and exclusive to you. You also get special discounts that we've arranged for members of the club, as 20 % off our own store, but also exclusive deals on British services and companies that we've worked with and partnered with. And we have more coming down the line, which will be announced in the coming weeks. Again, ad-free experience on Anglotopia will continue. And then as soon as we hit 300, it will be ad-free on londontopia.net.

And then the London Post will start when we hit that 300 target and you all we will also share exclusive book excerpts of upcoming books past books and whatnot. So join us. It only costs the cost of a pint in London and the link will be in the show notes. And I have that is enough of a sales pitch for the Friends of Anglotopia So on the topic of London.

When I had to think of something else to talk about on this podcast to make it worth your ears, I was immediately inspired by an article I read in the New York Times about budget travel to London. The author of the article, and I'll share the link to the original article in the show notes, she set herself the goal of doing a budget trip to London on $200 a day. And when I read the article, I was like,

$200 a day is a lot and I think that's not that's more of mid-range than budget So I set out in my mind to to lay out a trip to see if you could do it on $100 a day Which I think is a real budget travel to one and if you can do it for $100 or less a day that is really traveling on a budget and I think and it's possible because I you know, I've done this in the past and I did the thought experiment so

I'm going to sort of walk you through the various options and the various ways that you can save money to do London on the cheap. And just because you want to do it on a budget or do it on the cheap doesn't mean you're going to have a bad time. Does it mean that you can't enjoy London, London at its best? London is such a great city that there's so much to see and do that's completely free. And I'm to get to that. ⁓

So in response to this article in the New York Times, I'm going to give you my guide to doing London on a hundred dollars a day. Now, ⁓ one caveat here in my calculations, I have not included airfare in the calculation, so ⁓ it wouldn't affect it very much anyway, because you can get to the UK current and the current airline fare market for usually around five hundred dollars from most gateway cities in the US and Canada.

So between 500 and a thousand, you pay more than a thousand, you're paying too much. But the further, the further in advance you go, you should be able to get it close to $500. I know when we went last year, we got our tickets for for under $500. So ticket, the cost of transatlantic tickets is really low right now. And I expect that to continue, especially as the the economics of the current climate shift. Now, so airfare aside, your biggest cost

to doing London on the cheap is gonna be lodging. ⁓ That's gonna be where you spend the most every day. And I have a solution for that. I'm having my second morning cup of tea here. This is Yorkshire tea at the office. I keep a box of Yorkshire at the office and I have to go buy milk to make sure there's milk in the fridge, but gotta have my Yorkshire tea.

and this is my Master and Commander mug, which we sell in the Anglotopia store, if you're curious. It's the title card to Master and Commander, one of my favorite British movies.

I apologize for sipping. So lodging now. This is a hard calculus to solve because it where you sleep for the night is a very personal decision, ⁓ and it's also a calculus problem that involves comfort, distance, your time, safety and costs. And if you want to stay anywhere in central London, that is that that is the West End where all the touristy stuff is. You can't do it for.

usually under 150 to $200 a night. So and that's even not even particularly nice hotels. So generally, the rule is the further out you go, the cheaper the hotels get. For example, if you stay in South Kensington, the hotels are cheaper if you stay outside of zone one. So for those who don't know, the London tube is divided into zones. Zone one is central London, where the most expensive things are and it goes out. ⁓

You know, if you're staying somewhere like Croydon and it's very far from central London, it will be really, really cheap and have some really dodgy hotels. Now, I don't mean to particularly pick on Croydon. So I'm just saying I'm sure it's lovely. I'm just giving it as an example. But if the rule is the further you are from London, the cheaper your hotel will be. And usually if it's not a chain hotel, it might not be very nice. So.

My recommendation is to stay in one of the cheapest possible chain hotels that is on the market. And it's called the Easy Hotel. so for those who aren't familiar with it, Easy Hotel was founded like 25 years ago using the same model as EasyJet, the budget airline where the further in advance you book it, the cheaper it is. And they basically charge you for everything that's not involved in the room.

The rooms are very tiny. They're very basic. Not all of them even have a window. You have to pay extra for the window. I recommend paying for the window. The bathroom is like a pod thing. That's a it's a it's a combined bathroom shower thing because to save space, the beds are usually basic. The TV, you have to pay 10 pounds, I think, to buy the to buy the remote to watch it like they literally charge for everything. But if you don't want to watch TV and.

