11 Best Money Saving Tips for London Travel (Save £100+)
As we all know, London is probably one of the most expensive cities to travel, and even for living, to be honest.
I spent two months traveling and living in London, taking public transit everywhere, using tourist travel passes, and finding cheap ways to eat without cutting corners (too much).
While London is one of my favorite cities and I plan to go back, without a doubt it’s easy to lose track of how much money you spend even if you’re trying to be frugal.
I mean, I often opted for meal deals and went to free events, just so I could feel a little less guilty about splurging here and there.
After all that time trying to find the best ways to save money while traveling in London, I’m quite proud of the tips and hacks I’ve unlocked. These are my best money saving tips for London travel that I’ve used, and I guarantee that if you follow them, you’ll save £ 100+ and maybe even more.
Disclosure: Some links to products and recommendations are affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase (at no extra cost to you).
London Money Saving Travel Tips: Activities
One of the biggest reasons to come to London is to actually see the city, explore historic sights, and just be a tourist. I mean…that’s probably why you’re here right now?
Here are the best money saving tips for London travel to see the best of the city, try unique activities, and avoid wasting extra pounds.
Explore 100+ Activities With the Go City London Pass
I had the opportunity to collaborate with the Go City London Pass, and when I say it’s one of the best ways to save money and see the top sights in London, I’m not kidding.
The all-inclusive pass offers over 100 things to do in London, and you can bundle them up for some maxxed-out London travel savings.
With a one-day all-inclusive pass, my friend and I did 8 activities, including meals, for £105.
Some of these included stops like the Postal Museum, the Shard, the HMS Belfast, and breakfast at Bill’s SOHO. Yes, there are lots of food options included in the pass!
Without the pass, everything would have cost £191, but instead it was only £105
You can also buy multi-day passes and visit other attractions like the Frameless Museum, Westminster Abbey, and Tower Bridge.
While it can make for a busy itinerary, you save so much!
I have a full one-day Go City London Pass itinerary & review if you want to know more.
Save even more: Get 10% off the Go City London Pass on your first booking on Klook with my code KAYLACOSMOS.
Get Rush Tickets for Shows
One of the best things to do in London is to check out one of the many theatres and see a live performance.
With that said, some of the best seats can be pricey.
When I was in London, the Trainspotting musical had just opened, and as a fan of the movie, I really wanted to see it. Spoiler: the musical was not as good as I hoped….
But the most affordable tickets were so far back that I wasn’t sure it would be a good experience. The closer seats were £70+ and out of my budget.
That’s how I learned about the TodayTix app, where you can reserve seats for a variety of shows happening in London.
On the day of the show at 10 AM, they release Rush Tickets, which are heavily discounted.
My friend and I got some of the best seats at the Haymarket Theatre, originally £70, but we paid only £27.
If you’re interested in seeing Wicked, it’s actually included in the Go City London Pass, so you can add it to your itinerary at no extra cost.
London Money Saving Travel Tips: Accommodation
One of the best money saving tips for London travel is getting accommodation just right when it comes to the price.
My best tip is to look and book ahead of time, but here are also some great options I know that are usually always budget-friendly.
Book Ulas’ Place
If you’re traveling in London on a serious budget, one of the best accommodations I can recommend is Ulas’ place in Hackney.
His rooms are about £100/night, and the Airbnb is near Victoria Park, with public transit within a 10-minute walk. When we stayed, it was so easy to get around the city, with many train lines well-connected to popular London areas.
His place is definitely one of the best values for what you pay. That said, if you’re looking for something more central or a more traditional hotel, here are a few other affordable hotels in London to consider.
London Money Saving Travel Tips: Food
I can’t even count how many times I cringed when I saw prices on some London menus. As amazing as some food looks, it’s hard to justify especially when you’re spending over and over.
But with my money saving tips for London travel regarding food, you can feel a bit better knowing you don’t have to spend $20 + per meal.
Enjoy Waitrose Free Coffee
I don’t know about you, but coffee always tastes so much better when I go out and spend too much money on it.
And while I often made coffee at home in London because it would drain my bank account if I didn’t, for a short time I lived next to Waitrose and took advantage of their daily free coffee.
Yes, if you download the Waitrose app and sign up for a free account, you can get one free coffee every day.
The only caveat is that you need to bring your own mug and be staying close enough to a Waitrose.
My favorite free coffee combo at Waitrose was one shot of espresso and two shots of oat milk to make a strong latte.
Use Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go likely kept me from going insane in London because I could still snag really good food for more than 50% off. Think sushi, taco bowls, salads. I was a regular Too Good To Go user.
If you’re wondering what Too Good To Go is, it’s an app that lets you pre-order food that would otherwise be tossed at the end of the day. So this is one money saving London travel tip that helps make a difference at the same time!
