2026 London Travel Cost Study
London on a budget: what a trip to London, England costs
A mid-range trip of 4 nights in London costs two people about £1,500, or £188 per person per night with two sharing a room, before flights.
London trip cost calculator
Pick your nights, people, style and month. The hotel line uses our median price for that month and star class. Meals and car hire use published prices. You can copy a link to your own budget and share it.
Your trip
£1,500
£750 per person · £188 per person per night
| Hotel | £620 |
|---|---|
| Eating out | £480 |
| Activities | £273 |
| Car hire | £0 |
| Public transport | £71 |
| Airport metro | £56 |
| Tourist tax | £0 |
Short answer
- Budget £884 4 nights, 2 travellers
- Mid-range £1,500 4 nights, 2 travellers
- Comfort £2,766 4 nights, 2 travellers
In our default trip, the hotel is the largest cost: £620 of £1,500. That trip is 4 nights for two in a 4-star room, two meals out a day each and two big sights. The sights count at their lowest listed prices. It costs about £1,500, or £750 per person. In a 3-star room with cheaper meals, the same trip costs about £884. In our sample, a 4-star room cost a median £96 a night in February 2027 and £235 in May 2027.
How to see London on a budget
- Look at January and February. In our sample, the cheapest month for a 4-star room was February 2027, at a median £96 a night. The dearest was May 2027, at £235. For 3-star rooms, January 2027 was the cheapest, at £46. We read two nights a month on 24 October 2026, and the mix of hotels differs by night.
- Book a 3-star room. A 3-star room for two cost a median £69 a night. That is less than half the 4-star median of £155.
- Skip the Saturday night at 3-star hotels. The same 3-star hotel cost a median 14.8% more on a Saturday than on the Tuesday before. At 4-star hotels the gap was only 1.3%.
- Tap one card on the Tube and buses. Pay-as-you-go travel in the two central fare zones is capped at £8.90 a travel day. Use the same bank card or phone every time, and you never pay more than the cap for those zones.
- Eat cheap at least once a day. Guides put a cheap meal at about £13 per person, rounded to the pound, and a mid-range meal at about £30. One of the cheap-meal guides covers east London only. Pub meals and street food keep lunch near the low end.
- Compare tickets for the same sight. A Tower of London ticket costs from £38 per person on GetYourGuide. The median of the 7 Tower tickets and tours on our Tower of London page is £67. So check what each ticket includes before you pay more.
Flights are not part of this study, because their price depends on where and when you fly. The British Museum and many other big museums are free to enter. Our questions below list free museums, parks, markets and walks.
What a London trip costs for two
For two people in mid-range style, London costs about £1,207 for 3 nights, £1,500 for 4 nights and £2,379 for 7 nights.
This is the same 4-night trip in three styles, at any time of year. Each total holds the hotel, 2 meals out per person a day, 2 sights, the daily Tube cap and the train from Heathrow both ways. One person on a budget week pays about £892.
| Style | Hotel | Eating out | Activities | Transport, airport, tax | Total | Per person per night |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget 3-star hotel, cheap meals | £276 | £208 | £273 | £127 | £884 | £111 |
| Mid-range Our default 4-star hotel, mid-range meals | £620 | £480 | £273 | £127 | £1,500 | £188 |
| Comfort 5-star hotel, one fine dinner a day | £1,326 | £1,040 | £273 | £127 | £2,766 | £346 |
More nights, bigger total (mid-range, for two)
What a London hotel costs, month by month
A hotel room for two in London cost a median £69 a night at 3-star, £155 at 4-star and £332 at 5-star. For 4-star rooms, February 2027 was the cheapest month and May 2027 the dearest.
We read 1,714 prices from 437 hotels on Google Hotels on 24 October 2026. Each month from October 2026 to September 2027, we looked up one Tuesday and one Saturday, always one room shared by 2 adults. We read 10 nights a second time to reach more 4-star and 5-star hotels, and the star-class medians include them. Each price is as Google showed it: we did not check taxes, fees or refund terms. Hostels are left out, because they show the price of a bed, not a room.
