Even a weekend in London does not have to cost the earth if you’re willing to put in the leg work in before you go.  Here’s our top tips for a budget weekend in London and how we managed to enjoy it without spending a fortune:

Plenty of interactive exhibits at the Science Museum

Check out cheap fares on travel plus railcard discounts; we bought tickets through London Midland trains that are currently running a half price sale on off peak tickets.  We discounted this further by using our family & friends railcard for a further third off adult tickets and 60% off child tickets.  A return trip from Derby to London for three cost us less than £30!

Keep your eyes out for hotel sales and discounted rooms; we took advantage of the Travelodge sale that ran way back in April and booked a family room for just £12 for a Bank holiday Sunday.  The London City Road Travelodge was a relatively upmarket travelodge, (and we’ve seen a few!) just off the Northern Line and it certainly did us proud!

Consider your breakfast options; we could have made use of the Tesco Express two doors down but opted for the all you can eat buffet breakfast at the Travelodge.  Kids eat free on this deal and as we had booked in advance, this secured a further discount.  Breakfast for three came to £13 and we didn’t need much for lunch!

There’s always free visitor attractions, it’s just finding them; cities are full of free attractions if you are willing to search them out before you go.  Here’s a few of the free attractions we managed to  fit in:

• The Science Museum, (full of interactive exhibits for children of all ages),
• The Diana Memorial Playground within Kensington Gardens.  Based on Peter Pan’s Neverland, this was an idyllic spot for adults and children alike.
• Covent Garden -there is always plenty to entertain at this tourist spot with a constant supply of entertainers on hand.
• Hyde Park – always interesting to see what’s going on at Speaker’s Corner before a picnic in the park.

Diana Memorial playground

Check out the current deals & vouchers for eating out; there is an array of vouchers for eating out nowadays, just find ones that work for you.  We chose to eat at Pizza Express Saturday night and managed to combine two seperate vouchers. Voucher 1 offered 2 courses for £10 whilst Voucher 2 offered a free kids meal with any adult meal.  Thus a two course meal for three plus bottle of wine & a coke came to £37.

That’s a Topdog weekend!

Liz