I'm visiting my Aunt in London this weekend, and thought I'd set myself a challenge: to have a Saturday out in London for only ₤10. Sound impossible? Well, there's more.
You see, I know London. I lived here for a year. So I thought I'd up the ante. The ₤10 must include all transportation, all food (not including breakfast and supper, which I'm having at my Aunt's), and include at least 1 museum, 1 gallery, and 1 live performance. I used some of the tricks from my previous blog post on entertainment on a shoestring, but still I was nervous that I couldn't pull it off...
8:30am - leave house
I realized that I forgot to fill my water bottle up, but otherwise I was prepared for the day ahead. I had ₤5.80 in cash, an umbrella, my (sadly empty) water bottle, and my tablet which had the day's activities on it. I planned ahead by consulting Time Out London online, where you can filter by "free" activities.
Not shown in photo: my oyster card with ₤4.20. This is the cost of a day pass if you only take busses. The tube is completely unnecessary with careful planning and a sense of adventure!
10:00am - V&A, South Kensington
As you can see, the V&A is ADMISSION FREE! They do ask for a small donation, which I would normally give. I certainly always donate if I am taking a map. But I had no budget for maps, so I didn't take one.
I went up to the top floors, since I've seen most of what's on the bottom ones. I did go through the India (see the tiger mauling a colonial?) and Japan (Lolita fashion) exhibitions, too, since they're my favourite. On the top floor there was an interesting exhibit on architecture and design vs. colour and function. There was also a new exhibit on the use of furniture in our lives (no picture).
11:30am - Harrods
I went in search of free nibbles. There were no free nibbles. It was crowded. Harrods is rubbish, enough said.
11:45am - bus to Oxford Street
I'm not sure about Marmite sponsoring the Oxford Street Christmas lights... You either love it or hate it, I guess!
12:30pm - Regent's Street, Leicester square, Covent Garden
I decided to walk rather than bus, because it was a lovely day and I needed the exercise. Also, you get to bump into more things while walking than while on a bus. For instance, in Leicester square there was a promotion for the new movie Rise of the Guardians, which included loads of free activities for children, such as this "snow slide" (the ironic thing is that if there was actually snow in London, it would be closed for "health and safety reasons...). I was sadly too old, but it looked like fun!
//Sidebar// Doesn't it defeat the point of Hollister when the hotties outside are wearing winter clothing? Just a thought...
I realized that I forgot to fill my water bottle up, but otherwise I was prepared for the day ahead. I had ₤5.80 in cash, an umbrella, my (sadly empty) water bottle, and my tablet which had the day's activities on it. I planned ahead by consulting Time Out London online, where you can filter by "free" activities.
Not shown in photo: my oyster card with ₤4.20. This is the cost of a day pass if you only take busses. The tube is completely unnecessary with careful planning and a sense of adventure!
10:00am - V&A, South Kensington
As you can see, the V&A is ADMISSION FREE! They do ask for a small donation, which I would normally give. I certainly always donate if I am taking a map. But I had no budget for maps, so I didn't take one.
I went up to the top floors, since I've seen most of what's on the bottom ones. I did go through the India (see the tiger mauling a colonial?) and Japan (Lolita fashion) exhibitions, too, since they're my favourite. On the top floor there was an interesting exhibit on architecture and design vs. colour and function. There was also a new exhibit on the use of furniture in our lives (no picture).
11:30am - Harrods
I went in search of free nibbles. There were no free nibbles. It was crowded. Harrods is rubbish, enough said.
11:45am - bus to Oxford Street
I'm not sure about Marmite sponsoring the Oxford Street Christmas lights... You either love it or hate it, I guess!
12:00pm - LUNCH!
This was the most difficult part of my plan. How to have lunch on so little money? The solution was to pay a visit first to the Selfridges' food hall, and then to the M&S food hall (which are conveniently across the street from each other). I first made my way through all the free nibbles available (including chocolate, meat pie, minced pie, lots and lots of oils and vinegar, and some bread).
Then at M&S I bought one banana, one bun, a single slice of ham
(from a very confused looking deli counter attendant), one pack of
chips, and one mandarin cranberry cookie. My delicious lunch came to ₤2.46 and satisfied me greatly. I sat on a bench across from Selfridges to eat it, and watched the world go by.