Each month, by star class
Google shows a different group of hotels for each night. So we only compare months inside one star class. A 4-star room cost a median £96 in February and £235 in May. Part of that gap is the mix of hotels, not only the season.
| Month | 3-star | 4-star | 5-star |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 read 3 days ahead, not ranked | £58 | £146 | £270 |
| November 2026 few prices yet, not ranked | £60 | £207 | £595 |
| December 2026 | £62 | £159 | £588 |
| January 2027 | £46 | £111 | £203 |
| February 2027 | £49 | £96 | £215 |
| March 2027 | £64 | £127 | £259 |
| April 2027 | £70 | £165 | £301 |
| May 2027 | £86 | £235 | £585 |
| June 2027 | £88 | £225 | £338 |
| July 2027 | £93 | £220 | £417 |
| August 2027 | £87 | £173 | £330 |
| September 2027 | £97 | £186 | £362 |
About these numbers
Medians per room per night for 2 adults, as Google Hotels showed them. Each month holds only 21 to 37 4-star prices and 13 to 35 5-star prices, so treat the month ranking as a rough guide. October 2026 was read only days ahead and November 2026 had few prices, so neither is in the cheapest or dearest ranking. Prices read months ahead can change before you book.
Saturday or Tuesday?
How we compared weekends
Each time a hotel showed both nights in one month, we put its Saturday price next to the Tuesday before (331 pairs). At 3-star hotels the Saturday cost a median 14.8% more, and it was dearer 78% of the time. At 4-star hotels the gap was just 1.3%, so a weekend adds little there.
Hotels guests rate highly
- Covent Garden & the West End The Resident Covent Garden
A hotel on Bedford Street a few minutes' walk from the Covent Garden Piazza and Charing Cross station, where every room has a mini kitchen with a fridge, microwave and Nespresso machine.
- South Bank & Southwark Sea Containers London
A 5-star hotel on the riverside at Upper Ground on the South Bank, with the 12th Knot rooftop bar and some rooms with Thames views.
- South Kensington & Kensington The Ampersand Hotel
A hotel in a large Victorian building on Harrington Road, one minute's walk from South Kensington station, with a Mediterranean restaurant and a science-themed afternoon tea.
- Westminster & Victoria St. Ermin's Hotel, Autograph Collection
A hotel on Caxton Street next to St James's Park station and close to Buckingham Palace, set around a green courtyard with marble bathrooms in the rooms.
We picked the first hotel listed for each of four areas on our where to stay in London page, each rated 8 or more on Booking.com. These hotels are not part of our price figures, and this list says nothing about their prices.
Booking.com ratings and hotel notes as shown on 24 October 2026.
How much food costs in London
A cheap meal in London costs about £13 per person, a mid-range meal about £30 and fine dining about £100.
These are published prices, not our own measurement. We quote travel and food guides word for word, read on 24 October 2026. Some guides are a year or two old, and not every guide gives a year. The calculator uses the middle value of each group.
| Meal | Used in the calculator | Published figures |
|---|---|---|
| Cheap meal fast food, street food or a simple pub meal | about £13 median of 3 sources |
|
| Mid-range meal a main course at a casual restaurant | about £30 median of 3 sources |
|
| Fine dining per person, a set menu at a top restaurant | about £100 median of 2 sources |
|
Drinks
Published guides put a pint of beer in London at about £5.77, the middle of 3 figures. An espresso comes to about £2.27 and a glass of wine to about £5.91, each the average of 2 figures. Drinks are not in the calculator.
| Drink | Middle figure | Published figures |
|---|---|---|
| Pint of beer a pint at a pub; the guides do not all say which part of London | about £5.77 |
|
| Espresso an espresso at a café; one figure is a coffee chain's menu | about £2.27 |
|
| Glass of wine a glass at a bar; one figure is an official average for the whole UK | about £5.91 |
|
To try London's market stalls with a guide, see our Borough Market food tour page.
