Bus

There are various bus companies that provide travel between different cities and for airport transfers. We have found National Express to be very good for both. They’re fairly reliable and punctual, but do keep in mind that traffic in some areas can be absolutely dreadful and no schedule can adequately plan for those unpredictable delays.

We have also used easyBus for airport transfers, especially from Gatwick. I have heard good things about Megabus, which often has much cheaper fares.

Most cities and villages have at least some public bus access. I have found Google Maps to be pretty reliable with showing accurate schedules, but the Traveline GB app (for Apple users) is extremely helpful. You can look up schedules and do route planning for pretty much anywhere in the UK. I’ve even used it in small rural villages. It does a great job of showing you different options that include the UK trains as well. And it’s free!

As you can imagine, bus travel between cities can be a long process. Often the train is quicker and more convenient but not always.

Buses can also be a bit expensive. Recently, we were staying just outside Manchester. A 20-minute one-way bus ride into town near the rail station cost over $7 USD for 1 adult and child (as opposed to fares of $1.25 USD per person in many European cities). Not necessarily a budget buster, but if you’re going to be taking buses a lot you need to be aware of that.

UK Trains

Journey planning

This can be quite the process. There are several companies providing service to the same areas. They can charge different prices, have different lengths of time for the same journey, etc. Amenities vary as well. Some have trolley service (coffee, tea, sodas, alcohol, light snacks, sandwiches, and so on), while some don’t.

In our experience, Virgin often has faster routes between larger cities. Sometimes their route shaves off almost 2 hours from a trip. They are also very responsive on social media, which I really appreciate.

One thing to definitely remember when traveling by train is that buying tickets on a non-commuter route in advance can save you a considerable amount of money. Often the further out the cheaper the deal.

I’ve tried various sites and apps, and the best one I’ve found is trainline.com. You can use either their website or their phone app for planning purposes, purchasing tickets, etc. If you create an account, any tickets you buy online will show up in the phone app as well, and vice versa. It’s extremely useful.

Most of the time you’ll need to retrieve your tickets from a kiosk in a rail station, but that usually takes no time at all. The phone app stores your confirmation number which you’ll need to retrieve the tickets.

Whenever possible, though, it’s best to talk to a live person to get the best fares. For instance, in Scotland if you are traveling with a child between the ages of 5 and 15 during off-peak hours, they ride for free. But the websites don’t account for this.

Also, sometimes it’s cheaper to buy a ticket to a destination a few stations past the one you want. One of my friends said that her parents can save money by buying a ticket to a station 3 stops past their own. They just get off the train at the appropriate stop. You generally won’t know this type of information unless you speak with the ticket agents who know all the tricks.

But, if you’re not in the UK and want to get cheaper fares, then the above website/app is your best friend.

One downside is the site will often show you a certain fare (for return trips) if you travel “off peak” but it doesn’t show you what those hours are. Sometimes all travel is off peak for that route, sometimes the peak is quite a bit more expensive. You can be charged extra if you have an off-peak ticket and travel during peak time so be careful. If you scroll through the available tickets, though, you can usually figure out which is peak and off-peak.

Schedules

During our first trip to the UK, trains were almost always completely on time.  This last trip, I would say that trains were late probably 75% of the time. Usually it’s just a few minutes, though.

Personally, I would not rely on long-distance train schedules if you’re on your way to catch a flight.

We had one issue where a train had to turn back because copper wires had been stolen from the tracks ahead and signaling was down, so they rerouted all trains. That caused us a 2-hour delay.

On another train ride, there was a gas pipe leak ahead and they stopped all train travel. That resulted in about a 4- to 5-hour delay for us. It also happened to be the day we were traveling from southern England to Scotland, so we had a 14-hour travel day thanks to this hiccup.

We had a train show up 20 minutes late because another train had broken down on the tracks.

So, if I’m doing something like being in London and flying out of Manchester, I go up the day before just in case.

If you miss a connection because of a late train, you can get a stamp so you can use your ticket on the next available train with that company. Ask if you can get a seat reservation for the next train, but don’t hold your breath.

Seat Reservations

Whenever this is an option, take it! Some of these trains get really crowded. We’ve been on several that were standing room only.

If you’re using the website or app, just mark seat reservation for any ticket you’re purchasing. If it’s available, it will make the reservation for you. If it isn’t an option, it will just get you regular tickets. There isn’t an extra charge for the reservation.

