How to do nice things in London on a budget
My top tips for spending less in the UK capital
I wrote recently about a situation where I was *almost* charged over £43 for two small glasses of wine. This was in a member’s club (that I’m not a member of) in Mayfair, London.
It got me thinking about the desire to have interesting experiences and make the most of living in one of the most vibrant cities in the world, whilst keeping a handle on the purse strings. It can be challenging, but it isn’t impossible.
I’ve lived in London for 17 years and I love it! During that time I have gathered a wealth of knowledge on how to make the most of the city without spending a fortune. Over the past year I’ve honed those skills even further due to earning significantly less.
I’ve categorised these tips under the headings of Exhibitions/Museums/Things to see, Food & Drink, Live Music and Miscellaneous Stuff.
Whether you’re planning a trip to London soon, or are a resident yourself, I hope there is something here that will appeal to your creative senses.
Exhibitions/Museums/Things to see
London is famous for having many free museums and galleries. They include The National Gallery, The V&A Museum, The British Museum, Tate Modern and more. You most probably already know about these so I’m going to focus on some of the lesser known spaces. Most are free, some have an entrance fee, but if they do I feel it is worth the cost and explain my justification. If you have a student card or are are a senior citizen then you are likely to get in at a reduced cost.
1. Sir John Soane’s Museum (free entry)
This is a veritable treasure trove located in a beautiful townhouse on Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Open Wednesday to Sunday, this was formerly the home of neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds a collection of many drawings, architectural models, sculptures and antiquities that he acquired over the years including the sarcophagus of Seti I (as you do).
Sir John Soane’s Museum - 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3BP.Â
2. Garden Museum (paid entry)
Although not free to enter, I believe that this museum offers a lot of value for the entrance fee (£15 for adults, £12 for senior citizens, £8.50 for students). The exhibits are housed inside a repurposed church next door to Lambeth Palace. The design of the interior is quite something and, as well as an exhibition on gardening in the UK, there is a regularly changing art exhibition. Your entrance fee also gives you access to the tower, via a very narrow spiral staircase (131 steps), which has spectacular views over the Thames across to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
Talks and events take place in this wonderful space, with June speakers including brilliant authors Kate Bradbury and
.The cafe and restaurant at the Garden Museum is well worth a visit and is situated inside a glass extension of the church with tables looking into a beautifully designed courtyard. Their sourdough bread is exemplary.
Garden Museum - Lambeth Palace Road, SE1 7LB
3. Newport Street Gallery (free entry)
Damian Hirst’s purpose built south-of-the-river gallery is worth a visit simply for the architecture of the building. The changing exhibitions offer thought-provoking and sometimes shocking displays that will leave you contemplating what you saw for a while.
Last time I visited, I saw Brian Clarke’s stunning display of stained glass. There’s a slightly mad cafe on the top floor which is in the style of a pharmacy.
Newport Street Gallery - 1 Newport Street, SE11 6AJ
4. Japan House London (free entry)
I had no idea that this existed until my husband took me to an exhibition here recently. It’s a Japanese cultural centre combining a cafe, shop, exhibition space and arguably the best toilets you will find anywhere in London.
When we visited, the exhibition in the downstairs space was celebrating Japanese design discoveries. We were there for around an hour and afterwards enjoyed browsing the beautiful products in the shop. The toilets are complete with seat warmers and rinse and dry functions. If you’re ever on Kensington High Street and need the loo, you know where to go!
Japan House London - 101-111 Kensington High Street, W8 5SA
5. Chelsea Physic* Garden (paid entry)
Open every day except Saturdays, this walled garden is a hidden gem within the bustle of London. You do have to pay to enter (£13 for adults, £5 for students) but you could easily spend several hours there. Chelsea Physic Garden is one of the oldest botanic gardens in Europe.
The old, but extremely well kept, greenhouses are my favourite thing and especially the cacti house.
Chelsea Physic Garden - 66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HS
*even after several visits, I still have to phonetically say the word fi-sic in my head rather than sy-kick… A psychic garden, what would that entail, I wonder?
6. The Courtauld Gallery (paid/free entry)
Situated at Somerset House, The Courtauld Gallery is a small gallery with a vast collection. If you are a student, a teacher or a lecturer you can get in for free, otherwise it’s £14 to enter. The collection includes A Bar at the Folies Bergère by Édouard Manet, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear by Vincent van Gogh and many other masterpieces. There’s also a room devoted to the Bloomsbury Group and changing temporary exhibitions (at an extra cost).
