The Savvy Sabbatical Guide to London

For centuries, people from all walks of life have flocked to London. Henry VIII even believed it to be the literal center of the universe! The city is notoriously pricey in terms of accommodations, but if you can afford to get here, free museums and self-catering can balance your budget.

The Best Time to Visit London

London is at its best in either of the shoulder seasons — spring, from March through May, or fall, from September through November. Summer’s peak season is hot and extremely crowded. Winter is lovely, but quite cold. At any time of year, England is well known for its rainy weather.

Festivals can be found throughout the year, from open-air music festivals like Kew Gardens’ Kew the Music in summer to a slew of Christmas fairs and markets in December. A vastly multi-cultural city, London celebrates holidays from the Chinese New Year to Diwali to St. Patrick’s Day. For a one-of-a-kind London experience, consider April’s Feast of St. George in Trafalgar Square.

Bottom line: if you can go to London, just go! It is a true year-round destination and there’s no best time to visit.

How Much to Spend

One-way flights from the East Coast run anywhere from $120 to $450 depending on your specific departure date and location.

London is not especially well-known for having cheap accommodations. Peak season dorm beds start at $40 per night. Staying in Zone 2 of the city is considerably less expensive than the more central Zone 1, but bear in mind that this will mean making greater use of public transport. Finding a safe, comfortable Airbnb for a longer stay starts around $1200 per month.

An Oystercard will cover travel via the London Underground (or Tube) and National Rail within the city. Fares vary depending on the distance traveled, and cards can be loaded up for pay as you go rates.

Self-catering (i.e. cooking for yourself) is a cornerstone of any budget meal plan. Visit Sainsbury’s for budget groceries and you can likely get by on 35 pounds a week. For dining out, there are still plenty of places you can get a meal for 15 pounds or less. Grab street food in Chinatown or a kebab in Shoreditch. London is such an international city — explore through cuisine. Stick to lunches out for traditional pub meals and you can still come in at that 15 pound mark. Dinners at the pub will probably run 20 to 30 pounds.

The UK uses pounds, which are currently a bit stronger than the dollar. 10 pounds is roughly 13 dollars and change. This is unfortunately not an easy conversion to manage in your head, so whatever you’re spending on the go, round it up a few dollars and tally the actual conversion on a daily basis.

How to Get to London

There are three main airports in London: Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted.

Heathrow is the most likely to be your port of entry from the United States. The Heathrow Express runs direct from the airport to Paddington Station in about 15 minutes. Tickets are 25 pounds. Paddington Station connects to the Bakerloo, Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines of the Underground (or Tube).

Gatwick and Stansted are both more likely destinations if you arrive from elsewhere in Europe or on a budget airline. Stansted is the main hub for Ryanair and sits north of the city with an express train to Liverpool Street Station. That in turn connects to the Central, Hammersmith & City, Circle, and Metropolitan lines of the Underground. Gatwick is south of central London, with a National Rail line reaching Victoria and London Bridge stations.

How to Get Around London

A pay-as-you-go Visitor Oystercard will cover you on the Underground, National Rail, and those famous red double decker buses. Fares vary based on distance, but won’t go over 8.90 pounds in a single day, as long as you stick to Zones 1 and 2.

The London Underground is a tangled web of roughly a dozen metro lines. Many major attractions are on the Circle and District lines, including Parliament and Westminster Abbey at Westminster, the Tower of London at Tower Hill, and the museum quarter at South Kensington.

On Tube and trains, you’ll touch your card at the yellow readers both entering and leaving the station. On buses, because there is a flat fare instead of a distance based one, you’ll only touch your card to the yellow reader once when you board.

What to Pack

Even at the height of summer, temperatures in London can drop down to the 50s. If you’re traveling in peak season, bring something light to throw over your shoulders should an evening get chilly, like a lightweight cardigan or pashmina. Any other time of year, expect to make ample use of jeans, boots, chunky sweaters, and light layers.

Plan on packing nicer clothes as well. This is one destination where the backpacker zip-off shorts and elephant Aladdin pants will not serve you.