What sights and tours cost in London
The typical starting price is about £20 for a London walking tour, £67 for the Tower of London, £99 for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and £210 for a Premier League match.
This part is our own data. We noted the lowest listed price of every tour and ticket on our pages, as GetYourGuide showed it on 24 October 2026. GetYourGuide lists them in euros, so we turned them into pounds at the European Central Bank rate of 23 October 2026. The two dearest days out: the Warner Bros Studio Tour London with transfers costs from £99 per person. For Chelsea tickets and other Premier League matches in London, the median of the 6 listed from-prices is £210.
| Type | Median |
|---|---|
| Warner Bros. Studio Tour London: tickets with transfer | £99 £94–£128 |
| Premier League match tickets in London | £210 £147–£280 |
| Borough Market food tours | £82 £53–£93 |
| Tower of London and Tower Bridge tickets | £67 £52–£109 |
| Afternoon tea in London: bus tours and themed teas | £49 £48–£59 |
| Hop-on hop-off bus tours in London | £26 £25–£30 |
| Day trips from London | £77 £72–£79 |
| Hampton Court Palace: tickets and tours from London few tours | £153 £89–£320 |
| London Eye tickets and combos | £57 £36–£71 |
| Houses of Parliament and Big Ben tours few tours | £65 £17.98–£84 |
| West End show tickets | £29 £27–£30 |
| Oxford day trips from London | £79 £79–£134 |
| Thames cruises and river passes | £21 £13–£34 |
| Football stadium tours in London | £29 £24–£36 |
| St Paul's Cathedral tickets | £75 £50–£199 |
| London walking tours, free tours and guided tours | £20 £18.30–£30 |
| Buckingham Palace tours and the Changing of the Guard | £45 £38–£46 |
| Churchill War Rooms tickets and tours | £34 £33–£44 |
| Windsor Castle tours from London | £76 £71–£85 |
| British Museum guided tours | £53 £45–£96 |
| London pub crawls, gin and cocktail tours | £32 £25–£41 |
| Kensington Palace tickets | £80 £52–£96 |
| Westminster Abbey tickets and tours | £54 £46–£64 |
| London Dungeon tickets few tours | £41 £27–£55 |
| Paris day trip from London few tours | £329 £260–£399 |
| Bath day trips from London | £73 £37–£78 |
| Shakespeare's Globe tours few tours | £26 £11.50–£28 |
| Jack the Ripper tours | £21 £18.20–£22 |
| Shrek's Adventure London tickets few tours | £40 £21–£59 |
| Cotswolds day tours from London | £79 £79–£79 |
| Stonehenge tours from London | £74 £71–£78 |
| Heathrow and Gatwick lounges: day passes | £32 £30–£34 |
| Up at The O2 roof climb few tours | £58 £37–£80 |
| Beatles tours: Abbey Road and Liverpool | £45 £25–£49 |
| London at night: night bus tours and Christmas lights | £25 £24–£29 |
| London ghost tours and the ghost bus | £22 £18.40–£24 |
| Cambridge day trips and punting few tours | £23 £11.50–£120 |
| London food tours | £89 £76–£115 |
| Comedy shows in London | £18 £13.90–£18 |
| Notting Hill walking tours | £76 £65–£82 |
| Greenwich tours and the cruise there | £17.20 £16–£27 |
| Camden tours and the canal boat ride few tours | £24 £23–£45 |
| London bike tours | £44 £40–£49 |
| Canterbury and Dover day trips from London | £49 £21–£106 |
| Victoria and Albert Museum guided tours few tours | £19.99 £19.99–£19.99 |
| Stratford-upon-Avon day trips from London few tours | £96 £89–£144 |
Middle half: the 25th to 75th percentile of from-prices; rows with fewer than 4 tours ("few tours") show a rough spread only. A "from" price is the lowest option a listing offers. Prices and ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026.
