USA Today April 26 offered an interesting article on how to make the most of your money when traveling in the UK this year. I would like to reinforce the ideas I agree with and give better choices for the ideas I do not like.
1. Transportation: My company has ALWAYS endorsed the idea of traveling without a car and using trains and buses instead. However I do not like Oyster Cards. British Rail offers instead the London Visitor Travel Card which gives you unlimited travel on all buses and the tube for X amount of time. Rates depend on how many days you stay and how many zones you visit. Most people will only visit the major sites and will therefore only need Zone 1 tickets which are the cheapest. When the cheapest card is $33 for one adult for 3 days, the value is obvious especially when one tube trip can cost $8.
The other option is to use hop on hop off buses instead of day tours which run $90-$125 per person. The former is $36. What most people do not understand is that this IS a tour. If you never take advantage of getting off the bus, you get a complete tour. It's as simple as that. But with the added advantage of being able to visit whatever and for how long only YOU determine is a huge plus in flexibility. Britrail passes are increasing in size and number of choices every year. Many people are not aware that a party of 6 can travel for the original cost of only 3. That's half price where I come from. Children under 15 are free.
2. Eating Out: The most important point here is how much you have to eat. Eat less! That is always guaranteed to save you money. Also take advantage of the breakfast your hotel offers. You should almost never need lunch. A snack from your breakfast and a fresh cup of tea should suffice.
For dinner it becomes a bit more difficult. My favorite choices are department store restaurants as mentioned and also the Covent Garden area. Here you find small ethnic restaurants which give you a plate of spaghetti (or whatever the specialty) for far less than hotels. I also take advantage of health food stores who sell sandwiches as well as cooked single items which you can take out. If the purpose of your trip is to eat, you need to save lots of money.
3. Museums & Sights: I agree with the author that museums are the best buy in that most are free especially out of London. Also as stated the best way to get around church admission fees is to attend worship services. Since their music and messages are usually way above average, this is hardly a hardship. On the contrary it is a beautiful memory. Organ concerts and evensong are the best if you find out about them. Lunch concerts at St Martin in the Fields are a great example.
The author recommends Heritage Passes. In my opinion they have mixed value. I rarely use or recommend them for 2 reasons. Many people find as they travel that a photo op is all they want as it would take a very long trip to get your moneys worth out of a pass by visiting every site on their lists at
1-3 hours/site. Most people find that by the end of their trip that they have visited very few sites that thoroughly, i.e. every day to get your moneys worth. Also most sites have family rates which are quite cheap. Four passes for 2 adults and 2 children are way more expensive than the site admissions purchased individually.
4. Theater: This is an easy one. I just agree. Purchasing tickets unless on sale, in the US is more often than not, an overpriced sale. In all the years I’ve been going over, I have never not been able to get tickets for what I wanted to see on location. The disadvantage is that spending all day in line at the half price booths is a waste of my sightseeing time. I usually prefer to visit the theaters directly and occasionally if the weather is bad, I’ll happily see a matinee.
5. Parks and Walks: Once again I generally agree with the author. The parks and walks are great experiences. In addition to the company he mentions, you can also purchase CDs & DVDs that give you itineraries you can just follow by yourself at your own speed. You can then take breaks when and where you wish. You may not learn as much as you would from a guide but you will learn and if the weather is good, you can have a lovely day and may even meet some locals!
6. Hotels: I am choosing to add one category whose prices have a lot to do with whether people travel this year that USA Today did not discuss. There is no doubt that prices have risen astronomically and unreasonably for most of us who simply use the room to sleep in. I am no less horrified than you are as I see most of them as outrageous. I pride myself on knowing about and finding more reasonable options even in the midst of all this gouging. I can only tell you that if you do work at it, you can still stay reasonably, sometimes even in the most surprising places. This year for example I have sold a 4 star hotel in Britain for 52 British pounds/night for 3 people. Hard to beat, I think! ($104.00/rm/nt). I also have a well located 3 star hotel in CENTRAL London that goes for $165/night for 2 people to include breakfast and vat.
A final thought: There are hoteliers who would rather lose a bit of money to the exchange rate than have empty hotel rooms so they keep their prices down. So once again I tell you that with a bit of effort you can spend reasonable amounts for accommodations without being taken to the cleaners.
Katharine A Lancy CTC Swanton British Travel Service LLC http://www.SwantonBritishTravel.com http://travelintheUKonpublictransport.blogspot.com http://www.squidoo.com/traveltoBritainandIreland
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Article added to SearchWarp.com on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 View other articles written by Katharine Lancy(3)
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