Rail Passes

There are several different types of passes you can purchase that can save you a lot of money. For example, we bought the Family & Friends pass. This enables up to 4 adults traveling with up to 4 children (none of you have to be related) to get a really good discount. Adults get about 30% off and kids 60%. We’ve had many times where the cost for both of us to travel was less than it would be if I was solo because of this card. (For this pass you must be traveling with at least 1 child who is under 16).

Over the past couple of months, this pass has more than paid for itself, but the savings from just one of our trips was enough to recoup the cost. If you plan on doing a lot of travel within the UK by rail, it’s worth looking into these.

You can buy them online (you will need a mailing address) and at some rail stations. They issue these quite rapidly.  I ordered ours online at about 3 PM and received it the following morning, and that was standard delivery.

When buying tickets online or at a kiosk, you just indicate you have a pass. It will ask you to select the appropriate one before giving you the final cost. (You don’t need the pass ID# or anything like that, but you should have the pass on you when actually traveling in case you’re asked for it.)

The passes work the same with all rail companies.

Commuter routes

Trains between some cities are regular commuter routes. These tickets are usually cheaper and are more open ended, i.e., a ticket is valid for a train any time that day. It also doesn’t usually matter when you buy these tickets. The price doesn’t fluctuate like other journeys can. Quite often these are cheaper (and faster) than using the local buses.

Anytime travel

When buying some tickets, you will sometimes have the option to purchase a ticket for a specific train, or by paying a bit extra you can get a ticket that is valid for any train that specific day. If you use the website above, it will show you the various price options to help you better decide.

Generally speaking, I usually buy the anytime ticket when it’s available.  I just like the flexibility, and several times I have ended up leaving earlier or staying later than originally planned.

UK trains aren’t always cheaper

When looking at flights back to the UK before our upcoming trip from Glasgow to Mexico, many train tickets from London to Glasgow (a 5- to 6-hour journey if there are no issues) were ending up costing about $150 USD with our pass. Meanwhile, a 1-1/2-hour flight between those two destinations was around $40 USD total.

Make sure to check out flights when you’re going long distances in the UK. You may just save yourself a bunch of money and many hours of travel.

Car hire

We didn’t do a car rental, but I know other travelers who have. I did consider it at some point. Rates were generally pretty reasonable (and often included insurance), so if you can handle the idea of driving on the left side of the road and paying about $6-8/gallon for gas, this could be a great way to travel. Rural UK is absolutely gorgeous, and you can have some experiences traveling by car that you wouldn’t have otherwise, and it’s also nice not to be dependent on rail and bus schedules.

It’s a worthwhile option to consider.

What other questions or tips do you have about using UK trains, buses, etc., to get around the country?

Neighborhoods

We lucked out and were able to stay at a friend’s place in the East End when we were in London. They were off on a sail boat in Central America. The timing was extremely fortuitous. We really enjoyed being there. It was close to canals, a station for the Underground, some great ethnic areas and restaurants, and so on.

I think I would like to experience a different neighborhood on our return visit.

No matter where we stay, we’ll still explore other areas. I’m quite intrigued by Covent Garden for some reason. The name is just intriguing to me.

Activities

London has a great bike rental system, and I would love to see more of the city by bike. There are fat bike tours that go along the Thames, and I think that sounds pretty interesting.

The cable car was closed for maintenance during our time here, and I’d like to check that out as well. After years of dealing with my fear of falling, I’ve finally managed to not panic in cable cars. I generally seek them out now.

Tigger would have a great time at Go Ape Trent Park with all the zip lines, Tarzan swings, high ropes, and so on.

Places

We didn’t get to go to Hampton Court, and I would really like to visit it. I’ve heard very good things from friends, and I’m also quite fascinated by Henry VIII and that time period.

While we saw the Shard from the outside (hard to miss considering it’s Western Europe’s tallest building), we didn’t go inside. I enjoyed the views from the London Eye, so I imagine it would be even more incredible from within London’s newest landmark.

I also want to see the city at night. I imagine it’s really beautiful with the bridges and places like Trafalgar Square all lit up.

We didn’t get to visit Hyde Park either which is something I plan on doing next time. I want to see the famed Speakers’ Corner and possibly the memorial fountain for Princess Diana.

I’m hoping for a house sit so that we can stay in the area longer to really soak up all that London has to offer. It’s such a fun city I really want to get to know her better.

Where would you want to go on when you visit London?