The Courtauld Gallery - Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 0RN.Â
Food & Drink
Eating out in London can be both an immense pleasure and a way to see your money disappear quickly. There are occasions when a quick, cheap bite to eat is all that is required and other times where a celebratory meal and splashing a little more cash is more appropriate. I’ve tried to cover all bases here, and the foodie ideas increase in spenny-ness as the list progresses, but in every suggestion I believe that you get value for money.
1. Make a sandwich at home, fill your thermos and enjoy a picnic in one of London’s many parks.
Surprisingly, the UK capital is around 20% green space with around 3,000 parks within the Greater London area. There are eight royal parks so you are never far from somewhere to sit and eat your picnic.
When in central London, Hyde Park is a great place to find a bench and people watch whilst munching on your homemade sandwich. There is always something interesting going on and last time I was there a motorcade appeared followed by two royal carriages pulled by horses. We couldn’t see who was in them, but it wasn’t exactly an ordinary sight!
2. Find a greasy spoon
If I’m not organised enough to make a sandwich, but don’t want to get spenny, I might look for a fairly standard traditional cafe or ‘greasy spoon’. It’s best to move a little away from the main drag to find a good one, but there are many in the city centre. Despite the name, you’re likely to get decent sandwiches, baked potatoes (beans and cheese for me please), toasties or fry ups in places like this and you can absolutely guarantee a good cup of tea. The coffee might be less reliable.
Here are a couple of places I like:
Maestro Bar* – 41 Lower Belgrave Street SW1W 0LS
Earl’s Café Bar – 14 Endell Street WC2H 2BB – this is perfect if you are in the Covent Garden area and are looking for a straightforward lunch.
*no websites for these places, sorry!
3. Bibimbap
For something a little more interesting, I might look for a noodle bar or similar. I am obsessed with Korean food and I adore Bibimbap, so much so that we have some granite bowls at home to make our own. If you’ve not heard of Bibimbap, it is a rice dish served in a smoking hot granite bowl. The rice is topped with vegetables and/or meat fish, usually with a raw egg that cooks in the hot bowl and is finished with chilli sauce.
A favourite place to eat this is at the eponymous restaurant which now has several branches across the city as well as the original Soho branch on Greek Street. It’s not possible to book in advance but the turnaround of tables is pretty quick so you shouldn’t have to wait long if there’s a queue. Bibimbap dishes cost between £13.50 and £19.50 depending on the topping and they also serve noodles and other types of rice dishes. Last time I went there I ordered some tap water rather than an expensive drink and that can help to keep costs down in a very central location.
BiBimBap - 11 Greek St, W1D 4DJ (and three other locations across the city)
4. Get fancy with a mid-week Michelin-starred lunch
For a special occasion, we might prefer to go somewhere a little more fancy. London has an incredible array of truly excellent restaurants but it’s fair to say that you can end up parting with a huge amount of money. 12.5% seems to be the standard service charge added to bills, though it’s worth noting that this is discretionary.
Although certainly not cheap, booking a mid-week lunch set menu can be a more manageable way to eat in some of the best restaurants. Most Michelin starred restaurants offer this option and it’s often significantly less costly than their dinner menus, but just as tasty.
I was lucky enough to be taken to Chishuru for my birthday lunch a couple of weeks ago. This was good value for me because my husband paid for it! Chishuru is a West African restaurant that recently earned a Michelin star and the food was stunning. The lunch menu was £45 per person for 3 courses compared with the dinner menu which is £95 per person. As I said, not a bargain, but a way to eat exciting food for a little less than in the evenings.
Chishuru - 3 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 8AX
5. If you like good wine with your food…
There are a couple of other wonderful wine bars and pubs that I love for their ambience and excellent food and wine. They aren’t necessarily cheap but they are places I would willingly save up my money to visit occasionally.
Andrew Edmunds - 46 Lexington Street, W1F 0LP
Antidote Wine Bar & Shop - 12A Newburgh St, W1F 7RR
Anchor & Hope Pub - 36 The Cut, SE1 8LP
Live Music
My creative background is musical. I studied music at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and have been teaching music and composing for a large portion of my life. For me, there is nothing more enriching to my soul than live music. London is a vibrant and diverse place with world-class performances occurring daily. Here are some of my top tips to hear it.
1. Free or ‘pay what you can’ at Conservatoire Concerts
London has several world-leading conservatoires of music training up the next generation of musicians. And guess what? They perform regularly!