Some of my favorites were Tortilla and the Salad Project, where I could get a huge meal for about £5-7.
Meal Deal & Picnic
Meal deals are a classic way to save money while traveling in London and, I guess, what’s something like a cultural experience? Because at least in the US, we don’t have this so for many foreign visitors it’s actually somewhat of a fun experience to buy a meal deal and mix and match the options.
You can get meal deals at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and even Boots (yes, the pharmacy).
My favorite meal deal is from Waitrose, mainly because the ingredients are higher quality, and they even have side options like blueberry cups. They usually run about £5.50.
But Sainsbury’s and Tesco meal deals are also great and cost about £4.50, depending on your main.
If the weather is cozy, I highly recommend grabbing a meal deal and taking it for a picnic in one of London’s many parks.
London Money Saving Travel Tips: eSIMs
I didn’t overlook anything when it came my money saving tips for London travel. Yep, even eSIM’s are included here.
Because while I love a lot of the most popular eSIM providers and they work great, some of them can be pricey.
The two options below are some of the most affordable.
Grab a Lyca Mobile eSIM
During my two months in London, Lyca Mobile was my main phone provider. All I had to do was download their eSIM to my phone, and it came with a UK number. If you’re staying longer in the UK, this might be a great option, since you get a UK number.
My introductory offer was £5 for 30 days, which included 30 GB of data. As somebody from the US, that is a crazy good intro deal! And it’s plenty of data whether you’re staying for only a few days or a month.
The only downside is that you have to install the eSIM after you arrive in the UK, and you have to turn off auto-renew. I have a Lyca Mobile review and guide if you want more details, because it is definitely the cheapest eSIM for London travel.
Download an eSIM from Klook
For a straightforward eSIM experience where you can download and install it before you land in the UK, Klook has the best affordable options.
As you can see in the screenshot above, you can get about 10 GB of data for 10 days in the UK for less than $10. Very much a steal, and you’ll be connected once you land.
I’ve booked most of my tours and activities on Klook over the past few years, and I’ve been using their eSIMs a lot recently. They’re so affordable, and worked great for me in countries like Turkey, Malaysia, and Spain. You can read my Klook eSIM guide to learn more.
London Money Saving Travel Tips: Transport
Another huge expense for London travel and the UK in general is transportation.
Especially if you plan day trips, the UK is notorious for extremely high-priced train tickets, especially on short notice.
Since it’s easy to lose a lot of money on London transportation, here are my money saving London travel tips to keep as much as possible in your pocket.
BritRail Pass for Day Trips
There are plenty of great day trips just outside of London, but you’ll wanna make sure that you don’t get extra pounds nicked while you’re making it happen.
If you’re planning a few day trips from London, consider the BritRail London Plus Pass, which includes a few days of unlimited train travel in the region, as far as Bristol to Brighton.
The BritRail Pass even offers nationwide passes for all of England and all of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland). I used the pass for 3 flexible days and saved hundreds of pounds. Here’s my total savings breakdown with the BritRail Pass.
The biggest plus is you don’t have to be picky about tickets or choosing the cheapest ones. You can take any train you want, at any time, as long as it’s a regional or national train included in the pass.
Decide on the Right Airport Transfers (Bus vs. Train)
While you might think one of the best money-saving tips for London travel is to rely on the buses to the airports, it depends. I think it’s best to choose between the bus and train not just on cost, but on how close you are staying to where they’re based in London.
For example, one time I had to fly out of London Luton Airport, and while the airport bus was cheaper, I would have had to take a bus or taxi at 2 AM to the bus station to catch it. Talk about super inconvenient.
And since St Pancras station was only a 20-minute walk from my hotel, taking the train was much more convenient, and the cost difference was only a few pounds.
Or, if you’re coming to/from Heathrow, consider the Elizabeth or Piccadilly lines, which take longer but are far cheaper than the typically £20+ Heathrow Express.
I don’t have much experience flying in and out of the various London airports, so do your research ahead of time to find the best option.
It’s a bit difficult to say the exact best money saving tips for London travel regarding airport transport. Some prices fluctuate depending on the trains, the buses, and where you’re staying.
Take Advantage of Public Transit Caps
As a tourist in London, it’s perfectly fine to use your contactless credit card to tap and go on any London public transit. While there is an Oyster card for tourists, it’s not necessary because it charges the same amount as your credit card.
One important money-saving tip for London travel is that London public transit has daily and weekly caps. You can find the London public transit caps here.
Personally, I wouldn’t obsess over saving money on public transit in London, but here are a few ways to do it.
First, you can take the bus instead of the tube. Buses take longer, but they cost less per tap and have a lower daily cap than other transit, like the tube. That said, if you combine the bus and tube in a day enough times, you’ll still hit the tube cap.
Another option is to commit some days to activities that involve taking the tube and other public transit often, and other days to more walkable activities.