It certainly isn’t immune from problems, though. Something we discovered a bit more deeply yesterday when a series of hiccups turned our 5-hour travel day turned into 11 hours.

The day started out quite nicely. We had gorgeous weather, and everything went without a hitch in turning over the house and animals back to their owners.

When we boarded our first train, we had a slight bump. For some reason someone else had our reserved seats. We looked at each other’s tickets, and sure enough we had the same seat assignment. He was more perturbed than me, but there were plenty of other seats and since I was with a kiddo, he decided to move. Just a minor, rather odd hitch.

About 10 minutes later we would discover the cause of the error.

I handed the conductor our tickets, to which he replied: “I need your tickets, sir.”

“Umm, those are my tickets.” I had double checked to make sure I had the correct route and everything.

The conductor took a second glance at the pile of tickets in his hand. “Sir, you’re on the wrong train.”

There had been a last-minute platform change that we were unaware of. Not only was it the wrong train, but it was going in the opposite direction, too.

UK trains can be quite strict, and normally I would’ve been charged for the mixup, but thankfully they were going to allow us to switch trains at the next stop at no extra charge. Phew!

Unfortunately, the snafu meant we would miss our connection and have to take a later one. That segment of the journey was with a different train company, so there was no guarantee that I wasn’t going to have to fork out more money for that route.

When we boarded the right train for our final destination, I was slightly nervous as I handed over our tickets to the conductor. He didn’t even flinch as he punched them and handed them back.

We had dodged a bullet and would only be slightly delayed on our arrival! I was so relieved I wasn’t going to have buy 2 new tickets.

Thirty minutes into our journey, however, we had a special announcement: Due to a freight train derailment at Crewe, we can’t go through. We’re going to turn the train around and head back to Manchester and use a different route. This will cause at least an hour delay. However, we don’t know if our service will be able to continue south. We’ll know that later.”

Obviously, this just wasn’t going to be a smooth travel day! I just hoped there weren’t any serious injuries from the derailment. I was glad to be in the polite UK, too. People around us only grumbled slightly as they pulled out their phones to make the necessary calls. I’ve been in other places where temper tantrums would’ve ensued.

As we returned to Manchester, the conductor announced that we would indeed be able to continue southward so at least we weren’t looking at having to find another way into Cardiff. Another huge relief!

The next joy was discovering that unlike every other train we had been on that day, this one didn’t have a trolley service or dining car. We had already eaten dinner, but we had no way of getting something to drink.

Of course, this was the one time I didn’t overdo it and bring on extra drinks and snacks (for the bottomless pit that my son calls a stomach). See what not following your routine can do sometimes?

Needless to say, by the time we got to our hotel room, we were ready to collapse.

But even with all the hiccups, train travel is still easier and better than air travel any day.

Have you had a particularly “fun” adventure by train? Share it with us!

While in Honduras, I had the adventure of seeing a local dentist. She turned out to be quite the hack, and I was left with just half of a tooth above the gum line. She recommended I go to the mainland and see an endodontist saying that I wouldn’t last more than a month without problems from the tooth.

Well, since the tooth didn’t have any major problems until she got a hold of it, I decided to wait. And for over 2 years I’ve had no problem from that tooth. In the back of my mind I knew I should do something about it. I know that decay in a tooth can bring nasty stuff to the heart, but, well I’m not a fan of going to the dentist.

Like I’m alone in that, right?

I considered getting it taken care of while in SE Asia. They have good dentistry and are inexpensive. I had already decided to have it extracted since the decay was below the gum line which I know really drops the potential for success of a root canal.

And I’ve seen and heard enough about root canals to know that just wasn’t going to be the road I went down.

Again I considered it in Czech, but it wasn’t bothering me. So why mess with what isn’t broken, right? OK, fine. Yes, I was just too chicken to get it done.

Knowing that we would soon be back in Mexico, I decided I’d get it addressed then. Nothing like putting off stuff we really don’t want to do.

But the tooth had a different plan.

A few days ago it began hurting. I hoped it would magically stop and wait until we were in Mexico. The UK isn’t exactly known for being inexpensive after all. But I had no such luck. The next day the pain came on with a fury, and I began phoning dentists.

“Sorry, but if you aren’t in the NHS (the national health service), we can’t see you.” Do you know an office who will take me? “Try the Internet.”

Oh so helpful! I did try the Internet, but they don’t exactly advertise “If you don’t have the NHS, you’re still welcome here!”