Don't need any of the extras. Then you can get a hotel room for 30 to 40 pounds a night in central London. I recommend the South Kensington branch because it's close to the Gloucester Road tube station. But on that price, which is like the current exchange rate, that's like 40, $50 a night. You cannot beat that. And especially if you get the room with the view, it's not that bad. You're only there to sleep anyway. And London is filled with things to do. You're going to be gone all day. So.

You know, even as a 41 year old man who is used to staying in nicer hotels at this age, I'd still consider the easy hotel, especially if I was on a tight budget. And sometimes when traveling for business, budgets are tight. So especially when your business is paying for it yourself. So ⁓ there are other similar pod style hotels in central London. I can't recommend any personally because I've not stayed in them.

But I will say I can recommend the easy hotel. It's basic, it's straightforward. The rooms are clean. ⁓ And the one in South Kensington is a great location because it's right by the Gloucester Road tube station and all the other stuff in South Kensington that you can do, which there's like 10 free museums in South Kensington. You can do a whole trip to London in South Kensington and never leave it. So there it's a good spot. ⁓ And there are other easy hotels in London, ⁓ but

The South Kensington one, believe, is the most central one. But there's also ones spread out throughout the London Underground Zone map. ⁓ you know, and again, with lodging, there are other other travel websites will give you hacks to try and stay for free at hotels in London. I've had very mixed results. I mean, if you accrue enough credit card points or airline miles, in theory, you can stay for free or almost free at a lot of hotels.

But even with that, you're still probably gonna pay something because Central London hotels are so expensive. And unless you're a really high level tier of those membership programs, you're probably not gonna get that great of a deal, but it's worth trying. So if you do have a lot of miles, you can stay for free in Central London. If you're careful and you book far enough in advance and don't choose blackout dates or when there's a major event. The real travel hack, staying for free in Central London is staying with friends or possibly family.

or putting yourself in moderate danger. And I say that tongue in cheek. Either way, I'd pick the easy hotel because you get your own room. It's private, you have a bathroom and you are in complete control. ⁓ So that's our top tip for staying in the cheapest hotel possible and the safest area possible. ⁓ Now, attractions, because you're in London to see and do things. This is...

This is actually a really easy way to save money because a lot of London's big museums are actually completely free.

And we'll link to a list in the show notes of all the free museums in London. ⁓ It means you can enjoy everything they have to offer completely for free. There's a big but there. A lot of the big museums will do big showpiece exhibitions and then they'll charge for admission to those. ⁓ So and usually those will be like 12 or like 15, 20, 30, some 30 pounds depending on the blockbuster exhibition. So.

And usually they require advanced booking and you're going to have to stand in line even if you've advanced booked. ⁓ like the National Gallery usually has a big exhibition going on and you have to pay usually have to pay extra to see it unless you're a member of the museum said museum. So but there is plenty to see in the National Gallery without seeing the special exhibition. You can spend all day there and still probably not see everything. So and that's the same with all of London's free museums.

There is plenty to see and do without doing the special exhibitions. ⁓ There's, you know, at least I want to say I haven't done an exact count recently, but there's at least 100 museums in London that are completely free. ⁓ And that's such a great cultural resource for visitors to London, because when you compare it to cities like Chicago or New York, the museums are expensive. And even when you get like the passes, it's still very expensive.

I cherish my membership to the Art Institute of Chicago because it gets us in for free for just one yearly fee instead of having to pay to get in individually because it's so expensive, eye-wateringly expensive. ⁓ So London is lucky in that its world-class museums are completely free. ⁓ So if you're going to go on a budget and you want to stay completely free, ⁓ then stick to the free attractions. ⁓

If you stick to the free attractions, that chops off the tourist traps, which are usually overpriced anyway, and they're easily avoided if you're on $100 a day. You don't need to go to Madame Tussauds. You don't need to stand in line for three hours to see wax figures and pay, I think it's like 30 or 40 pounds to get in there per person. Or the London Dungeon. mean, those things can be fun. And if you enjoy doing them, do them. But by all means,

they're going to blow your you're going to blow your budget. and if you the real hard choice to make, though, is for heritage attractions and museums that charge money. So like to give you an example, the Tower of London, everybody should go to the Tower of London. mean, to do the Beefeater tour is a kind of a London mainstay and everybody should do it at least once. But you're going have to pay to get in the Tower of London because it's part of historic Royal of palaces. And then there's an admission charge. ⁓

