Yes it can be, Travelodges start from £29 a room, but usually only if you book far enough in advance, but there are always hostels as well, that's if you want to be in the city, if you are happy to stay on the outskirts and get tube/train in then rooms can be cheap as well.
Museums are free, the parks are great if the weather is good. Sightseeing is free, explore on foot great way to see places, explore those little side streets.
As mentioned above, stay in something like the Generator hostel and it will cost you less than £30 a night, as long as you don't mind sharing with strangers
And there are plenty of things to do for free or on the cheap.
Don't forget to factor in travel costs to and from London. Trains can be quite expensive depending on where you are travelling from so you might want to look at the Megabus.
I recently stayed in a b&b in Islington it was way cheaper than inner city hotels even premier/travel inns. Get yourself a visitor Oyster card and put about 20 quid on it if your only going for 2 days then thats all your tubes and buses paid for.
Like other posters have said there's lots of free stuff to do.
I've looked at the Megabus and that seems the cheapest way.
I've got tickets to be in the audience of million pound drop, but unsure if I'm going to go to that.
If you're going to be travelling around London a lot, you MUST get an Oyster card (for public transport). Bus fares are £1.45 but there is a daily cap of £4.40. You can ride as many buses as you want in a day. N.B. Cash will no longer usable after 6th July. You can use Pay Wave cards but they DON'T have a cap.
As long as you are happy stopping in a hostel and don't plan on going out drinking then London can be done very cheaply. Public transport is cheap (compared to many parts of the country), many museums and galleries are free and walking around doesn't cost any money at all.
Does anyone have any experience of staying on a hostel?
Yes, there are orgies every night with Swedish backpackers. Or maybe that was just a dream I had once...
But seriously, they are a great way of meeting lots of people from all over the world. I'm a bit old for them now nut in my youth I used them lots of times.
Booked a weekend at a Premier Inn in Harrow for my wife's birthday in August, £95 Saturday night, £29 Sunday night.
Avoid Saturday nights if you can, get a much better deal on Sunday night.
Or just don't book a hotel - no need if you're travelling alone, and hostels generally don't alter their prices (or by much) on the weekends.
OP, I've stayed in hostels all over the world and never had problems except for a horrible one once in London (St Christopher's Inn - avoid that chain). If I ever had to come down to London (I now live here) I always used to use the YHA on Euston Road - so convenient for travelling around (walking distance to Covent Garden and the West End, even the South Bank, London Eye and Westminster if you don't mind a bit of a walk), cheap and very secure. Just take an eye shade and earplugs and you'll be fine in any hostel.
And Time Out is definitely a good place to start for free things to do in London, or discounts. Cheap theatre tickets can be found in Leicester Square or by queuing early in the morning at a theatre, parks and museums are free and there plenty of places to eat cheaply.
And don't forget lots of museums in London are free - so go to them. The museum of London at the Barbican is a great place to visit at weekends as the area around the city is so peaceful.
As others have said, should be perfectly possible. £200 should get you very far relatively in two days.
Rather than eating out in proper 'nice' restaurants take a look at either Camden near the market or China Town near Leicester Square (if you like Chinese food).. lots of good, and filling grub. There's lots of competition so pricing is very competitive.
Get yourself hard copies of the following two documents available from most major stations or download an app to a smart phone. Or print them off of course.
Don't forget that central London (Westminster & the West End) is very walkable. You'll see so much more just wandering around rather than jumping on the Tube for one or two stops. In fact, for many short journeys, the fastest way to get around is to walk.
I had a fantastic day out in London when I was down with work once and did not spend a penny. Started at the Science museum and then the natural history museum, had a walk around the Houses of Parliament over to the London eye and around that area, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, the national gallery and a walk around a really nice park (Green park? Would that be right?).
All done with no planning and no idea where things were or where I was going too.
I had a fantastic day out in London when I was down with work once and did not spend a penny. Started at the Science museum and then the natural history museum, had a walk around the Houses of Parliament over to the London eye and around that area, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, the national gallery and a walk around a really nice park (Green park? Would that be right?).
All done with no planning and no idea where things were or where I was going too.
Or it Could be St James park if it had a lake, if not then it was Green Park (St James in my opinion is the nicer).
I went to London about 18 months ago (and am heading there again in about 7 weeks for my first of two visits this year).
When I first went I thought it was gonna be super expensive and had saved loads, but turns out that I hardly spent anything at all. Apart from some items I wanted to buy and knew they were gonna cost, everything else was fairly priced I thought and I spent no more that I would have spent anywhere else really. If you have £200 for 2 days and that includes accommodation you could easily afford that and still have plenty of money to eat and do activities, as there are still lots of free things.