12:30pm - Regent's Street, Leicester square, Covent Garden
I decided to walk rather than bus, because it was a lovely day and I needed the exercise. Also, you get to bump into more things while walking than while on a bus. For instance, in Leicester square there was a promotion for the new movie Rise of the Guardians, which included loads of free activities for children, such as this "snow slide" (the ironic thing is that if there was actually snow in London, it would be closed for "health and safety reasons...). I was sadly too old, but it looked like fun!
//Sidebar// Doesn't it defeat the point of Hollister when the hotties outside are wearing winter clothing? Just a thought...
Santa very kindly donated two of his reindeer for the entertainment of "children"... ahem. I also bumped into my first live performance! This was the London Gay Men's Choir, and they were fabulous in so many ways. Actually they were fantastic singers, and the fact that they were pulling off complex harmonies AND tinsel crowns just added to the joy.
St Martin in the Fields is a small church beside Trafalgar square. It has recently been renovated, and boasts a cafe-crypt in the basement, where you can eat a delicious hot meal on top of dead people's graves. It also boasts heated free loos!
St Martin in the Fields also happens to be a top concert location, and concerts mean rehearsals. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons are fruitful rehearsal times, though it can be a bit pot-luck about timings and performance type. The music is always good, however, and if you enter the church during a rehearsal you can sit quietly in a pew for as long as you want. Even with no rehearsal, I find this church to be particularly relaxing. It feels spiritual. It's also a very open and liberal church, as you can see by this moving note by the Reverand Sam Wells which he wrote in response to the Anglican Synod's decision to not allow female Bishops.
3:00pm - National Portrait Gallery
I wanted to see an exhibition on Marilyn Munroe, but couldn't find it. Instead, there were some interesting photographs of pre-WWII movie stars which were stunning. I didn't stay very long, but the free admission was nice :)
4:00pm - South Bank German Christmas Market
Sorry about the quality of the following photos - I'm having some issues with my camera.
South Bank is always good for a laugh, and at the moment the Christmas market is there. I wandered the Christmas market, managed to stave off cravings for Bratwurst (₤4.50!!!) and Gluhwein (₤3.50!!!) and instead settled for some European-style licorice, which I love. I also saw Santa! Though I was a bit surprised by his London accent.
Along the South Bank there is a little grotto which has been turned into a Skate park. It's a good place to watch young kids
4:30 - BFI
I wandered into the British Film Institute to see what was on offer and found this:
AH! Unfortunately all the terminals were taken, but it's ON MY LIST for a future date!
4:45 - Tate Modern
I wandered over to the Tate Modern (I was killing time before a Jazz concert...), and saw a very strange exhibition about film and story telling called "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear". It was weird, but free. I love the Tate Modern, mostly because it's in an old factory and I'm obsessed with repurposed buildings.
5:45 - National Theatre
Jazz Concert! At the National Theatre! This was the Philip Cloutts trio. They were very good indeed, but I'm more of a swing jazz girl and this group was more soft Jazz. It wasn't too improvized though, and had nice melodies, so I could appreciate it.
I wandered into the British Film Institute to see what was on offer and found this:
AH! Unfortunately all the terminals were taken, but it's ON MY LIST for a future date!
4:45 - Tate Modern
I wandered over to the Tate Modern (I was killing time before a Jazz concert...), and saw a very strange exhibition about film and story telling called "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear". It was weird, but free. I love the Tate Modern, mostly because it's in an old factory and I'm obsessed with repurposed buildings.
5:45 - National Theatre
Jazz Concert! At the National Theatre! This was the Philip Cloutts trio. They were very good indeed, but I'm more of a swing jazz girl and this group was more soft Jazz. It wasn't too improvized though, and had nice melodies, so I could appreciate it.
6:30pm - Home James
On the bus home, we took a wrong turn, the driver had an argument with a passenger, and then there was a mystery traffic jam where a) there is never quite traffic jam and b) there was no reason for it. More free entertainment!
Summary: 1 museum, 2 galleries, 3 live performances, lunch, snack and transportation for a total of £9.51. Success!
Awesome! The free museums sound cool! And I'm surprised you can buy snacks for under £3! I'm now curious how it could be done in Toronto (must be a walking tour as a TTC pass is $10.50). The trick is to find free admission! But then, you did it in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
ReplyDeleteThanks David! Yes, the trick is to find free admission. London is expensive, but full of free admission places. Toronto would be harder, I think, but AMC has challenged me to a day for $15 and I'm taking up her offer when I get back. I probably wouldn't get a day pass, but maybe use two tokens ($5) for longer journeys if required.
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