London holiday.

eminemfan001

Posted this in the wrong forum so apologies if you have read this before!

Hi all was wondering if all you clever people had any tips for a cheap holiday to London. My parents booked us flights there after I mentioned wanting to go to the Harry Potter place. We are going between the 15th and 20th of July so looking for any help with hotel deals, days out, meals etc.

Any advice will be very appreciated

warehouse

You don't have to stay in central London to enjoy London. Stay in the suburbs near a tube station and you'll be in the center in less than an hour.

There are many ways of enjoying London without breaking the bank, and there are many threads on what to do and where to go for free.

Alan_Bowen

The Harry Potter Studio Tour is in Watford, north of London and hotels can be considerably cheaper there than in Central London. You need to book the tour in advance, particularly as you are travelling during the first week of the school holidays for some English schools.

However you must weigh the savings against the cost and hassle factor of travelling backwards and forwards to London on the days you are not visiting Harry Potter, an off peak day return is £11.20 but if you are saving £60 a night in hotel costs it may be worth it.

If you are flying to and from Heathow there is a direct bus every hour, service 724 direct to Watford but whatever you do book your hotel room soon, that is likely to be a busy week.

For getting around London buy an Oyster Card which you load with money as you save money on fares rather than buying daily Tube and bus passes, and buses do not accept cash anymore anyway

macman

Which airport are you flying into? There are 5 airports serving London, or 6 if you include Southend.
For Watford, Luton is by far the nearest.

anamenottaken

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

For getting around London buy an Oyster Card which you load with money as you save money on fares rather than buying daily Tube and bus passes, and buses do not accept cash anymore anyway

Actually isn't just using a contactless credit or debit card as cheap as using an oyster and saves the faff around having to pay a deposit for an oyster? You do need a separate card allocated for each individual person though. That's assuming there are no children in the party.

There is a Watford tube station - though this may not be so convenient as the rail station.

sandsy

Book HP in advance - there are no tickets on the door.

Buses run from Watford Junction mainline station to the studios. Get there fromEuston Station in 15 mins or so on London Midland, or just under 1 hr on the London Overground. Or stay in a hotel near Watford Junction for that part of your trip so you can take advantage of the bus.

zagubov

Use websites including this portal page and this streetmap sitee of shops to find other things going on

susancs

Saturday nights in London are usually the most expensive and really put up the cost of a short break, so my advice would be to stay on arrival at Watford which is where the Harry Potter studios tour is. Sat 15/7/17 is currently £67 for a room in the Watford central Travelodge, 10 minutes walk from there to Watford junction station to pick up the HP studios tour bus. The hotel is just off the high Street with lots of places to eat at Including a Wetherspoons pub for cheap meals. Book your HP tour tickets ASAP as they get booked up.

Maybe then look at staying somewhere a bit less costly in terms of train fares for the remaining days. There is a new Premier Inn in Chiswick which would be £199 (saver rate) in total for the remaining 4 days. 10 mins walk to Turnham Green tube station and from there it is for example 15 min direct journey to South Kensington for the free Natural History, Science and V&A (donations request there). 15 min walk from there to Kensington Gardens to see the Alber memorial, Diana memorail etc and you can carry on walking into Hyde Park. 35 mins direct journey from Turnham Green to Tower Hill for The Tower Of London. You can get the old fashioned red rover bus from there to Trafalgar Square. It goes past a lot of landmarks so is a cheap tour.
https://www.insightguides.com/destinations/europe/england/london/cultural-features/old-london-bus-tour-routemaster-bus-no15

From Trafalgar square walk down to Admiralty Arch (5 mins) to take photos beside the Queens mounted guard. The changing of the Guard there is also better as you can get closer than at the palace.

Go to theatre box offices for day seats as these are cheaper .
http://www.theatremonkey.com/dayseatfinder.htm

Look on group buying sites like Groupon for eating out deals.
You can use a contactless bank card each for cheaper fares with a dialy cap.
It may also be worth purchasing a train ticket for one stop to get the 2for1 entry by printing off the voucher to attractions such as the Tower, even if you don't use the train ticket.
https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

Reviews and tips on travel from PI hotel in Chiswick here.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d11901229-Reviews-Premier_Inn_London_Chiswick_Hotel-London_England.html

vintner55

Try the accommodation sites for the LSE, Imperial college and London University. Student residences are empty now and provide great value accommodation in many central locations.
A cheap central hotel is the County in Upper Woburn Place. About £76 per night for a double room including a good breakfast. Drawback is that it has shared bathrooms but there are plenty of them and it is clean and very well located.

colcheslad

If your travelling on any rail service (which you use a ticket with the National Rail logo on) then you can use these for 2for1 entry on loads of attractions as per https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

If you are not travelling by rail it might be worth just buying a single from London Charing Cross to London Waterloo East from any rail station so you can use the ticket for the discount, even if you don't intend to travel on it :money:

sarah861421

Do you still want suggestions of things to do? If so try walks.com Its a huge range of walks around london, Each one takes about 2 hours ish and usually stops off in a pub or cafe on route. They start at different times of day and venues and there's even a Harry Potter one http://www.walks.com/