In fact, the only think that regularly cost me money in London was travel, but I used a friends Oyster Card but still having to top it up now and again reminded you that travel was costly!
I had a fantastic day out in London when I was down with work once and did not spend a penny. Started at the Science museum and then the natural history museum, had a walk around the Houses of Parliament over to the London eye and around that area, Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, the national gallery and a walk around a really nice park (Green park? Would that be right?).
All done with no planning and no idea where things were or where I was going too.
well, I hope you made a donation at the museums ;-)
As mentioned, the ethnic area are very cheap to eat in. If you like Indian food then brick lane is a must visit. Not just for the food (which though cheap is to be honest is pretty average) but the atmosphere.
Two walks are around Trafalgar square, Buckingham palace, houses of palament, St Pauls (you can go upstairs for a small fee) area and second walk is along south bank stretching from Waterloo right down to tower bridge.
Comments
Museums are free, the parks are great if the weather is good. Sightseeing is free, explore on foot great way to see places, explore those little side streets.
I have found a few hostels, but having never stayed in one before, I'm a bit anxious about it.
And there are plenty of things to do for free or on the cheap.
Don't forget to factor in travel costs to and from London. Trains can be quite expensive depending on where you are travelling from so you might want to look at the Megabus.
Like other posters have said there's lots of free stuff to do.
I've looked at the Megabus and that seems the cheapest way.
I've got tickets to be in the audience of million pound drop, but unsure if I'm going to go to that.
See Time Out website for things to do for free: http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/free-london
Yes, there are orgies every night with Swedish backpackers. Or maybe that was just a dream I had once...
But seriously, they are a great way of meeting lots of people from all over the world. I'm a bit old for them now nut in my youth I used them lots of times.
Avoid Saturday nights if you can, get a much better deal on Sunday night.
Or just don't book a hotel - no need if you're travelling alone, and hostels generally don't alter their prices (or by much) on the weekends.
OP, I've stayed in hostels all over the world and never had problems except for a horrible one once in London (St Christopher's Inn - avoid that chain). If I ever had to come down to London (I now live here) I always used to use the YHA on Euston Road - so convenient for travelling around (walking distance to Covent Garden and the West End, even the South Bank, London Eye and Westminster if you don't mind a bit of a walk), cheap and very secure. Just take an eye shade and earplugs and you'll be fine in any hostel.
And Time Out is definitely a good place to start for free things to do in London, or discounts. Cheap theatre tickets can be found in Leicester Square or by queuing early in the morning at a theatre, parks and museums are free and there plenty of places to eat cheaply.
Rather than eating out in proper 'nice' restaurants take a look at either Camden near the market or China Town near Leicester Square (if you like Chinese food).. lots of good, and filling grub. There's lots of competition so pricing is very competitive.
See below.
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/tube-dlr-lo-adult-fares-jan-2014.pdf
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/ticket-types/on-oyster?intcmp=11504
Get yourself hard copies of the following two documents available from most major stations or download an app to a smart phone. Or print them off of course.
Tube map.
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/standard-tube-map.pdf
London and the south east rail services.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/London_South_East.pdf
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf
All done with no planning and no idea where things were or where I was going too.
Or it Could be St James park if it had a lake, if not then it was Green Park (St James in my opinion is the nicer).
I took this from whichever park it was: https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t1.0-9/378666_10151026179682638_1645641804_n.jpg
St James Park
When I first went I thought it was gonna be super expensive and had saved loads, but turns out that I hardly spent anything at all. Apart from some items I wanted to buy and knew they were gonna cost, everything else was fairly priced I thought and I spent no more that I would have spent anywhere else really. If you have £200 for 2 days and that includes accommodation you could easily afford that and still have plenty of money to eat and do activities, as there are still lots of free things.
In fact, the only think that regularly cost me money in London was travel, but I used a friends Oyster Card but still having to top it up now and again reminded you that travel was costly!
well, I hope you made a donation at the museums ;-)
As mentioned, the ethnic area are very cheap to eat in. If you like Indian food then brick lane is a must visit. Not just for the food (which though cheap is to be honest is pretty average) but the atmosphere.
Two walks are around Trafalgar square, Buckingham palace, houses of palament, St Pauls (you can go upstairs for a small fee) area and second walk is along south bank stretching from Waterloo right down to tower bridge.