One office suggested I phone 111, which is the NHS help line. They asked a bunch of questions before giving me a number for an emergency dentist. Finally, I was going to get some help!

At least that’s what I thought until I rang them. “They don’t start referrals until half past 6.” Great. I had another 4-1/2 hours to go before I could find out if I could get in somewhere. I decided to call other dentists. I finally found a few who would see me as a new patient, but not until the next day.

Most of the staff I spoke with were completely apathetic. One, however, really went out of her way to try to get me in. We set up an appointment for the first thing in the morning. If I was lucky enough to get in elsewhere, I could just leave them a voicemail.

When half past 6 came, I phoned the emergency line. And no one answered. It would take 20 minutes before someone finally picked up. Only to tell me they had nothing for me until the morning. It was hard to not be surly at this point.

The appointment at the helpful place (St. Saviourgate Dental Practice) was before the buses started running. The idea of driving in an unfamiliar town while doped up on pain meds didn’t appeal to me. Thankfully, I was able to get a lovely neighbor to drive me into town on his way to the rail station.

So what was the UK dentist like? Well, when I got there they once again apologized they couldn’t see me the day before. I was escorted to a very comfortable lounge and offered a tea or coffee while I waited. The dentist introduced himself by his first name and sat down to hear my story.

The x-ray revealed what I had already figured out—I had an abscess. That always make numbing a tooth challenging. He wasn’t deterred, though. He did a thorough blocking of nerves, and when I was mostly numb, he injected around and inside the tooth. He was so good that I didn’t even realize the extraction was completed until he told me so. I hadn’t felt a thing other than slight pressure. PHEW!

I made sure to tell him how good the experience was. If only they were all like him!

They don’t seem to medicate for pain as much as we do in the States, though. I was told to take Tylenol or ibuprofen for pain, and in the US we always gave our extraction patients something with codeine or such. Needless to say, ibuprofen wasn’t enough for the postoperative pain, but the next day things were feeling a lot better.

How much did it cost? It came out to $232 USD. Ouch! But the care was excellent, and since it was an emergency visit for a new patient I can’t complain too much.

The biggest part of the adventure was just finding someone who would see me! I hadn’t expected to need hours of phone calls to find an office that would take me. My Brit friends said, “There’s a reason we have a reputation for having bad teeth.”

Quite.

Have you had a health adventure while traveling? How did it go?

This fountain reminded me a lot of Tigger and I.

I never realized Turkish delight comes in so many flavors!

Classic Tigger

One his big wishes was to cross this bridge, so we did. This bridge has had about 5 incarnations, one of which resides in Arizona.

This is where Jack the Ripper’s first victim was found.

I just love these narrow side streets

Home of an amazing bagel with salted beef sandwich. And it’s open 24 hours!

One of my best friends who died recently was a big fan of this king.

This is where the queen enters the Houses of Parliament when she addresses them.

 London is such a huge and diverse city, I don’t know how much time you’d have to invest to really get to know her. It’s definitely worth the effort, though.

Visiting the icons of London

Thankfully, seeing most of the most famous sites in London can be done without forking out money. As long as you’re content to see only the exteriors. Quite often getting inside is going to make your wallet hurt.

With a pretty easy walk you can see quite a lot. Starting with lovely Green Park, a short walk will take you by the famous (but rather boring in my opinion) Buckingham Palace. From here you can stroll along The Mall past St. James Palace to Trafalgar Square. There are some lovely fountains, interesting statues, and the National Gallery here.

Continuing on your way, you’ll pass #10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives. A short distance from here you get a few landmarks all at once: Westminster Abbey, the Jewel Tower, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and Victoria Tower. At the base of the Victoria Tower is the Sovereign Entrance where the queen enters when she addresses Parliament.

This area is woefully short on public toilets. Unless you’re eating in a restaurant, plan on using the bathrooms in the Underground station. You’ll find these after you pass Downing Street and before you cross at the traffic light right in front of Big Ben.

Hop onto the Underground or catch a double-decker bus to arrive at the Tower Bridge. You can do a nice loop by crossing the bridge, walking past a large part of the perimeter of the Tower of London and crossing the river again over London Bridge.

London Eye

Since it’s opening in 2000, this very high Ferris wheel has become an iconic part of London and its skyline. The London Eye is very much part of the London experience now. Europe’s tallest Ferris wheel is 443 feet tall and is the fourth tallest in the world.