-
from £99 per person Harry Potter studio tour Harry Potter: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London with Transfers Check availability -
from £150 per person Football tickets Tottenham Hotspur Match Day Tickets at Spurs Stadium Check availability -
from £19.99 per person Borough Market Booze, Brothels & the Bard: London's Bawdy Borough Check availability -
from £38 per person Tower of London London: Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Ticket Check availability -
from £49 per person Afternoon tea London: Afternoon Tea Cruise on the River Thames Check availability -
from £25 per person Hop-on hop-off buses London City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus & Bookable Extras Check availability
What a rental car costs in London
Expect about £50 a day for a rental car in London: the middle of the 3 published daily averages we read on 24 October 2026. The London figures run up to £62 a day; the lowest, £22, is an average for the whole UK, not London.
These are published prices, not ours, and each comes from a different kind of source. The low one is an average for the whole UK, and the high one comes from a single rental firm. The calculator uses these three for the three styles.
- £22 a day:
Small car hire in the United Kingdom typically costs around £22 per day
kayak.co.uk - £50 a day: middle
On average, car rentals in London cost around £50 per day
roadgenius.com - £62 a day:
Car hire in London costs around £62 per day
skyscanner.net
Advertised minimums, not typical prices: from £14 a day (roadgenius.com) · from £32 a day (skyscanner.net).
You do not need a car in London itself: the Tube, buses and trains reach almost every sight. A car helps for day trips, such as the Cotswolds or Stonehenge. The car figures leave out fuel, parking, insurance extras and central London's road charges, which we did not measure.
Tourist tax, the Tube and the airport train
England has no tourist tax yet. The government plans to let some regions add one later, but none was in force in London on 24 October 2026.
Key findings of the 2026 London Travel Cost Study
- 4-star night, median In our sample of 1,714 Google Hotels prices (437 hotels, hostels left out, stays from October 2026 to September 2027), a 4-star night in London cost a median £155 per room for two adults, with the middle half between £102 and £215. A 3-star night cost a median £69, a 5-star night £332.
- Cheapest month, 4-star Across the 10 months we could compare, the median 4-star price per room per night (two adults) ranged from £96 in February 2027 to £235 in May 2027. We read two nights a month and Google shows a different set of hotels each night, so part of that gap is the mix of hotels, not only the season.
- Cheapest month, 3-star In the nights we sampled, a 3-star room for two cost a median £46 a night in January 2027 and £97 in September 2027.
- Saturday mark-up, 3-star For the same 3-star hotel, a Saturday night cost a median 14.8% more than the Tuesday before it (per room, two adults), and the Saturday was dearer in 78% of 83 such comparisons. For 4-star hotels the gap was only 1.3%.
- Cheap meal out, per person Published guides put a cheap meal out in London at £8 (fast food) to £15 (a pub meal) per person; not every guide gives a year. Transport for London caps pay-as-you-go travel in zones 1 and 2 at £8.90 a day.
- Our mid-range trip for two Our calculator puts a mid-range trip of 4 nights for two at about £1,500: one shared 4-star room at the median of all 4-star prices we sampled, two meals out a day each, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and the Tower of London at their from-prices, the zones 1–2 daily cap each day and the Elizabeth line from Heathrow both ways at its from-fare. No overnight visitor levy was in force in London when we checked (24 October 2026). Flights, breakfast and drinks are not included.
Source: 2026 London Travel Cost Study, things-to-do-in-london.com (CC BY 4.0)
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: download the data · embed the chart
Method, data and reuse
What we measured ourselves
- Hotels: 1,714 prices of 437 hotels on Google Hotels, read on 24 October 2026. One Tuesday and one Saturday night per month, October 2026 to September 2027, 2 adults, one room; paid ads, listings without a price and duplicates left out. These are the prices advertised for those dates when we read them, not what guests later paid. Months are compared within a star class because Google shows a different set of hotels for each date. October 2026 was read at short notice and November 2026 had few prices yet; both are shown but not ranked.
- Activities: the "from" prices of the 244 tours and tickets on our 46 activity pages (the table above), as shown on GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026; the calculator offers 12 tours, one per activity page (1 of them from pages with too few per-person prices for the table). A "from" price is the lowest option a listing offers, not a typical price.
