Prince or Pauper?
A noble dad and his boys tour dear London on a budget fit for a beggar
LONDON--I am sitting with my sons, Christian, 12, and Dominic, 9, in Giraffe, a kid-friendly restaurant in tony Kensington. As I savor a final bite of vegetable curry, I debate whether to stiff the waitress and not leave a tip. The grub was great. She was cheerful and efficient. So why not tip? Because I'm trying to stick to a strict spending regimen. If I add anything to the bill, my day's budget is busted.
London is the world's second-most expensive city, just behind Tokyo, on a cost-of-living basis. But what really squeezes American pocketbooks is the weak dollar. Currently, a buck is worth about half a pound. Whatever you buy in Britain is essentially double the price in dollars. A burger and fries at a reasonably priced restaurant, for instance, can set you back about $18. Should that kind of math make Americans shun one of their favorite foreign destinations?
My challenge is to see if an American with kids in tow can spend a fun-filled day in London--hitting top attractions--on a miserly budget of $250 (about 130 pounds). Including a hotel and three squares. That's a tight spending cap. Despite the crummy exchange rate, the average U.S. tourist here spends about $180 a day per person. One advantage: Some of London's top destinations are public museums, and they're all free.
No frills. Our Saturday begins after a restful night at Express by Holiday Inn, a fairly new and comfortable hotel in the Docklands, east London's once rough, but now trendy, riverside district. We had a good deal: 59.95 pounds for a triple room that was tidy and average size. But the hotel is 30 or 40 minutes away from any place in London you'd rather be. That's the kind of trade-off you might have to make to get a reasonably priced room. Expect to pay about 75 to 100 pounds or more for a similar no-frills room in central London.
Like most economy hotels here, ours includes breakfast in the price. But Christian's face crumbles like a stale muffin when he sees a continental buffet of cereal, fruit, and assorted breads. "Where's the eggs and bacon?" he moans. The food is, however, tasty, and we're full as we head for the popular London Eye, the graceful mega ferris wheel on the south bank of the Thames.
You can journey around London fairly cheaply with daily family travel cards, sold at any subway station. A single adult card is 3.10 pounds. The boys are free because it's a weekend; normally theirs would have cost 80 pence each--that's about $1.60.
The Eye is the day's sole paid attraction. Our tickets come to 22.95 pounds. I've now spent 86 pounds; that leaves me with just 44, and it's only 9 a.m.
Penny-wise. The 30-minute "flight," as Eye promoters dub the ride, keeps Christian and Dominic suitably captivated with stunning views of Big Ben and the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. But then they make a beeline for the souvenir shop. I manage to fob them off with an Eye Bubble, a round plastic container of bubble-making liquid with a wee wand affixed to the lid. They're a pound apiece. Two seconds out of the door, Dominic's wand breaks off and sinks into the bottle. I buy him another one. Now I've only 41 pounds left.
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