Passengers ride in one of 32 sealed capsules (air conditioned during summer). The capsules are quite large and can hold up to 25 people. It is a very slow, stable ride. So slow, in fact, that it takes 30 minutes to complete one revolution. Because of its snail pace, it rarely needs to stop to let people on or off.

This is definitely not a budget attraction. If you buy a standard ticket online (which offers you a discount), you can expect to pay a whopping $30 USD for an adult and $21 for a child (4-15 years old). The standard ticket means you can also expect to wait in line for at least 30 minutes. For an extra $14 per adult you can get a fast track ticket which means you won’t have to stand in line nearly as long.

Your ticket includes admission to a short 4D film. Neither Tigger nor I were all that thrilled with the film. He rated it a 3/10 which I think is fair.

It was an enjoyable ride, and you definitely get to see quite a bit of London, but I’m not sure I’d say it’s worth the price unless you just really feel the need to tick it off your London bucket list.

Food

London is quite proud of its curry status, and you’ll find tons of curry places (more here than in any city in India in fact). Being an enormous, diverse city you can easily find pretty much any type of food your heart desires. Chinatown (near Leicester Square, which is within walking distance from Trafalgar Square) is a good spot for finding some great eateries and some street food.

The small shops will hurt your bank account much less. For restaurant dining, you’ll want to go during lunchtime when it’s cheaper.

Food tour

While we were in London, we were hosted by Eating London on their food tour of the East End, and I can highly recommend this tour. It was a lot of fun, and we had some extremely good food. Tigger says the bacon sandwich we had on this tour is probably his favorite memory of London (and the best bacon of all time). For me it would probably be the bread and butter pudding with rum custard sauce and the bagel with salted beef (corned beef to us Americans).

The tour was a great blend of yummy food, learning about cheeses, history and culture. Don’t eat breakfast before the tour, though.

We’ve done a variety of food tours on our travels, and this one ranks way up there.

Markets

There are a lot of great markets in London. We really enjoyed the Borough Market, but Spitalfields was also good. The Camden markets were highly recommended to us, but we didn’t have time to make it there. I’ve been told the weekend is the best time to visit Camden.

We visited Chrisp Street Market a couple of times, but I can’t really recommend it. It was a decent place to find cheaper food places, though. Perhaps it’s better on the weekend, but it’s very much a neighborhood market so is quite small. If you’re in the area, it wouldn’t hurt to stop and check it out to get a feel for a small local market.

Canals

There are some lovely paths along the various canals in the city. They’re great to explore while on bicycle. You’ll probably enjoy the break from the big city areas. You can see some sides of historic London that you probably wouldn’t see otherwise.

Getting lost

I love trying to get lost when exploring an area. London is a superb place for doing it, too. So many areas are really quirky or quaint. Just go for a walk and take side streets that look interesting. You’ll probably find some great ones. You might even feel like you’ve found Diagon Alley (from the Harry Potter books/movies).

Which are your favorite places to visit in London?

We are living in a home built in 1860. Our furry companions include three dogs and two cats. However, we also have a pet chicken in the home. She was a battery hen rescue (egg factory). She had broken one of her legs, and of course it was never noticed there. Unfortunately the leg healed badly, so she can only hop around on one leg. She would get attacked by the other chickens, so Grace lives in the home where she keeps the dogs in line.

People are amazingly friendly here, and across the street we have the village shop which has various grocery items as well as serving as the village post office.

About three doors down we have an excellent fish & chips shop, and we have two pubs in extremely close proximity. As I look out my living room windows, it isn’t uncommon to see people riding their horses past our house. It is a sleepy town indeed.

Thankfully, a neighbor takes care of the six horses. I’m not into mucking out stalls thank you very much. However, I am in charge of caring for 34 hens. They reside in a field down the street which gives us and the dogs some exercise daily.

A typical day for me begins with starting a fire in the stove in the living room to take the chill out of the air while my water comes to a boil for my morning coffee. We have an Aga stove which is quite an interesting contraption. I had never heard of these before coming to this sit.

After enjoying my morning dose of caffeine, checking emails, doing my social media stuff, etc., it’s time to move Grace from her bed near the Aga to the dogs’ sitting room. Then I don my Wellies and grab the dogs for our morning rounds with the hens. We are greeted enthusiastically with lots of clucking.

This outfit just screams springtime, no?

