Walking in London

Going to London has been on my bucket list since I was young. I wanted to see every sight possible without any idea of how much there was and how much it would cost do to these things that I wanted to do. However, it is my hope that I will be able to do at least some of these things while I am abroad and close enough for at least a weekend.

The closest open airport is currently closed so the best way for me to make my way to London will need to be by the quintessential train. In terms of transportation, I have found that going from Plymouth University to the train station is about a one mile walk or twenty minutes if I am going on foot. Since I plan to keep my baggage as small as possible, I do not imagine it will be a hard feat for me to make that walk or I might be with friends who are willing to drive. Knowing my own need to have everything planned in advance, I know that I will most likely make any train purchases at least a month or so in advance in anticipation of this trip. With that in mind, I found that the round-trip train ride for a single adult would be almost $155. This is still better than a lot of airfare in the United States, so I would be willing to take that loss.

In terms of accommodation, I have found that there are a few hostels near Kings Cross, making it easier in terms of selection. For this example, I have chosen a hostel with a 83% rating on hostelworld, with the understanding that such a rating is fairly on par with what can be expected. It is about .2 miles from Kings Cross, making another walk for me since it is hardly a five minute walk and I will enjoy the exercise at the very least. For three nights (assuming that I arrive on Friday and leave on Sunday), it is another $100. Since the exchange rate for dollars to pounds is not in my favor, I have to take this price with the understanding that is actually fairly cheap for that area.

From there, I would need to get a taxi cab (another $20 both ways assuming that they are legit), and get on the Underground in order to get to the London Bridge station. Something that should be noted at this point is that many of these experiences will have satisfied me for a while in terms of getting to see parts of London. I can not pretend that I will get to see everything in one weekend. However, once I have paid $10 for the Underground to make my way to London Bridge Station both ways, which will put me close to Shakespeare's Globe, London Bridge itself, and a marketplace where I can enjoy some of the things that are going on around me. Unfortunately, these have their own costs so I will need to budget around $75 for these things with food in mind which I will try and bring with me or make while I am there to save some money.

If I do these things on Friday afternoon, keeping in mind that the Tube closes at midnight, I can spend Saturday exploring the Westminster area where most of the stereotypical London things are. Another $30 later will find me there, with the opportunity to enjoy some of the sights like Big Ben and the London Eye. Again, I will need to consider souvenirs and food money, but these will be accounted for at a later time since London is notorious for being expensive.

Overall, this journey will hopefully top out at around $500 but this is of course with the understanding that I will be able to hopefully see as many things that I will be able to see over a weekend and hopefully with others with me this cost will go down.