London on a Shoe String Budget is a Must Do Bucket List Trip

As the world gradually reopens for travellers, a trip to the Queen’s city for free rides, history spotting, Harry Potter moments and Alpacas is the right way to kickstart your vacay

London is a criminally expensive city. We all know that! But if you plan your trip right, there’s loads you can see and do without burning a hole in your pocket.

Photo Courtesy The Guardian

Shard to The Big Ben- A Walk Down History Lane

Be it the much debated modern marvel Shard, or the beautiful Big Ben, still majestic even as it undergoes costly repairs, a walk down South Bank is a lived moment in history. There’s beauty, and remnants of a colonial past of our world that makes you think and take a breath. With multiple bridges connecting both banks of the Thames, you can spend a couple of days just walking and cooling your heels down this path. Which also means you need to get your F&B budget in place for it is peppered with cafes, eateries and delis from different parts of the world.
And if your walk leads you to the Shard, the eye popping glass and chrome building, stop to see the evolution of human architecture as it adapts to new needs over just two centuries!

Free Passes and Budget Passes for Entertainment And Art

London is home to some of the world’s most precious historical artifacts and classical forms of onstage entertainment. Be it the Opera House, West End musicals, movies at Leicester Square theatres or street theatre, you must soak in some of this entertainment. Its also worth checking out art, history and specific museums that capture legacies of human evolution.

And while paying in pounds for all of this would burn a hole in your pocket, you can always get tourist passes. For local travel, get a day pass to access labyrinthine tube and overground rail routes. Passes make accessing places of tourist value cheaper and also offer information on free walking tours and free days of access. My top picks are Greenwich Musuem, the National Portrait Gallery and the mind blowing Tate Modern- home to the most complex and impossible to understand modern art! Of course, its all worth a good laugh. And while you’re at it, you must walk up to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to check out how people stood in freezing rain and wind to catch a glimpse of the Bard’s dramas.