London on the cheap

Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
What are some good / interesting things to do in London without spending too much money? My girlfriend's recently moved down there (Finsbury Park, specifically) and we're after places to hang out / things to visit on a fairly tight budet.

The obvious stuff (big museums, parks etc) should keep us entertained for a while, but is there anything more offbeat to do? And any general tips for surviving there without too much money?
 
Woebot

Woebot

Well-known member
clissold park and stoke newington church street are round the corner from you and they're very nice, quite "old london" in that they're still a bit shabby and a bit cheaper.

also: the walk from old street>bunhill row> moor lane>st paul's cathedral>footbridge over by the tate>tate gallery>borough market is really nice on saturday.
 
P

petergunn

plywood violin
WOEBOT said:
clissold park and stoke newington church street are round the corner from you and they're very nice, quite "old london" in that they're still a bit shabby and a bit cheaper.

also: the walk from old street>bunhill row> moor lane>st paul's cathedral>footbridge over by the tate>tate gallery>borough market is really nice on saturday.
Click to expand...

walking along the canals by Camden Town down to Regents Park and then up to Primrose Hill... the view from primrose hill is tops, and then you can walk to the london zoo and spend a bit and see the penguin pool by berthold lubetkin, one of my fav architects...
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
If you're going into Stoke Newington, head to Dalston and grab some cheap and excellent Turkish food, and have a look at Ridley Road market while you're there...
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
There's some good Turkish in Stoke Newington too (opposite Yum Yums). Clissold Park is magic for Pygmy goat spotting. Abney Park cemetary is cool and creepy too.

There's two charity bookshops on Blackstock Road that are pretty good.

I'd also recommend a tour of Fitzrovia and Soho's Samuel Smith pubs; all quite architecturally interesting. You can carry a malacca cane and pretend to be Julian MacLaren Ross.

The Hunterian museum on Lincoln's Inn Fields is the most wicked thing in the whole wicked world and free to get into.

I always like a cheap pint in the Chandos, Trafalgar Square, followed by a walk over the bridge to the bookstalls on the South Bank and then the walk along the river to the Tate Modern.

The walk from Finsbury Park to Highgate woods is nice, but watch out for the Highgate Vampire.
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
STN said:
The walk from Finsbury Park to Highgate woods is nice, but watch out for the Highgate Vampire.
Click to expand...

of course if you want enjoy the pleasures of the best part of london (which is obviously the south innit) go the excellent horniman museum (which not only has unusual artifacts from all over the world, but also a real open beehive in the environment room plus a strange aquarium with moon jellyfish) in forest hill.

follow it up with a trip to the national portrait gallery in dulwich and then maybe a trip round the massive park in crystal palace which features victorian (but slighly anatomically inaccurate) stone dinosaurs hidden in the foliage.

theres also brockwell and dulwich parks - south london is a million times greener and nicer than the north, fact!
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
Ha! Springfield Park and Walthamstow Marshes are both worth a look for green space - stop for a pint in the excellent Anchor and Hope on the River Lea (stay off the lager mind).

The Horniman museum is bloody ace though.
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
My favourite things are: the weird voodoo (?) altar and the ritual mask that is the size of an entire house.
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
STN said:
My favourite things are: the weird voodoo (?) altar and the ritual mask that is the size of an entire house.
Click to expand...

i like that room where you can try out all kinds of exotic tribal instruments - migraine inducing though it is, after spending 20 minutes in there with two small children.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Walks in Epping Forest are nice - granted, it's not exactly 'in' London, but it's only half-hour tube ride from the centre of town, or 20 minutes if you live in the East End. Lovely this time of year!
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
it's worth checking out the serpentine gallery's paviallion this year, done by that guy who put a setting sun in the tate modern turbine hall.

you get a great view over the autumnal trees from the top of the pavillion.
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Back from a cracking (and surprisingly cheap) weekend in london.
WOEBOT said:
also: the walk from old street>bunhill row> moor lane>st paul's cathedral>footbridge over by the tate>tate gallery>borough market is really nice on saturday.
Click to expand...
This was great. The area around the Barbican and the roman wall is absolutely mental - I love the way that there are little scraps of really old stuff left in the middle of all the enormous Ballardian skyscrapers. And I didn't realize until I went there that the reason it really works on a saturday is that the city is completely deserted and so it's even more weird...

Crossing the Barbican on the high level walkways at night was good too.

Alison's just by Clissold Park so very handy for Stoke Newington Church Street, which we liked a lot. Good food to be had. Actually it seemed to be a really nice area generally - none of the obvious issues I'd worry about finding in an area of london (media mullets, pre-schoolers with uzis, gastropubs, cheap minimarkets forced out by foccacia peddling shitehawks, violently parochial local pubs etc).

Public transport in london (esp the buses) seems to be fucking amazing. I mean, for under two quid you can get pretty much anywhere in london at any time of the day or night. That's so much better than most places I've lived it's ridiculous. I don't understand why people drive there tbh.

We'll probably try to get down to the Horniman next time.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
STN said:
My favourite things are: the weird voodoo (?) altar and the ritual mask that is the size of an entire house.
Click to expand...

Just went on Saturday and I have to agree. Now there are three vodou altars - one from Haiti, one from Salvador (so I guess more a candomble altar) and one from Benin, where the word comes from and so, presumably, the area from where vodou originated.

The musical instrument room was good, but some of the try-it-yourself ones had been removed, presumably due to infant vandalism.


@Slothrop - Stoke Newington is nice, but it seems to be a hotbed of champagne socialism...the social divide between the immediately adjacent streets, and the roads going down to Dalston, is very clear. I'm assuming you tried Rasa on SNCS? Great Keralan restaurant.
 
W

wonk_vitesse

radio eros
Mr. Tea said:
Walks in Epping Forest are nice - granted, it's not exactly 'in' London, but it's only half-hour tube ride from the centre of town, or 20 minutes if you live in the East End. Lovely this time of year!
Click to expand...

It's gorgeous isn't it. Really easy to get to and much more deserted than say Richmond Park which is perhaps it's southern opposite. Lovely at this time of year.

My vote goes for the Castle Brasserie in E&C shopping centre 1st Flr, huge plate of curry for £2.89!!! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top