London is notoriously rainy, so you may be tempted to pack an umbrella. Rather than take up space in my bag with rain gear, I just wear a good, hooded raincoat as my outer layer. You may also want to throw a rain cover over your backpack, just in case, but London rain tends to be lighter and more persistent than the kinds of deluges you get in Southeast Asia’s rainy season.

The UK uses type G three-pin plugs, so you’ll need an adapter if coming from anywhere outside the country.

Where to Stay in London

If you have the budget to stay in the very center of London, consider staying in the Shoreditch neighborhood. Packed with street art, the area has a decidedly alternative, creative vibe, and there are tons of cafes perfect for long laptop days if you’re doing a working sabbatical.

For a full month of my own sabbatical, I stayed in East Dulwich, a smaller neighborhood south of the Thames near Peckham and Brixton. Quiet and residential, I had the train station and a large supermarket within a five-minute walk. A neighborhood like this is your best bet when budget rules all.

Solo female travelers have so many options in London. Unlike many large cities where there is a best (read: safest) neighborhood to stay solo, everywhere from Shoreditch to Camden Town to Soho to Kensington to Canary Wharf and beyond gets recommended.

Where to Eat

If you know where to look, you can absolutely find cheap eats in London and as an added bonus, there is a ton of amazing international cuisine in the city. Chinatown is a bastion of quality budget dining. Cafe TPT in particular gets rave reviews for its large menu of authentic Chinese dishes. Pop into one of the locations for Herman ze German to fill up on currywurst. Stroll down Brick Lane and find an Indian or Bangladeshi joint that speaks to you. Explore one of London’s excellent markets, like Borough Market or Maltby Street Market, for a tasty sandwich or pie. (When you’re at Maltby Street, be sure to save room for a Bad Brownie!)

A traditional pub dinner is worth splurging on at least once. Consider a hearty plate of fish and chips at the Golden Hind in Marylebone or a steak and ale pie at the Queen’s Arms in South Kensington.

Afternoon tea is a must-do in London, but can be an expensive undertaking. The tea I took at The Wallace Collection, a free museum in Marylebone, is now 45 pounds. If I were on the shoestring budget of my 20s today, I might wind up at Browns in Covent Garden for 27 pounds. Or stick to lesser known neighborhoods on the outskirts like charming Dulwich Village!

What to Do in London

Samuel Johnson once rightly said he who is tired of London is tired of life. It’s true — the British capital is so chock full of things to do, you could spend years here and never run out of fun new discoveries.

For first-time visitors, I actually recommend spending a day on the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus. You’ll see these double decker tour buses all over Europe and in most places, I think they’re a waste of money. But London is so large and many of its most famous attractions are so spread out that this can be a great way to see the city for the first time. Stay on the bus for a full loop (about 2 hours) to get your bearings and snap those obligatory photos of Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. Once you know your options, you can spend the rest of the day hitting up bucket list sites like the British Museum or Westminster Abbey.

To get the most out of a sightseeing itinerary, schedule this part of your trip for a Saturday, when tours of Parliament are offered to the public. Start first thing in the morning at Westminster Abbey if you wish to go inside as its weekend hours are limited. Then hop on the double decker tour and get off at Westminster for Parliament before moving to your next desired attraction. Bear in mind that cameras are not allowed inside Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. You can snap away at the architecture outside, though.

One of the greatest things about travel in London is the wealth of free museums. Not even the iconic British Museum charges admission. Art lovers can check out the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery by Trafalgar Square or the Tate Modern on Bankside. If you’re in the mood for a full day of museum visits, hightail it to South Kensington. The famed museum street hosts the Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Science Museum — all free. The Natural History Museum in particular is filled with creative exhibits. Within walking distance from this area are the Kynance Mews, one of the most Instagrammed places in the world.

For theatre lovers, London’s West End is renowned worldwide and surprisingly it’s not off-limits to budget travelers. If you’re flying solo and willing to wait until the last minute to book tickets, you can score a great deal. I saw Wicked at the Apollo Victoria for less than 20 pounds, including a glass of prosecco. Don’t wait until the last minute to buy tickets at Shakespeare’s Globe, however. Tickets for standing room in the Yard are just 5 pounds, but performances naturally sell out well in advance.

Looking for other ways to see the city? Try one of these unique day tours of London, from murders to gin to street art.