Students at the Royal College of Music perform regularly in a series of concerts which operate on a ‘pay what you can’ basis. Most are at the college in South Kensington, but some take place in the RCM Museum or even at the nearby Royal Albert Hall.
Over to the east of the city, based within the Barbican Centre, Guildhall students also showcase their talents on a regular basis. Some concerts are free, others charge a small fee.
My own alma mater, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is based south of the river in Greenwich. An array of concerts take place throughout the academic year and the standard of the jazz music is notably high here.
2. Ronnie Scott’s
You might be thinking that this would be an expensive option, but I don’t think that is the case. The ambience and the quality of the music is absolutely top notch. I’ve been to quite a few jazz clubs across the world and Ronnie’s remains my favourite.
You have to be committed to listening when entering; chatting or mobile phone use during the show is a no-no, but if you adore good music then I urge you to give it a go. Drinks can add up, but compared to the Mayfair wine it’s a bargain. A 175ml glass of house wine costs £10, cocktails start at £13.25 and the cheapest beer is £5.95. For Soho, this isn’t bad and is tempered by the sounds of the music!
If you book main house tickets and want to save a little, I would recommend booking the restricted view tickets. It sounds bad, but really it means there’s a post slightly distorting your view. Those tickets are usually £5-10 cheaper than the standard seats.
Upstairs @ Ronnie Scott’s is a little more informal and for those shows you can sometimes turn up on the door or book a ticket in advance for as little as £10. The quality of the jazz will be excellent.
Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club - 47 Frith Street, W1D 4HT
Miscellaneous Stuff
1. Walking in Hidden London
Several years ago, my sister bought me a set of three little books by Stephen Millar titled ‘London’s Hidden Walks’. Millar has since released a fourth volume, which I now have as well. Each book contains detailed walks across all corners of the city where the focus is on noticing what is around you. The simple act of looking up enables the flâneur/se to experience the city in a completely different way. Most walks are not too long, usually 3 or 4 miles in total, but they are packed with historical and cultural information which allows you to see the city with fresh eyes.
These walks are great when combined with a picnic in a passed-through park or a stop off at a local gallery. In fact, I first discovered Newport Street Gallery on such a walk.
Hop on a bus for £1.75
If you are a visitor to London, you might be tempted by one of those open-topped buses that are ubiquitous with every capital city. I’ve never been on one, but have seen some of the prices.
If you’re tempted by one of those, my suggestion would instead be to hop on a red TfL (Transport for London) bus and tap in with your bank card. Any journey across the city will cost you £1.75, and you can even change onto a different bus route for that price if it’s within an hour of your original tap.
Here are a couple of suggested routes depending on what you’d like to see:
Route 24: Pimlico to Hampstead Heath:
Catch this bus from Victoria where it will then head past Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. The bus then turns down Whitehall and passes Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s home, before reaching Trafalgar Square, where you can spot Nelson’s Column and the famous lion statues.
If you stay on this route you will eventually end up in Camden, and end at Hampstead Heath. The vast green space is worth exploring and going up the hill to see some spectacular view of London.
Route 9: Aldwych to Hammersmith:
Beginning at Aldwych, close to the Courtauld Gallery and Somerset House, this route continues along the Strand to Trafalgar Square. It then makes its way (slowly) down Picadilly, past Green Park and the Ritz Hotel.
After that it passes Harrod’s in Knightsbridge followed by the Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Palace. Past Japan House London and then through beautiful Holland Park. I’d probably alight here and head back into the city after exploring the park and possibly also the Design Museum.
I really hope that some of this is useful, but I’d also love to hear your London tips. There are so many hidden delights and I find that it’s good to remind myself of these quite regularly, especially when I feel like everywhere I turn is being taken over by yet another chain!
Hannah x
I’m Hannah Ashe, a multi-hyphenate based in London. I left my full-time teaching job in July 2023 to pursue a more creative approach to work. These days I earn my living from a variety of sources including interior design consultancy, music teaching (saxophone, piano, composition and theory), writing, podcasting and building this Substack. Do come and say hello in the comments!
What great suggestions, Hannah! I recognise a few of them that we’ve done together 😊
For greasy spoons, if north of the river then Shepherdess Cafe on City Road, you might even recognise it as it’s been used in various gangster movies. Saff of the river Terrys Cafe on Great Suffolk Street, best bangers in London and some interesting old pics of London on the walls…