London has gained an unfavourable reputation as one of Europe’s most expensive travel destinations despite being one of the world’s most visited cities with over 14 million visitors in 2011. However, the city still has plenty of attractions for the thrifty tourist that can guarantee an exciting and packed weekend on a budget. For those independent travellers looking for culture and entertainment at home rather than abroad, London is the ideal city break destination.

Where to stay: To ensure that you can see the best that London has to offer you need to make sure that you are staying centrally enough to be in easy reach of all of the attractions, whilst also ensuring that you don’t break the bank with a hotel room. If you’re anything like me, a comfy bed and clean shower are all I need so checking out backpacking hostels is a safe bet for comfort and cost. My favourite is the Green Man hostel, situated above the Green Man pub a stone’s throw away from Paddington station. At £20 a night it might be towards the high-end of your typical hostel price, but being above a traditional English pub gives this hostel plenty of charm and the ability to get drinks all night means you can bring the good times back to your hostel without having to worry about late night taxi fares. Plus, by ordering some late night Indian takeaway food, you’ll never need to leave the hostel after hours!

Where to go: London has an unbeatable reputation for museums and most of the famous ones including the Natural History museum, Imperial War museum and the National Art Gallery by Trafalgar square are all free to the public. Sightseeing has never been such an attraction as in London where Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral all deserve some of your holiday snaps. However some more unique attractions such as Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, street performers in Covent Garden and Camden Market offer up a feast for all the sense without charging a penny! If you are willing to pay some attraction entrance prices then my advice is to budget which attractions are worth your time and money. Personally I found the London eye to be quite underwhelming considering the high entrance fee and London can be viewed just as well from a number of panoramic locations including The Monument (although the 331 steps to the top might put some off).

Where to eat: London is renowned for its food culture and the city has numerous Michelin starred restaurants however these will be out of range for budget-minded tourists. A great solution is to take advantage of London’s food markets such as in Brixton and Leadenhall, which sell a great range of ethnic cuisine and local produce. Once you’ve found some rich and diverse food for yourself why not sit down on the Southbank by Tower Bridge and watch boats, tourists and the rest of the world go by? Another great tip is to take in some great pub food in one of London’s hundreds of traditional pubs. The food is inexpensive and will give you enough energy to take in the city by foot or bike.

Getting around: Transport in London is expensive when compared to other major European cities such as Berlin, however if you purchase an Oyster card before you arrive then you’ll save an average of 20% on all transport prices across the city, regardless of whether you’re travelling by bus or tube. If the pre-charged amount on the card runs low then you can charge up the cards at numerous newsagents around the city.

Author: Matthew Winters from hungryhouse, the UK’s leading platform enabling customers to order takeaway online from restaurants in their city.