London Cheap Deals and Bargains

One of the best reasons for living in and visiting London: designer sample sales!

If you've never been to one, you are missing out on some truly fab deals.

Where else can you find designer labels such as Dolce and Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney and Chloe up to 80% off?!

For the latest London sample sales, visit Savvy Fashionista.

You can even sign up to be notified of all upcoming London Sample Sales.

First things first, make sure you get an Oyster card. It can be used for pay as you go or travelcard / bus pass. You can use it for the bus, Tube, trams, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail services in London.

Why should you get one? Because it can save you a lot of money, for example:

Bus fare (cash) = £2.00
Bus fare (Oyster) = £1.00

Tube fare Zone 1 (cash) = £4.00
Tube fare Zone 1 (Oyster) = £2.20 (peak fare) £1.60 (off peak fare)

Also, when you use Oyster to pay as you go, you will not be charged more than the daily price capping each day. For buses, the daily price capping is currently £3.00 (price of a one day bus pass) which means no matter how many times you take the bus in a single day using your Oyster card, you will only pay £3.00 that day.

=> Tip for those staying / living in zones 2 or 3:

The 7 day travelcard for zones 2 - 3 is only a few quid more than the 7 day bus pass; this can be handy as it allows you to travel on the tube in zones 2 and 3 in addition to being able to take the bus in any zone!

=> Are you a student in London?

Make sure to you get your 18+ Student Oyster photocard which will give you 30% off travelcards and bus passes! You'll need to apply through your Uni / Education establishment.

London is surprisingly walkable; once you learn to not rely so much on the tube, you may even find that getting from one place to another is faster above ground!

The great thing about exploring London on foot is that you will likely come across hidden history, unexpected and spectacular sights, secret hideaway gardens and significant landmarks.

For free leaflets which highlight and map out routes and what you can discover in London, visit Walk London.

For guided walks, including the famous Jack the Ripper tour, check out London Walks. There is no need to book ahead of time, you just have to show up. Each walk costs £7 or £5 if you are a student/senior.

Looking for budget accomodations in London? Check out Hostelbookers.

They have over 10,000 hostels, guest houses, apartments and budget hotels in over 2,500 destinations worldwide.

Hostelbookers is the best place I've come across for booking hostels. They guarantee the lowest prices PLUS there are no booking fees.

Hostels are not only cheap accomodation but can be a great place to meet fellow travellers or a temporary home until you find your footing in the city.

Find a cheap hostel deal in London or plan out your Europe trip!

If you like comfort, but cringe at the prices of the 3, 4 and 5 star hotel rooms, try checking out Top Secret Hotels at lastminute.com. This is similar to Hotwire in the US, where you learn the name of the hotel after you've made the booking. This way you can get hotel rates that are significantly below published prices.


For cheap London hotel deals, and for booking last minute cheap hotels in Europe, I like to check out Rates To Go. You can save up to 70% plus earn money towards your next bookings! (even more savings!)

The London West End is where you'll find loads of fantastic musicals and plays to suit every taste. My personal musical picks are: Les Miserables, Wicked, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys and Avenue Q.

Tickets can be expensive however, with stall seats costing up to £60. Yikes! I never pay that much for tickets, why go to just one show when you can see 3 or more for the same price?!

Here's how can you get cheap theatre tickets, have enough money for dinner and maybe even some left over:

Go to TKTS (you will have to go in person on the day), which is a small building smack in the middle of Leicester Square. They sell the best seats - stalls or dress circle - most of the time at half the normal price. See what tickets are available today.

You'll see that some shows never sell discount tickets (Wicked, The Lion King). This is because they're so popular, they're usually sold out! BUT they may sell day seats for around £20 (Wicked, Billy Elliot); these seats tend to be the first 2 rows or off to the side and are of limited quantity. They are sold in the morning at 10 or 11 AM and you'll see people queueing up an hour before; check with the individual theatres for exact times.

Tip for Students: At most theatres, if you show your student card you will get specially priced day tickets, normally around £20. The seats are usually quite good, sometimes in the stalls! These tickets may only be available one hour before the show starts.

Tickets for just £10?!

Lastminute.com has some theatre deals worth checking out as well:

Dinner and Show Deals

Theatre tickets for just £10!

Looking for something a bit different away from the London West End? There are many fringe theatres scattered across London that offer high quality productions in an intimate setting. See something first before it hits the West End (for a fraction of the price)! Here are a couple of my favourite:

The Gate Theatre in Notting Hill is renown throughout London, as well as nationally and internationally. It was founded in 1979 and is dedicated to international work. Go on a Monday and just PAY WHATEVER YOU CAN AFFORD! Seriously!

The Menier Chocolate Factory in South London is definitely worth a visit. I saw Neil Patrick Harris in Tick Tick Boom a few years back and it was amazing. Sunday in the Park with George first ran at this theatre before it was transferred to the West End.

There are lots of cheap airlines in Europe; some with a focus on certain countries. If you're lucky you can fly to continental Europe for less than £10!

If I've got a destination in mind, I usually do a quick check on Expedia and Opodo which both allow you to book the cheapest and available flights in real-time.



Remember when you are comparing flights to look at the total cost which includes airport taxes and other surcharges. This is important as sometimes airlines will trick you and entice you with a cheap fare when in fact the total cost is much more when all the other charges are added on top.

Fancy a daytrip out to Oxford or Birmingham? Or maybe a weekend trip up to Edinburgh? Book in advance with Megabus and you may be able to go for only £1! That's right, one pound!

National Express is UK's largest coach network and goes to a lot more places than Megabus. Sometimes they run deals as well where you can book seats for only £1. They also go to festivals and airports.

Visit the Vidal Sassoon Academy and get a fab haircut for £11 (£4.50 if you show a student card). Appointments are at 10am and 1pm weekdays only and can take up to 3 hours.

If you're feeling adventurous and are up for a big change, then you can ask to go to the Advanced Academy. Prices are the same.

Your hair will be cut by students from the Sassoon Academy, however there is a teacher in the room overseeing everything so chances of you getting a horrendous haircut are quite low. I've been a few times and I've always come out happy (albeit with a numb bum)!

They also do colour, which costs between £17.50 and £35.

Location: 56 Davies Mews, London W1K 5AA (near Bond St tube)
Telephone: 020 7399 6901