If your hundred dollar a day budget can afford it, I recommend doing it. ⁓ But if if if you can save it for a different trip when you're not as your budget is constrained, I would save it. ⁓ But the nice thing about London is in addition to the free museums, is many of the famous London places and things you want to see and do are completely free. It doesn't cost anything to sit in Trafalgar Square and people watch and watch the fountains and the let the world go by.

or to stand in Parliament Square and wait for Big Ben to chime, or to walk along the Thames South Bank and watch London go by, or to go to Leicester Square and watch it and see a movie premiere set up, or to go to Covent Garden and watch all those street performers and everything. None of that stuff costs money. And those things can easily fill an afternoon or a day or a couple days. And those things are usually the most memorable experiences you're gonna have anyway, and they don't cost anything.

Now, the another big cost when you're traveling in London, it's going to be transport. ⁓ Getting around London on a budget is super easy, though. ⁓ In the aforementioned New York Times article, the writer mentioned taking the Heathrow Express, which baffled me as somebody who was going there on the budget because it's literally by a mile, the most expensive train journey in Britain. It's certainly convenient, but it's very expensive. If you book ahead, you can get a deal. But even if you get the deal,

the tube is always gonna be cheaper. It just takes longer. It's gonna take you 45 minutes, but you can even take the new Elizabeth line, which is like three times as fast and still costs the same because it uses the tube oyster network. So don't take the Heathrow Express if you're on a budget, you're just wasting money. There's plenty of other ways to get to the airport, to and from the airport by a public transport. And then again, the tube can get you most of the places you wanna see and do and let on the budget.

And as long as you have an Oyster card or you do contact lists, you're never going to pay more than the max daily tube fare, which is eight pounds 90, which is about ten dollars. So you're never going to pay more than that a day, no matter how much you use the tube. And you can get very far in zone one and you can even go into further zones. And I think the cap goes higher if you go into the other zones. But ⁓ it's still going to be a bargain compared to, taking a taxi from central London to Rotherhide. You're going to pay through the nose.

⁓ But in addition to the tube, a much cheaper option is the London's bus network. That's what people use every day to commute. because the max pay as you go fare for the buses is only £1.75, which is about $2. And so you can get anywhere in London for $2. I mean, that's a phenomenal deal. You just have to sit on a bus and it will probably take longer. But ⁓ again,

It's a great resource and you can even use contact less So you don't even need an oyster card. You can just tap your credit card and you'll never pay more than the $2 to and you can transfer between buses and everything. So, you know, it's a, it's a great budget way to get around London is to consider buses. If you want to know the bus routes, look up TFL's website. You can see all the various routes. Most buses, it's pretty obvious where they're going to go. There's

or as boards everywhere. And if all else fails, just ask where the bus is going. Some of the routes there is I think it's Route 15 will take in most of the famous tourist attractions. And all you've paid is two dollars to see them all from the bus. I mean, it's a it's a they used to do the old route master buses on that route, but they were retired after the pandemic. So you got to do it on a regular bus now. But, know, it's still a fun way to see London get on the upper deck and you can ride the bus for as long as you want. And it'll be

probably air conditioned and comfortable. If you're on a budget, one thing you will not be doing is taking a black taxi anywhere or an Uber, because those are the most expensive ways to get around. And traffic in London, central London is terrible. Usually when we were there last October, it was awful. And we only took a taxi when we absolutely had to because like you just sit in the taxi and all it does is the meter. And we at one point we were we were in a taxi for way longer than we're supposed to be in the

the taxi driver, all he could do is apologize for how long it was taking. And then we're just like, dude, you're gonna get paid. Does it affect you? ⁓ But it's the most expensive way to get around mile by mile. ⁓ Even even you can might be able to get a better deal doing Uber, but we don't recommend that you want to get a black taxi. It's safer and more reliable. ⁓ But if you're on a budget, you're not taking either. So take the tune or bus. ⁓ So the next thing.

to doing one on $100 a day is food. this is, again, this is another calculus equation based on your diet, based on comfort, based on what you like, based on what can make you sick when you travel. So it's a very personal decision where you eat. I don't want you to feel like I'm barking at you that you should eat here, you should eat here, you should eat here. But I'll give you my tips and if they work for you, they work for you and they won't work for everybody.