After taking care of the water and checking their feeders, it’s time to put on my bright pink rubber gloves and grab a bucket. After cleaning out the . . . chicken leavings and putting down fresh shavings and straw, we collect their eggs. I love the beautiful varying hues of their eggs. So different from what you get in the supermarket.

Naturally, there is also doggy doo-doo pickup in the yard, too.

The rest of the day is pretty relaxed. I usually have a fire going in the wood-burning stove, and the dogs gather in front of it to soak up some heat while one of the cats, Mike, does a gargoyle impression next to me.

In the afternoon, we’ll do another walk to the field for another check on the ladies.

Tigger is at the age where he hibernates in his room for a large portion of the day. We’re both really enjoying having our own space again. And we’re both pretty thrilled to have dogs and cats to cuddle, pet, and love.

I’m enjoying being able to give Tigger the experience of taking care of this large a group of chickens. In Morocco, we had five of them, so 34 is quite the different workload. I think he has as much fun as me collecting the eggs. It’s almost like finding a bunch of presents every day.

I also like that he is able to discover the difference between the taste of healthy, truly free-range chicken eggs as compared to the factory eggs in the stores. And for me it’s kind of fun just living in a home this old. I know for many Europeans an 1860 home is not that old, but for us North Americans they’re a rare find.

We’re in North Yorkshire until early April, and we’ll be returning in late May to house sit here again. For now we’re really enjoying the slower village life and being surrounded by pets.

Have you been to Yorkshire? What’s your favorite area?

Food

Restaurants can really get you. However, if you get your meals from the smaller shops instead, you’ll save a lot more. By eating in the shops outside the major tourist zones, it wasn’t hard for us to have an enjoyable meal for two people for around £6.

Grocery and convenience stores usually have sandwiches and ready-made meals for around £2. They often have deals like a sandwich, small bag of crisps (chips in the US), and a soda for just over £3.

The local markets usually have plenty of food vendors as well, and they are pretty reasonably priced. Tigger had a lovely egg and bacon bap (sandwich on a soft roll) for £2 at the wildly popular Borough Market (tube: London Bridge). By the way, I would definitely encourage you to visit this market. It’s absolutely wonderful, has an amazing variety of foods, and we bought the most delicious strawberries we’ve ever had there. You can pick up ingredients to make a meal or buy something they’ve prepared at quite reasonable prices.

In Chinatown, located outside Leicester Square, you can find many low-priced street food vendors. Friends tell me the best Peking duck outside Beijing is found in this locale.

Don’t let business names fool you. We popped into Perfect Fried Chicken to escape the rain one day and discovered they also had biryani and lamb and chicken curries on the menu, in addition to many other items. Chicken was actually a small part of their offerings. My lamb curry with rice was £4, and that was the most expensive item on the menu.

As is the norm, if you want to eat out in a restaurant, try to go during lunchtime when they have more specials. We saw many special lunch deals for 2 people that would work out to about £3-4 per person.

Sightseeing

Admission fees for these venues are criminal. At places like Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Hampton Court, etc., you can expect to pay around £15-20 ($25-32 USD) or more per adult. Sometimes you can walk the grounds for free, and even just walking around the perimeter still affords great views of the structures and the grounds.

The Tower Bridge is probably the most unique bridge in the city, and it is free to walk across. You can do an interesting loop by crossing the Tower Bridge, walking around the Tower of London, crossing the London Bridge, and completing it with a visit to the Borough Market. The London Bridge isn’t all that exciting, but it’s fun to say you’ve been on it. The market makes the journey worth it.

Near many of the popular sites are wonderful parks which are great if you’re traveling with kids. In between walking by all the old buildings, they can have a nice run and enjoy the playground in a gorgeous park.

Buckingham Palace isn’t all that exciting unless you want to catch the Changing the Guard ceremony.

Walk away from the palace and past the Victoria Monument, and you will find the absolutely gorgeous St. James Park on your right. During the spring and summer when the flowers are in bloom, it’s quite stunning. If you’re a fan of Princess Di, there is a 7-mile-long walk that is charted by plaques and takes you past locations associated with her.

After walking by Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the Victoria Tower, there is another park with a really cool playground near the bridge. Even Tigger had fun there.

Kensington Gardens have some great paths for cycling and is a popular picnic spot.

Neighborhoods can be quite intriguing, have fun quirks, and the buildings can be very interesting as well. They are sometimes full of little surprises, so they’re really fun to explore. We spent a lot of time just exploring various neighborhoods.