What we cite
- Meals, drinks and car hire: figures published by travel guides, food-tour companies and rental platforms, found in Google results in the United Kingdom and quoted word for word with their date. A range counts with its midpoint, each source once per group. No figures from forums or social media. The hotel ratings in the hotel list are Booking.com's, as shown on its pages. None comes from a page that shows a date in 2022 or earlier; many pages show no date at all.
- Tourist tax, fares: the UK Government, Mayor of London.
How the calculator adds up
- Our default trip: 4 nights, two people in one room, mid-range. It includes Harry Potter: Warner Bros. Studio Tour London with Transfers and London: Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Ticket at their lowest listed prices. Our table shows medians of £99 and £67 for those two kinds of ticket, so the sights line is a floor.
- Hotel: nights × rooms (one per two travellers) × the median for the style's star class in that month (or the whole year).
- Eating out: nights × travellers × meals a day at the style's meal price; in comfort, one fine dinner a day and the other meals at mid-range prices.
- Car: days × the style's daily price. Activities: the from-price per person or per group.
- Tourist tax: travellers × nights × £0; every traveller counted.
- Transport: nights × travellers × the daily cap of £8.90. This assumes each traveller reaches the cap on every counted day, pays the adult fare and stays in the two central zones. Lighter use costs less, and children travel free or cheaper. Airport: two Elizabeth line rides per traveller at the starting fare of £13.90, one there and one back. They count on their own, so arrival and departure days may count a ride twice.
Each line is rounded to whole pounds.
Plan your London trip
- The best time to visit London, month by month
- Free and cheap things to do in London
- How many days in London is enough?
- Is London worth visiting?
- London itinerary: 1 to 7 days
- First time in London: what to book ahead, and tips before you go
- London or Paris (or Edinburgh): which to visit
- Where to stay in London
- Christmas and winter in London
The best areas for a first visit, with well-rated hotels in each.
London trip costs: your questions
How expensive is London?
Plan on about £188 per person per night in mid-range style, with two people sharing a room. That covers a 4-star room, two meals out, two big sights at their lowest listed prices, the Tube and the airport train. On a budget it is about £111 per person per night. One person alone on a budget week pays about £127 per night.
Is London expensive to visit?
In our default trip, the hotel is the largest cost: £620 of £1,500 for two people over 4 nights. A 4-star room for two cost a median £155 a night in our sample. Eating out came to £480 and the Tube to £71 for the same trip, capped at £8.90 a day in the two central zones.
How much does a hotel night cost in London, and in which month is it cheapest?
A hotel room for two cost a median £69 a night at 3-star, £155 at 4-star and £332 at 5-star in our sample. The cheapest month is different for each class:
- 3-star: January 2027, at a median £46 a night.
- 4-star: February 2027, at a median £96 a night.
- 5-star: January 2027, at a median £203 a night.
We read two nights a month on 24 October 2026. Each month holds only a few dozen prices per class, so treat the months as a rough guide.
Why is London so expensive?
We only measured London, so we cannot compare it with other cities. In our default trip, the hotel is the largest cost, at £620 of £1,500. Rooms also change a lot by month: in our sample, a 4-star room cost £235 a night in May and £96 in February. Big days out add up too: the Warner Bros Studio Tour with transfers starts at £99 per person.
How to see London on a budget?
Look at January and February, pick a 3-star room (£69 a night median) and avoid Saturday nights at 3-star hotels. Tap one card for all travel, so the daily cap of £8.90 applies in the central zones. Eat a cheap meal for about £13 once a day, and visit the free museums.
How much should you budget for a trip to London?
Two people spend about £1,207 for 3 nights, £1,500 for 4 nights and £2,379 for 7 nights in mid-range style, before flights. Per person, that is about £604, £750 and £1,190. On a budget, 4 nights cost about £884 for two, or £442 each. One person alone on a budget week pays about £892.
