London On A Budget

Ok, so we're probably thinking about ironing school uniforms in preparation for Monday morning, half term wasn't all that bad.  We had a day out in London for not a lot of money.  Which is fab if you're trying to watch your pennies.  It doesn't have to be expensive.  It IS possible!  My sister and I took our three kids on the train, it was my girls' first time in the 'smoke' and the train journey wasn't stressful.  Southern Rail must have known that we would be travelling that day.  As the kids are all under 16 they travelled for TWO QUID each.  That was there and back, plus buses and underground.  But that was only the first part of the bargain.  All we had to do was fill out a voucher on the back of a leaflet from the train station for fab 2 for 1 offers!  Everything is on there, from experiences to river cruises to food and drink.

Armed with said vouchers and after only catching one wrong train on the tube, (well, it was my first visit to our capital in about 15 years) we arrived at our first destination, Kensington Palace, Queen Victoria's childhoood home.  We only paid 16.50 entry, (2 for 1) and the kids were free.  All we had to do was flash our rail tickets.  We wandered around for ages, admiring the history before heading to the gift shop where the kids bought a couple of souvineirs.

We strolled back up Kensington High Street to catch the tube to our next tourist destination.  The Monument.  This was so easy to find from the station and just steps from Pudding  Lane, where the great fire started back in 1666.  We paid 4.90 for 2 of us, and the kidds went up for 2.30 each.  We managed to ascend (I don't know how!) 311 spiral steps but the view when we arrived at the top was pretty spectacular, if a little smoggy!

Now I've been back to London, I can't wait to go back again.  We'll wait until the weather is a bit warmer, it was bitter at the top of the Monument!

So yes, you can do London "on the cheap", and yes, it is definately worth it.  The kids were impeccably behaved and the most money we spent the whole day was at the Burger King at Victoria Station while waiting for the trian home.  We couldn't catch a train before 9 in the morning or before 7pm, but that's fine because when you go to London you want to maximise every minute!

Until next time,

Kelly x