Some of the really worthwhile markets, such as the Camden Street Market, are best visited on the weekends. If you have some time on a Saturday or Sunday, you’ll want to check them out.

The Spitalfields Market in London’s East End has a very diverse offerings from around the world. You won’t find as many food vendors here, though. It’s an interesting area to visit, and the East End has a lot of history and ethnic diversity, so it’s worth a visit for sure.

Getting Around

While London is quite huge, it’s still easy to explore many areas on foot.

London has a really great transportation system as you might imagine. The London Underground (the tube), Overground, DLR, and others make getting around the city pretty easy. But transportation is not cheap. If you plan on using public transportation, you will want to purchase an Oyster Card. You will want to pick up one of these cards as soon as you arrive.

Without the Oyster card, you will be paying at least double, sometimes more. They’re easy to buy. You can find machines in almost every tube station (and Overground and DLR stations). You can top them up at the machines, ticket windows, many of the convenience stores and kiosks, and online. The machines will accept credit/debit cards as well as cash. It really couldn’t be easier.

It’s still going to be a bit pricey, so this is one of those times when planning your day can save you money. Generally speaking, the average one-way journey will cost you around $3.60 USD per adult.

When you’re leaving London, make sure to stop at a ticket window after you’ve exited your last pay point and turn in your Oyster cards for a refund of any money left on the card. If you don’t live in the UK, have your passport handy as you will also get a refund of all the VAT (value-added tax) you’ve paid. We used the cards for about 4 days of travel, and we got back over £8 for our VAT refund. That’s a nice chunk of change!

As mentioned previously, many attractions are within walking distance of each other, and it’s a fairly pedestrian-friendly city.

Buses are cheaper than the metro system at just over £1.

Child discounts

Unfortunately, the Oyster card does not include child discounts. You can buy child tickets at the machines or ticket windows.

The photo Oyster card will give discounts (and buses and trams are free), but it’s more of a process, and there is a £10 fee. Unless you’ll be spending a lot of time in London, I doubt it’s worth it to invest in the photo card.

Here’s the nice part for families with younger children: Kids under 11 can travel free when they are accompanying an adult with an Oyster card or valid ticket; up to 4 children per adult.

On 2 wheels

Like many large cities, there is a network of rental bicycles throughout the city. Unfortunately, the posted rules state the bicycles are for people 14 and older. Not as helpful for families.

You pay £2 for 24 hours of access. Rides for under 30 minutes are no extra charge and unlimited. You can conceivably ride all over the city all day for £2 just by ensuring you dock your cycle and get a new one every 29 minutes or so. But an hour only costs £1 extra.

There are many routes, and the city is fairly flat so cycling is a great and inexpensive way to tour.

Museums & Galleries

There are a ton of museums and galleries throughout the city, and thankfully many of them are free! These include some rather impressive collections. You could spend days visiting all the places listed with free admission.

The city can keep you quite busy. There are so many great things to do in London, and thankfully you can still enjoy yourself without spending an absolute fortune.

What’s your favorite low-budget activity or place to visit in London?

5 things to do in London

1. Camden Lock

My dad knew what he was doing when he took me to Camden Lock market the first time. I immediately loved it. All the little stands and shops, not to mention the food square with tastes from all over the world.

Camden Lock used to be the T.E. Dingwalls timber yard, but as transportation means evolved and the canals near Camden Lock were less and less used, it eventually shut down in 1971. Two years later the Camden Lock arts and crafts market was opened.

2. Madame Tussauds

Yes, it’s a typical thing to do, but anyone visiting London for the first time should go to Madame Tussauds (before spelled ‘Madame Tussaud’s’, but the apostrophe has been dropped). Although there are Madame Tussauds wax museums all over the world, the first one was opened in London on Baker Street in 1835. In 1884 the grandsons of the then already deceased Madame Tussaud moved the wax exhibition to Marylebone Road, where you can still find the museum today.

I visited Madame Tussauds on my first trip to London when I was twelve. The only evidence left is this photo with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Tip: buy your tickets online to skip the queue.

3. The Tower of London

The history of the Tower of London dates all the way back to the 1060’s. Since then a lot of rulers have transformed the building that was the scene of so many important events, like the execution of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII.

There’s so much to see at the Tower of London that it’s best if you research a bit what you definitely want to do once you get there. Are you interested in the history of the royal beasts? Or would you rather like to know more about the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers?

What I remember most of my visit to the Tower are the Crown Jewels and I would highly recommend fitting this exhibition in your schedule.