The way I would travel and eat would not work for Mrs. Anglotopia next door. She and I have fundamental differences on the way we eat when we travel. And so we kind of have to find a happy medium. But the first thing you need to keep in mind is breakfast. So like if you're going to stay at the Easy Hotel like I recommended, there's nowhere to have breakfast. So that's one of the ways they save money is there's nowhere to eat. So the first thing you need to do when you check in is go.

to one of the local grocery stores. There's a Sainsbury, there's a Waitrose, there's a Tesco, all within walking distance in South Kensington, and pick up some provisions for breakfast and maybe even lunch that doesn't need to be refrigerated. So pastries, donuts, fruits, anything that doesn't need to be refrigerated. ⁓ And then you can eat breakfast on the cheap, because my philosophy, as long as you have a good breakfast, then it gives you lot of flexibility for lunch. ⁓

If you're feeling real bougie, get stuff to make sandwiches. It doesn't need to be refrigerated. ⁓ But also London's a huge sandwich city. And this is this is one thing we learned many, many years ago. There are so many places to get a cheap sandwich. Grocery stores, convenience stores, off license stores, newsagents. ⁓ You can get a cheap sandwich. Just be careful if it looks dodgy or smells funny. Maybe don't eat it because ⁓ in the family we've definitely gotten food poisoning from a dodgy sandwich.

But if you're determined to stay for under $100 a day, then eating at pretty much any sit down restaurant is out of the question, especially in central London. And most guidebooks won't give you this advice that I'm going to give you because most guidebook writers are the kind of people who are usually foodies and who want to have a food experience when they travel. But the level with you here, the cheapest way to eat out in London is to eat fast food and

For a lot of people, that's usually not a bridge they wanna cross, a Rubicon they wanna cross. But I'm serious. Eating McDonald's, Burger King, Gregg's, KFC, there's even major British fast food chains. You will never pay more than 10 pounds for a full meal, maybe even less. You'll have the food you need, you'll have Be Energized, and you can move on to your next thing. personally, I'm not a huge fan of...

McDonald's and Burger King and chains like that. But if you want a quick, cheap meal, those are the places to eat and they are everywhere in central London. You cannot throw a stone without skipping an American fast food place. But there's also plenty of British fast food places that are fun to try because then you get to try British fast food places and you sort of try to foreign cuisine. Right. know, it's. If Jackie were sitting next to me, she'd be rolling her eyes.

⁓ Also, check out local takeaways. a takeaway is usually a fast food place that has a weird name or is like Tennessee Fried Chicken or something like that. It has a weird off brand name. And usually it's the place that serves everything from gyros, the kebabs, the pizza, burgers and chips. And it's usually very greasy, but it's also probably going to be the best meal you ever have because the food will be really good. You can usually eat really cheap at places like that. And there are places like that in every London neighborhood, even in the nicer parts of London.

⁓ Also keep a lookout and this is in the New York Times article, the Cabmen's Shelters. ⁓ So those are set up in the early days of the taxi trade so that cab drivers could have somewhere to eat and get a cup of coffee. But they since it open to the public so you can get a full meal at one of these places and usually there's tables set up outside and you get a cup of tea and you can get a really cheap meal for usually under five pounds because it's supported by a charity that supports cabins.

cab drivers. So keep a lookout for those. There's a I think 11 in central London. ⁓ We have an article on the cabin shelters all linked to that and the show notes. ⁓ And then I like dinner to be a treat. So even if I'm doing $100 a day, I might you know, because I've already bought breakfast by by going to the grocery store, I've had a cheap lunch. And I've done

as many free things as I could do today and I didn't buy any souvenirs. I might have enough money for dinner to pay for dinner in a sit down restaurant. So that's something you can still probably do. You just have to think about it and plan in advance. There are plenty of affordable ⁓ restaurants in central London. If you kind of step away from the touristy areas, you'll find more affordable restaurants. You'll find chain restaurants, which are boring, but you can still get a good meal for an affordable price.

⁓ There's, ⁓ again, local places that wouldn't even be on the tourist trail. Like in South Kensington, there's tons of local restaurants that aren't chain restaurants that are pretty good. There's a great Italian place right on right on ⁓ Knightsbridge, I think. ⁓ Yeah, there's plenty of places if you're if you're you're willing to try look up reviews, though, you never know.

