To ask how much spending money you would take for a 3 day trip to London

[Vilanelle]

Bearing in mind the hotel is paid for (Wembley area). We want to be a little frugal so no posh dining.

Only tourist thing we are inclined to do is Madam Tussauds. We are there for a concert (Fleetwood Mac), not to sight see (although we will do a little).

We go next month and I am STRESSED.

For those asking dates, we arrive 15th June and leave 18th June

You can totally do it on less than £100 a day if you avoid the tourist traps. Leon is a great option for cheap yet nutritious fast food. There are branches all over London and you can get a tasty hot meal for about £6/7. Perfect for lunch.

A salt beef or smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel from one of the original beigel shops on Brick Lane is under a fiver and you can combine it with a walk around Spitalfields and Shoreditch which are both nice.

Most branches of Ping Pong do eat as much dim sum as you can on a Sunday for £25. Sounds like it would ve right up your husband's street and it is delicious.

Definitely avoid Leicester Square for food, over inflated prices for mediocre meals.

Regents Park is amazing if you are around Bond Street area. If you walk through you can have a picnic and you maybe able to see the Giraffes in London zoo poking their head out amongst the trees!

If you are close to Kings Cross, Granary Square is lovely. Lots of water fountains, lovely little coffee shops and independent cafes. I would recommend Bodega Rita’s. You can get a takeaway sandwich and then sit by the water.

Bone Daddies in SoHo is amazing for Japanese ramen, it is a chain, but it’s fab. I would suggested getting the chicken Karage bun!!

You can do a Thames boat cruise, get on by Westminster and it’s takes you all the way down to Greenwich. I think it’s about £16, the tour guide is fab though and it’s really interesting. You can pay less and get off at Tower Hill. I wouldn’t eat round there though it’s very ££££

From Tower Hill you can slowly meander to Shoreditch or St Paul’s. I think St Paul’s charges £17 to go in, but then that ticket lasts 12months.

Shoreditch is great for more independent retailers and restaurants. They have the box park with loads of insane places to eat. Voodoo rays is fab. If you go there Sunday morning you could also walk up to Columbia Flower Market.

No idea how much it costs these days but I always used to love taking a river trip from Westminster bridge up to the Tower of London and going round there. The Crown Jewels are incredible!

Such wonderful ideas, thank you! I have downloaded CityMapper and I think it will be a life saver for us. I really want to go to the Portrait Gallery, speac museum and Regents Park now!

I like the idea of a picnic in the park and taking it all in, I just hope the weather is nice.

The Japanese place we have booked is called Inamo, I have heard mixed reviews of it.

Thank you for the tips R.E meals. I will download that Open Table, does it give you prices and things?

Thanks again, mumsnetters rock

All the ideas of cheap/free stuff on this thread are great. Inamo is interesting - you order off a menu thats projected onto your table and can play games on it too, I would say the food was good, not incredible.

@Halloumimuffin Yes I have heard it is a little bit of a novelty restaurant. I like the idea of asian tapas though. That reminds me, we LOVE spanish tapas if anyone has any suggestions on anywhere that does offers!

How long is a piece of string?

Will you be drinking (factor in £5+ per drink) eating maybe £40 a night if not expensive.

I'd take about £300. To be safe.

Just use city mapper or google maps for directions - bus or tube or overground. You have to use contactless on them you can't pay cash.

If you use a local taxi company it will be cheaper. Don't use Uber.

You can walk from Regent’s Park along the regents canal to Camden.
You would join this walk about half way.

canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/walking/walking-routes/little-venice-to-camden-walk

The main South Kensington museums can get quite busy, we much prefer the City of London museums. The main one is in the city near Bank station and they also have a dock lands museum at Canary Wharf.

South bank is our favourite spot to visit, less crowded and so much to see and do for free!

Although you probably won’t have much time to travel north to south if you need to finish up in Camden.

Wembley is in zone 4 - so a trip into town will cost around £14 per adult.

That is fucking bullshit BTW

There is a £10.10 daily cap on zone 1-4 travel using a contactless debit card or oyster. As much travel in zones 1-4 on tube and bus as you like, for £10.10 a day. Winning. Any time, all day.

Or, a single journey into Z1 from Z4 off peak is £2.80.

Tapas can expand to fit your budget! Brindisa is amazing but not cheap (main one is by Borough Market). Salt Yard is fairly central, also not cheap, but fantastic. Avoid the chains. London is also crammed with ‘small plate’ eating so you can experience the tapas thing with many cuisines at the moment.

We stayed in Vauxhall recently and the walk along the Southbank was really nice looking over the Houses of Parliament.
There was also a city farm in Vauxhall too but it’s geared more towards kids/families.

The natural history museum is the obvious choice though for a full afternoon

Do people 'take spending money' to places where the currency is the same?

Bear in mind buses are cashless now and tube is easier with contactless. Out West some of the trendier restaurants are cashless now too.

That reminds me, we LOVE spanish tapas if anyone has any suggestions on anywhere that does offers!

Try the Cuban tapas place in Dalston if you're a tapas fan - it's fab.

A bus from wembley into London will take a lifetime. Use the tube. And download CityMapper app because it will tell you the fastest way to get between any two points in London and it’ll tell you how much it will cost.

Madam tussauds is awful and expensive.

Go to regents park, the natural history museum, the V&A, Borough Market, St James Park (right next to parliament, trafalgar sq etc) and south bank.

If you go to chain restaurants then you won’t be paying any more than you would for food back at home. But there is so much amazing food to be had in London that I wouldn’t waste time in chains.

If you want to go shopping don’t waste your time on Oxford street. Head to Covent garden.

I found Madam Tussauds really fun when I was about 10 so it depends who you are taking I guess. I’d certainly try almost anything to avoid it now as an adult but if my kids want to go one day..

Please don’t use Uber ! Everyone thinks they are cheap but they are not. Get a local mini cab or. Licensed London cab. Download Taxi App for black cabs.

@blueskies - that was me and was based on a zone 1-4 travelcard as opposed to tap in (it’s actually £13.10). Forgot about tap in an assumed paying £5 to register an oyster each for one day wouldn’t be worth it.

Im going strong ver the summer for 4 nights and thinking £150 a day for 5 of us. Meal out each night but i have a student card so opting for places like Zizzis etc which iffer 30%off. Breakfast is paid for ar Premier Inn so places like Greggs/Tesc for lunch. We’ll do the museums/walks etc and im buying the oyster cards before arriving.

Oh and after being out walking all day i aim to go to a supermarket to get a bottle of wine and take it to bed with me!

Citimapper is a great ap for London transport info including prices.

You don't need an Oyster - Use your contractless card on tube/bus etc and it will be automatically capped at whatever the daily travel card rate is.

Up to you how much to spend on food & drink - but there are endless places to eat for all budgets.

M&S/Pret/Wasabi everywhere for lunches and if its a lovely day you can take out and eat in a park or along Thames.

We spent 750 over 2 nights / 3 days. So that's food, west end show, London eye, travel and a very over priced meal at the rain forest cafe. X 3 people.

The British Museum is amazing and free, we didn't get around it in one day but enjoyed it so much we went back the next day. National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery are free.

I don't know where in the Country you are coming from OP but if you are going from the North, LNER have books of 2for1 tickets for a lot of the attractions