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[Gawge]

-do not spend too much time in London, especially if you are on a budget
It's expensive as hell

I will just emphasise that it really doesn't have to be. If you can get decent accommodation, then you can have a really cheap and great time in London.

Sure, if you're a tourist and take a taxi everywhere, eat in the Angus Steakhouse at Leicester Square, and want to drink a lot of alcohol in upscale Covent Garden bars - then it is expensive.

However, if you get the tube, travel is fairly modestly priced. Last night I went to a great Japanese restaurant in china town and had a huge chicken katsu udon for £6. You can get a big salt beef bagel from brick lane for a couple of quid. McDonalds is cheap if you're on the go. Get a meal deal from Sainsburys. Go for a drink in Wetherspoons.

I moved to London from a City in the north, and aside from my rent - day to day expenses aren't much more. Nandos, McDonalds, Sainsburys all cost about the same - and I have a never ending stream of great, cheap restaurants and food places of every type of cuisine to try.

Most of the good tourist stuff is free.

 

[SealSqueal]

Lots of good tips, so won't add much, but agree that if you have spare time/cash, places like Paris and Dublin can be reached for next to nothing if you get lucky with flights, and will add a lot to your trip culturally.

Edinburgh was one of my favourite places in the UK for sure, so agree with everything that's been said there.

I've heard these guys are pretty good if you want to do a bit of a tour of Scotland: http://www.haggisadventures.com/

Otherwise, do:

- pay the 10-15 pounds it costs to walk up St. Pauls, it's stunning, really feels like walking back into some Harry Potter shit when you're up in the roof
- Walk from Borough Markets (food markets on Mon-Sat..I think) all the way to the London Eye, takes you right along Southbank and you'll see cool shit along the way like old ships and Shakespeare's Globe, takes anywhere between an hour or two
- check out Brick Lane / East London on a Sunday, it's market day and has a good buzz about it. It's only like 3 stops from central London on the tube (Liverpool Street station)
- If you're into graffiti / street art, def recommend doing this: http://www.alternativeldn.co.uk/ (based around Brick Lane area and you simply donate what you want at the end in terms of paying for it)
- Get Ubers if you need a taxi, much cheaper than Black Cabs
- For what's on anywhere in the UK, especially London, check out: http://www.timeout.com/london

There are a LOT of good places to eat in London, for practically every cuisine you can name, and at most budgets, but as poster above says, avoid Leicester Square restaurants at all costs. Time Out can help with that too.

 

[Violet_0]

also, make sure to bring along some silver jewelery or cold steel to protect yourself from pesky fairy folk that comes at night to pull your ears and sour your milk, this has been a long-standing issue in the UK

 

[swearing-circle]

You mentioned you might be able to go to Bristol? I'd do that. Great place.

Edinburgh and Cardiff are also great.

 

[danowat]

Any love for Wales?

North wales, Snowdonia, up the Snowdon mountain railway at Llanberis, visit some of the Castles on the north coast, Betws-y-coed is always nice.

 

[Gawge]

http://www.alternativeldn.co.uk/[/url] (based around Brick Lane area and you simply donate what you want at the end in terms of paying for it)
- Get Ubers if you need a taxi, much cheaper than Black Cabs
- For what's on anywhere in the UK, especially London, check out: http://www.timeout.com/london

There are a LOT of good places to eat in London, for practically every cuisine you can name, and at most budgets, but as poster above says, avoid Leicester Square restaurants at all costs. Time Out can help with that too.

Fully recommend all of this. Especially the walk from Borough Market along the South Bank. The Market itself is wonderful to walk around.

 

[JoeNut]

Buy currency right now.

and stay of the fucking tube when were are going in and out of work. thank you.

don't stand in the middle of the platform in tiny little fucking Bank Station with your giant fucking tourist bags at 8.30am and expect people to be nice to you

Jesus christ man do yourself a favour and lighten up, i bet you're a bundle of joy to work with.

 

[GamingOblivion]

Oh boy lots of sweet advice! Thanks everyone.

Someone mentioned not to bring a camera? It's my first time out of the country, it's gonna be hard to not bring it. I'll just have to risk it.

And now everyone is convincing me to try London again. Ack I can't decide

I do have to admit that having to preplan everything is getting slightly overwhelming as I've really never done something like this before, even in the US. Does anyone know of travel planning apps that I can use to make this process easier?

 

[danowat]

Oh boy lots of sweet advice! Thanks everyone.

Someone mentioned not to bring a camera? It's my first time out of the country, it's gonna be hard to not bring it. I'll just have to risk it.

