London is a vast city with a vast range of activities, entertainments, sights and sounds. The price range is also vast. How to make the most of London without overspending is a skill many Londoners learn. We hope this will give you some useful ideas.

Discount cards

National Union of Students card (NUS)

You can get a number of reasonably good discounts with your NUS card (the same as your student ID card). Look out for signs that say student discount or ask if there is a discount for students eg in music shops, restaurants, clothes shops, computer shops etc. For lots more information check the NUS website and register your card number.

International Student Identity Card (ISIC)

Will give you discounts on flights and other international travel as well as other discounts here and abroad as it is internationally recognised. Ask in the Student Union for more information

London Transport Student ID card (photocard)

Will give you a substantial discount (30%) on tickets for the underground if you buy a period ticket for a month or longer.

Oyster card

A pre-pay card that you can top up regularly and which gives lower fares on the underground and buses - students receive a 30% discount on it. tfl.gov.uk

Cinema

Big chains eg Odeon and Vue often have student discounts though sometimes with restrictions on day or time eg not evenings or weekends. Smaller independent cinemas also have discounts and are sometimes more flexible with them.

The cheapest deals are:
    * The Prince Charles, Leicester Place off Leicester Square – generally mainstream films. Prices from £3 (members £1.50)
    * National FilmTheatre, South Bank, by Waterloo Bridge: lower rates for members (annual membership) – approximately £6.00 for non members. Worth it for real cinema enthusiasts as they show mainstream and more unusual films, films from around the world and special ‘seasons’.
    * Gate Cinema, Notting Hill Gate, W11: £3.50-£7. Small, independent cinema

Theatre

Best deal is the Student Standby where theatres offer unsold tickets at much lower prices. Especially good for West End shows though tickets for the most popular shows unlikely. Best for matinees and weekday nights Turn up about an hour before shows start with your student ID. Also in Leicester Square is a booth where unsold tickets are sold centrally to the general public. Subsidised theatres like the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (the Barbican) and the National Theatre (South Bank) will have student rates and tickets here are generally much lower. Even for the most popular shows some seats at these theatres are generally sold on the day if you’re prepared to queue (from £10).

Both the National Theatre (for some performances) and the Royal Opera House (on Mondays) are offering tickets for £10 as part of a special scheme
    * travelex.royaloperahouse.org
    * nationaltheatre.org.uk

Don’t forget some of the smaller and fringe theatres. Well known ones include the Young Vic (Waterloo), the New End (Hampstead), the Tricycle (Kilburn), the Soho Theatre (Covent Garden) where you can see new plays and much cheaper. Also try out the pub theatres eg the Gate (Shepherds Bush). More information in Time Out.

Art and exhibitions

Many galleries and most museums are free eg National Portrait Gallery (St Martin’s Place, near Trafalgar Square), the National Gallery (Trafalgar Square), Tate Modern (Summer Street, South Bank near Southwark Bridge – and a wonderful architectural conversion of an old power station), the British Museum (Great Russell Street, near Russell Square). Some of these may charge for individual visiting exhibitions.
Other major museums include the Science Museum (South Kensington), Museum of London (London Wall, near Barbican) and Imperial War Museum (Elephant and Castle)
There are also a number of small specialist museums which are interesting (check web for details eg Pollock Toy Museum, Geffrye Museum, Sir John Soane’s museum)

Eating out

It is possible to eat relatively cheaply in London – and not just at MacDonalds. The range covers food from all over the world but some options are:

Local cafes (known as ‘greasy spoons’): Serve ‘all day breakfast’ eg eggs, baked beans, fried bread, bacon, toast, chips and cheap cups of tea. Not suitable if you do not eat pork as cooking of bacon and sausages takes place alongside other foods.

Chinese and Indian restaurants: good value includes ‘help yourself’ buffets offered by some restaurants where a set price, usually under £10 covers everything you can eat. Most common early evenings and weekend lunchtimes.
Italian restaurants: pasta and pizza are generally good value

Specific suggestions:

Wagamama: large bowls of noodles/rice in many variations - branches in Streatham St (off Tottenham Court Road) or Southampton Street (Covent Garden), N1 Centre in Islington (near Student Residences)
Stockpot: Reasonable English/European style food at low prices - branches in Basil Street (near Harrods, Kensington) or Panton Street (near Piccadilly Circus)

Pollo: Well known Italian restaurant with good value large portions – Old Compton Street (Soho)
La Porchetta: large pizzas, very busy, also take away – branches in Upper Street (near Vernon Square) and Stroud Green Road (Finsbury Park)

Stringray Café: pizza, pasta and other Mediterranean style food at low prices especially before 8pm – Highbury Barn (5-10 minutes from Highbury and Islington underground station). Other branches with the same prices at the Shakespeare’s Head pub, Percival St EC1 (near-ish Vernon Square) and the Stringray Globe Cafe, Columbia Rd E2

Shopping

Food and household goods: Markets have cheaper fruit and vegetables, sometimes clothes and household goods - Chapel Market near Vernon Square and Student Residences. Supermarkets reasonable for household goods especially own label goods. Cheaper supermarkets include Netto and Asda.

Sources of ethnic foods include Soho (Central London) for Chinese and South East Asian foods, Green Lanes (North London near Manor House) for Greek and Turkish foods, Balham (South London) for West African foods Finsbury Park (North London) for West and North African foods, Brixton (South London) for African and Caribbean foods. Many areas of London have small shops with Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi shops selling vegetables, dhals, spices and bulk quantities of rice.

Clothes: Sources of cheaper clothes include street markets, shops that sell second hand clothes (many run by charitable organisations), army surplus stores and outlets which sell rejected goods from main labels at lower prices
Computer/IT/electronic equipment: Tottenham Court Road has the greatest concentration of electronic shops so competition keeps prices reasonable. Loot is a newspaper, free to advertisers that has a great range of second hand goods.

Toiletries and pharmaceutical goods: Lowest prices probably branches of Superdrug. Boots the Chemist reliable but more expensive. Large supermarkets may have competitive prices on mainstream goods

Hairdressers

Haircare can be very expensive, especially for women. However some hairdressers including some of the big names have training schools or training evenings where prices are lower or even free if you’re willing to act as a model for a trainee. Allow longer time than usual. For the bigger schools listed you may need to book. Booking for local trainee nights is probably unnecessary.

Try Vidal Sassoon Davies Mews (near Bond Street) and Toni and Guy St Christopher’s Place (off Oxford Street near Bond Street). Barbers for men are much cheaper than hairdressers but more basic. Some will also cut women’s hair (try Chapel Market). Black and Asian women will find plenty specialist hairdressers and cosmetic shops – though less likely in the centre of London eg in South London: Brixton, Streatham, Tooting,Balham, Walworth Road (Elephant and Castle) or in North London: Finsbury Park, Tottenham, Holloway Road


Source: http://www.soas.ac.uk/students/life/london/budget/