Top 10 Tips for Saving Money
Top Ten Money Saving Tips in London and Edinburgh
When you travel to a capital city there are a few eventualities that you can’t escape. Tramps, prostitutes and inflated prices. We might not be able to help you with the first two but we can give you some top tips about pinching those pennies when you rock up in the English and Scottish capitals.
London
London Gatwick Transfers
1. If you’re flying into London Gatwick, save yourself a few pounds by getting the train to Clapham Junction and a bus from Clapham Junction to London Bridge, in central London. It might seem like a convoluted way of doing things but if you’ve got time and not money to spare, it’s definitely worth it. Check out www.tfl.gov.uk for the gritty transportation details.
Free Walking Tour
2. If you want to see the city without lining the pockets of a disgruntled tour guide on the top deck of a double decker bus, then check out Sandeman’s New London Free Tour. 
In four hours and seven kilometres you will find out what makes London tick, what if anything is left over from the days of the Plague and the fire of London and how you can save money when it comes to the ecclesiastical tours. For example - if you want to be a bit cheeky and see St Paul’s Cathedral without paying £10 for the privilege, show up for public mass on Sunday. Make a donation of what you can afford and see this World War Two-surviving, architectural masterpiece in all its glory.
Cheap As Chips Coffee
3. If kicking your Starbuck’s habit is kicking your ass, don’t fear because not everything in this Mecca of caffeine costs £2.50 or more. Yet again St Christopher’s come to the rescue - to help you stick to your travel budget and have a good time too. Just ask for a Coffee Of The Day. It’s usually £1.50, it tastes just as good with or without milk and you get to sit in the coffee shop window and snigger at the silly tourists who didn’t get this top tip by staying at a St Christopher’s Backpacker Hostel in London. You can also feed your caffeine addiction by taking a trip to the traditional London Caff in the Orient Espresso hostel. You get 10% off with your Beds and Bars Card.
A Great Museum Without Having To Pay For It
4. If you come across the Winston Churchill Museum and desperately want to go in but can’t justify the expense, then here’s a great alternative. Take your backpacking booty to the Imperial War Museum for a totally free and superior experience. Jump off the tube, south of the River Thames at Lambeth North underground station and walk down Westminster Bridge Road until you see the big white building.
A Discount Deal On The Eurostar
5. This one isn’t technically exclusive to London but you do save money by starting out on this financially relieving adventure from Waterloo Train Station, in London. In June Eurostar and having a bit of a funky promotion and they want to whisk you away to Brussels for just £59 return. Better yet you can indulge in free onward travel to any of the other Belgian destinations, including Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. It just so happens that there’s a rather nice hostel in Bruges run by this company called St Christopher’s Inns, so if you happen to end up there, why not give it a go?
Edinburgh
The Scottish capital isn’t as overpriced as its English counterpart but after a couple of heavy nights out, you definitely start to feel the pinch. With that in mind we’re pushing the boundaries of our Backpacker Resources to discover just where you can afford to cut corners without sacrificing the Live Your Life mantra.
The Edinburgh Pass
6. After the top banana, money saving genius of the I Amsterdam Card in the May Newsletter, I got to thinking. Could it be that there is an equally great, discount packed, penny pinching card for Edinburgh - that allows backpackers to spend money on the important alcoholic priorities? The answer was yes. The Edinburgh Pass will set you back £24 for one day and £36 for two days and with it you get over 30 free attractions, free transport and 25 exclusive offers. Check out just what this bargain beauty gets you.
Everything Is Not As It Appears
7. With the card you can get into the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions for free and avoid paying the usual £7.50 entrance fee. This is an immense exhibition, crammed to the rafters with the oldest and the most modern optical illusions. It’s also the most popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh, after the castle. The holograms of giant warships, Boy George and massive spiders are definitely worth every pinched penny and the chance to swap your head, chin or nose (Ugly Betty style) with your travel buddy is an experience and a half.
Wicked Witchcraft
8. Take yourself on the Cadies and Witchery Tour. This is amazing, humorous and definitely worth a look in. Adam Lyal (deceased) will educate you about the plague, the body snatchers and the prostitutes of Edinburgh’s grisly past. Between ghostly Adam and the affections of the comical dead Priest, this tour is enough to make you forget about the Scottish weather and enjoy the delights of this beautifully historic city. The tour is free with the pass which means a saving of £7.50.
Bodysnatching Underground
9. Mercat Tours run the biggest range of tours in Edinburgh and an especially good one is the underground Vaults Tour. Not only does this get you out of the pouring Scottish rain but it also takes you back in time to the days when entire families lived in single rooms and people were murdered for medical science. It’s informed, a little bit scary and it’s not £7.50 when you use the Edinburgh Pass.
You can fit at least four tours into one day, so at £7.50 each, you definitely make a saving with a £24, one day pass. If you keep that stamina up for two days with a £36 pass, you most certainly save some cold, hard cash.
Vegetarian Heaven
10. This one is a little bit kooky but it saves you money when you eat out so what the hell. David Bann’s is a cool but non-pretentious restaurant that does things to vegetables that you could never imagine. It’s strictly vegetarian but it has more on the menu than most carnivorous eateries. The Mushroom and Grilled Basil Polenta will do things to your taste buds that only the Pistachio, Sweet Potato and Chick Pea Cakes can replicate. Dessert always makes life more bearable and the Caramel Fruit Basket does the same thing as a Valium prescription. Check out www.davidbann.co.uk for all the tasty treats on offer and then get yourself down to this amazing eatery on St Mary’s Street.