And now everyone is convincing me to try London again. Ack I can't decide

I do have to admit that having to preplan everything is getting slightly overwhelming as I've really never done something like this before, even in the US. Does anyone know of travel planning apps that I can use to make this process easier?

Google maps and Excel is all I use to plan trips.

 

[Raven117]

So I'm getting my passport tomorrow and I've yet to buy the tickets but I'm planning on going to the UK in Sept as a sort of present to myself. As of right now I'm going alone. Any tips, like cheap accommodations, places to check out, travel options, internal cell usage etc etc?

First time out of the country and super nervous.

EDIT: I'm a 22 year old college student so budget is super tight. Figured y'all might need some context.

Hey man....good for you. Stay in hostels (especially ones that have a little breakfast for you), look for "drink specials" to keep yourself tipsy...

British Museum (my favorite place)
Tower of London
Big Ben

Oh boy lots of sweet advice! Thanks everyone.

Someone mentioned not to bring a camera? It's my first time out of the country, it's gonna be hard to not bring it. I'll just have to risk it.

And now everyone is convincing me to try London again. Ack I can't decide

I do have to admit that having to preplan everything is getting slightly overwhelming as I've really never done something like this before, even in the US. Does anyone know of travel planning apps that I can use to make this process easier?

Don't over plan. Make sure you have a place to stay lined up each night. Make sure you know how you will get there. Other than that....Rock on.
Again man...Good for you.

 

[pulsemyne]

Any love for Wales?

North wales, Snowdonia, up the Snowdon mountain railway at Llanberis, visit some of the Castles on the north coast, Betws-y-coed is always nice.

Also south wales and the Gower. By god it's lovely.

 

[GamingOblivion]

Is one week enough (i mean nothing will ever be enough to do everything) or should I really strive for a two week stay?

 

[Faddy]

Can only echo what people have said. The train between London and Glasgow is the best option because it is from city center to city center. No fucking about going out to airports.

If you want to save yourself a nights worth of accommodation in London or just to maximise your time consider getting the sleeper train to Scotland. https://www.sleeper.scot/

 

[Mr Git]

Jaywalking is not a thing, so fill your boots!

Scotland and the north are much cheaper than London so if you're on a budget I'd recommend having a few days down there to see the sights before fleeing north of the wall to save your pennies. If the train from London - Glasgow is a bit much - have a stop in the Lake District :') you'll not regret taking your camera.

 

[weekev]

Jaywalking is not a thing, so fill your boots!

Scotland and the north are much cheaper than London so if you're on a budget I'd recommend having a few days down there to see the sights before fleeing north of the wall to save your pennies. If the train from London - Glasgow is a bit much - have a stop in the Lake District :') you'll not regret taking your camera.

I had to google Jaywalking. Why the hell would yo umake a law about that? Just learn to cross the road safely.

 

[Camoxide]

Trains are crazy expensive in the UK. For no good reason really.

Not subsidised much like they are in Germany.

If you pre-book, outside of rush hours, and use something like The Trainline, it's not too bad.

Don't use Trainline, book with the train operating company (Virgin Trains, GWR, ScotRail, East Coast ect.). Trainline have the exact same tickets and booking engine but charge a fee on top. Pointless really.

 

[GamingOblivion]

So, as I was ordering the tickets it looks like they went back up in price. Looks like I won't be going after all. :\ Super duper bummed.

Thanks everyone for your help and if I ever get to go in the future I will be looking to this thread again.

 

[kromeo]

It's tradition here to urinate all around the urinals but never in them.

Or in the middle of the road if late at night

What went up in price, just the flights?

 

[GamingOblivion]

It's tradition here to urinate all around the urinals but never in them.

Or in the middle of the road if late at night

What went up in price, just the flights?

Yeah, the price of the flights. Went up almost $1000 from when I checked late last week.

 

[spuckthew]

Sure, if you're a tourist and take a taxi everywhere, eat in the Angus Steakhouse at Leicester Square, and want to drink a lot of alcohol in upscale Covent Garden bars - then it is expensive.

Your advice has the right intentions, but I just need to make clear that Angus Steakhouse is a chain and a tourist trap. It's also not as expensive as, say, Gaucho, Gillray's, or Smith & Wollensky, which are upscale steakhouses and actually good.

 

[kokopelli]

Someone mentioned Hostelworld and then hostels.com, but those are just booking websites. And both are actually owned by the same booking company.

HostelZ does a meta search of those sites and others and just has a lot more info. https://www.hostelz.com/hostels/England/London