Each total covers a shared hotel room, two meals out a day, two big sights at their lowest listed prices, the Tube daily cap and the airport train both ways. Flights, breakfast, drinks and shopping are not included. Use the calculator above to change the nights, style and month.
What can you do for free in London?
Many of London's best sights cost nothing. Special exhibitions and some events charge, so check before you go.
- Free museums: the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the V&A, Tate Modern and Tate Britain.
- Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park, St James's Park, Greenwich Park and Richmond Park.
- Markets to walk around: Borough Market, Camden Market, Portobello Road and Columbia Road Flower Market on Sundays. You only pay for what you buy.
- Walks and views: the South Bank from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the view from Primrose Hill and the Sky Garden, which is free but must be booked ahead.
Guided walks, including free tours where you tip the guide, are on our London walking tours page.
What free things can kids do in London?
Lots of London's best spots for children are free. Some need a booking, and special shows can charge, so check before you go.
- Museums: the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, the free galleries of the Science Museum, Young V&A in Bethnal Green and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. The Science Museum's Wonderlab charges, the rest of the museum does not.
- Parks and play: the Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens, Coram's Fields in Bloomsbury, the deer in Richmond Park and the open lawns of Hyde Park.
- Things to watch: the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace and the street performers in Covent Garden.
Is the London Eye worth the money, and what does a ticket cost?
It is worth it if you want a slow, seated view over the river and Westminster, and it suits first-time visitors, families and anyone who can't manage long climbs. If you only want a view, free spots do the job. A ticket buys one full turn of the wheel, which takes about half an hour.
On GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026, a standard London Eye entry ticket cost from £29 per person. The median of the 6 London Eye tickets and combos on our London Eye page was £57, because combos and fast-track entry cost more. We did not check prices at the ticket desk.
Free views: the Sky Garden in the City is free but must be booked ahead. Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath look over the whole skyline at no cost.
Is the London Pass worth it compared with buying single tickets?
It pays only if you visit several paid sights a day, on every day the pass runs. If you plan one or two paid sights a day, single tickets are usually the safer buy. We did not price the London Pass, so compare its price on the day you buy with the single tickets you would really use.
On GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026, a Tower of London ticket cost from £38 per person. The median listing was £67 for the Tower, £54 for Westminster Abbey and £75 for St Paul's Cathedral. Check that the pass covers the sights you want. The British Museum, the National Gallery and most other big museums are free, so they add no value to a pass.
Is an Oyster card or contactless payment cheaper for getting around London as a visitor?
On fares, neither one is cheaper. Both are pay-as-you-go, and the Mayor of London's fare paper sets one pay-as-you-go daily cap: £8.90 in the two central zones. A bank card or phone needs nothing extra, while an Oyster card costs a fee to buy. Your bank may charge a fee for card payments abroad, so check that before you tap. Always tap the same card or phone, or the cap will not add up your rides.
How much is a rental car per day in London?
Expect about £50 a day. That is the middle of the 3 published daily averages for car hire we read on 24 October 2026. The London figures run up to £62 a day. The lowest, £22, is an average for the whole UK, not London, so a London rental will usually cost more. These prices leave out fuel, parking, insurance extras and central London's road charges.
Is it cheaper to buy hop-on hop-off bus tickets online?
We can't say, because we only read online prices, not prices on the bus. Buying online does let you compare several tickets before you pay. On GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026, the cheapest ticket cost from £25 per person. The median of the 8 listed from-prices on our hop-on hop-off bus tours page was £26.
Before you pay, check how many days the ticket covers, which routes it includes, whether a river cruise or walk is part of it and whether you can cancel for free. If the bus company sells tickets at the stop, compare that price with the online one on the day.
Sources
Car hire prices (cited)
All read 24 October 2026 (the day we read them, not the day they were published; some pages show no date)
Meal and drink prices (cited)
All read 24 October 2026 (the day we read them, not the day they were published; some pages show no date)
Official sources
All read 24 October 2026
- Tourist tax per night: gov.uk
- Transit day pass: london.gov.uk
- Airport transfer one way: heathrow.com