4. Covent Garden

Each time I visit London, and I’ve been there about 6 times now, I take the time to pass by Covent Garden. The Covent Garden neighborhood is great, with its many boutiques and interesting book stores, but Covent Garden itself really is the center of it all. Shops and market stands fill up the square while coffee houses and bars provide an opportunity to rest and soak up the atmosphere. The best thing about Covent Garden are the street artists. You see, not anyone can perform at Covent Garden. All street artists there have passed an audition, proving the quality of their act, but also passing a full risk and safety assessment.

5. Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace consists of a new guard exchanging duty with an old guard. The Guards at Buckingham Palace are called The Queen’s Guard and the handover of duty is usually accompanied by music from the Guards band. What’s fun is that they don’t only play traditional songs, but also sometimes pop songs or songs from famous musicals.

When the Guards are on duty they have to be absolutely still, which makes them an easy target for tourists taking all kinds of photos with them, or trying to make them laugh.

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace takes place each day from May until July and on alternate days the rest of the year.

Source: Flickr – edwin.11

Sofie is a language lover and travel aficionada who combines a full-time job with freelance writing and blogging. She uses her weekends, vacation days and public holidays to travel the world and share her experiences with you on her blog Wonderful Wanderings. Be sure to follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

If you’re heading to Britain and part of your trip is going to be dedicated to exploring what the country has to offer on foot, take a look at this guide to the top five scenic locations. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing, coastal stroll or a challenging hike to the top of the UK’s highest mountain, you’ll find something to suit your walking tastes.

Ben Nevis

Standing at almost 4,500 ft. high, Ben Nevis dominates the Scottish Highlands and offers enthusiastic walkers to opportunity to be the highest person in the British Isles.

That said, the route can be accomplished by walkers of all capabilities, without the need for specialist mountaineering equipment. The most popular route is the Pony Track; first constructed in 1883, the track is well-maintained, although walkers should be careful of uneven terrain and loose rocks.

The view from the top is worth the few hours it will take you to make the ascent. The surrounding vista of the Highlands is nothing short of spectacular and on clear days, you can even see North Ireland across the sea!

The Yorkshire Dales

Dramatic, romantic, bleak and breath-taking; all of which could be used to describe the extensive moorland of the Yorkshire Dales.

This landscape was the inspiration behind Gothic masterpieces such as Emile Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, and the rolling hills and valleys make for wonderful exploring, whatever time of year. Why not base your walking adventures around a trip to the Brontë house in the village of Haworth? The house has been turned into a museum dedicated to the literary family and Haworth was the first village in the world to be awarded Fair Trade status. Find out more information about the village here.

The Lake District

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud / that floats on high o’er vales and hills’.

Okay. Even if you’re not a fan of poetry, you must be familiar with the words of the Lake District’s most famous poet? Wordsworth thought this place was pretty spectacular and we happen to agree. There are numerous trails and routes to choose from: along the shores of the crystal clear lakes and more challenging ascents up the region’s mountains.

A fantastic route is from Seathwaite to Sty Head, which takes in a rare Grade 1 listed bridge. According to the Guardian, Seathwaite also holds the record for the most rainfall in a 24-hour period. It makes sense to take an appropriate outdoor jacket and walking boots/shoes wherever you’re heading to the UK. It may be known for being beautiful, but it’s not exactly world renowned for being sunny!

Coast to Coast

When you consider how popular it is to walk from the west to the east of the UK, it becomes apparent how small the country actually is; especially when you think that it takes several hours to cross the United States – and we’re talking about flying!

That said, tackling the 190 mile route will take around twelve days at a steady pace, stopping off at campsites and local inns along the way. The route begins at St Bees Head in Cumbria, taking walkers right through the heart of the Lake District and the Dales before reaching Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast – so it’s perfect for taking in more than one stunning walking location. You can find more information about walking the route, including planning your trip, take a look at the Coast to Coast website.

London

You may not think of urban walking as offering beautiful scenery, but there are plenty of places in the UK capital where it’s possible to escape the crowds in search of some peace and quiet.

If you’re flying to the UK, chances are you’re spending some time in the capital. Take some time to explore the 40-mile Thames Path, which take you past some of the most iconic London landmarks, as well as green spaces like Hyde and St James’s Park; you might be in the middle of the city, but it’s easy to imagine that you’ve been transported to the tranquil countryside.