⁓ The further you get the West End dinners, the cheaper dinners will be. ⁓ And one ⁓ travel hack though is that many central London restaurants, well many British restaurants in general, will do a set three course, set menu three course dinner. So you pay one price and you get to choose, you know, from a list of entrees, a list of appetizers and a dessert. It's a limited list and you pay one price and then you can get a full nice three course dinner.

⁓ And since there's no tipping in Britain, the price you pay for the set course dinner is the price you pay for the meal. So, you usually you can find that for under 20 or 30 pounds if you are willing to stick to the set menu. ⁓ Usually there's not a lot of variation there and they won't let you change any of the options. But if you can stick to the set menu, then you can save a lot of money and still have a nice dinner and a sit down restaurant with some atmosphere. ⁓ So then entertainment.

So you're in London, you know, want to go to a West End show, you should still be able to do that even on a $100 a day budget. So avoid ticket brokers because they won't be the cheapest way to get same day show tickets. So my travel hack is to go to the TKTS desk in Leicester Square and that's for same day ticket discounts. Most of the London theaters kind of participate in this.

in the TKTS desk and you can usually get last minute tickets to evening shows or matinees at a knockdown price depending on how many seats they need to fill. And also many of the individual theaters will have a way to get discount tickets to look if there's a particular show you want to see, go to the website and see what their procedure is for the same day discount tickets. Your mileage may vary. Your time has value.

You know, it's all going to it's all going to vary, but it should be possible to see a show and and and average it out to be under $100 a day. I mean, there's so many world class leaders in London and famous stars are always doing plays, especially British stars, because they do. They usually do plays in between doing the British shows that we know them for. They'll often when they're not working on productions on shows, they'll do a play. And so it's a great way to see your favorite British actors live and in person. So I've seen a lot of great plays.

⁓ You may struggle to get tickets to the hottest plays going on, you know, like I know ⁓ the there's a lot of big name stars in the West and right now. And those tickets are really hard to get because they're really expensive. But again, some of the theaters will do same day discounts if you're willing to stand in line. You're just going to have to check with the theater website and see. So.

Now, I love books. And so I'm always on the lookout for books that I have in London. Now, unfortunately, most of the major famous bookstores in London are now owned by the same company, Waterstones, which is a great, their bookstore on Piccadilly is fantastic. they, and usually I like going into Waterstones, but they now own Hatchard's, the oldest bookstore in London. They now own Foyles, which is one of the quirkiest bookstores in London.

They own them all. And I even think they bought Blackwell's. So they even own Oxford's famous Blackwell's bookshop now. So ⁓ that means that you're kind of when it comes to new books, you're kind of going to get the same books in all of those stores. And the character isn't really there anymore, except for Hatchard's. ⁓ I love Hatchard's. And you cannot you cannot the the Georgian building is still very Georgian and beautiful. ⁓

and the head Waterstone stores and the beautiful Art Deco building that used to be a newspaper headquarters. So you can get some character there, but their new books are going to be full price unless there's like a two for one deal or I think it's two for three deals they do. ⁓ But if you want to do get books and do it on the cheap, though, while you're in London and not burst that hundred dollar a day budget, there are plenty of small independent used book shops in central London. And the further out you go.

And there's also a used book market under Waterloo Bridge on the South Bank. And you can usually get quite a few books for under a tenner there. So if you want to have a fun experience and browse some London's literary scene, go to the used bookshop under Waterloo Bridge. You'll save some money and you get some fun books. that kind of wraps up my way to do London on $100 a day.

Your style of travel may be completely different. This is my opinion. I, you know, I think it's possible. And, you know, it's London is a world class city. It's my favorite city. I'm happy to do it on a hundred dollars a day. I'm happy to do it on $200 a day. But the end of the day, you're in London and experience it for the most that it has. And so I'll put links to all the things I talked about in the show notes. And if you what are your tips on saving money while you're in London?

Let us know in the comments on YouTube or on the comments on the podcast website. And maybe we can the next time we do a Q &A or next time we do another London podcast, we can discuss your tips for saving money while you're traveling in London. So with that, I will leave it at that. Please remember to join the Friends of Anglotopia Club. The sooner we get to 300 members, the sooner the Google ads come off Londontopia.net and the sooner we can start the London Post column.

and explore all the wonderful things to do with London history and culture that we love to share with you all. So thanks for listening. If you liked the Anglotopia podcast, please like, subscribe, or leave a comment. And please join the Friends of Anglotopia Club. Thank you.