is it me or is london really realy expensive??

Question

I am an american from NYC and was in London in 2004. Am thinknig of going back, but only if the prices have gone down by at least half since then (lol) They say New York is expensive but I almost went bankrupt with the prices of things in London 9haagan daz- 6 pounda ap int, the tube like 3 pounds, the millenium wheel, forget it like 50 dollars) what salary do you people make a year over there??

Answer 1

I guess it is just what you are used to. I don't think it is bad. But, I think what makes it especially bad in London is the value of the pound right now. Since it is only like $0.50 to the pound, it makes it a lot more expensive in London. Basically, everything costs half to the people that live in London.

Answer 2

London is expensive, no doubt, but being a tourist is also sadly the most expensive way to experience it.

You'll still find a plate of pasta or a curry for a fiver, a pint for a couple of quid or a free museum if you know where to look - just make sure you get outside the parts that are the most touristy.

Don't even think about eating at one of those horrible places on Leicester Square, or buying a piece of pizza from some horrid kiosk on Picaddily Circus. If you jump on the tube to zones 2 or 3 (outside where most tourists go) you'll find the inner suburbs where most of the people who work in London actually live (the outer burbs are back to rich people again, as there's more greenery). There you'll find plenty of cheaper places to stay, to eat etc - and may have less of a queue and less people from home to deal with too.

I hazard a guess that it's like this in every tourist city, step off the beaten track and you experience a different world - just a couple of streets away can make a massive difference.

I know that the US/Sterling exchange rate doesn't help though - not a lot we can do about that, sorry - try having a word with Bushy about that trade deficit of his, that may help :)

Oh, and the average salary is about £30K I think in London - higher than the UK average as there is both a) a London weighting for jobs in the public sector/set levels and b) a higher concentration of the higher paying jobs such as finance, law etc.

If it helps, none of us who live here would get by if we spent all day doing the things that tourists do - I always spend more on holiday than I do at home, as quite apart from the fact that you're not staying in your own home, you're also constantly doing new things, not just watching the telly :)

When I travelled around SE Asia I allowed for £50 a day including accommodation, and that's for *very* cheap countries - I'd never spend that £50 a day at home - unless I was on a massive night out for a hen do or something.

Have fun in London though - we're not all rude or ignorant!

Answer 3

London is typically more expensive than the rest of the UK and salaries in London are higher, in fact people living in London are often paid a 'London living allowance' to keep up with the higher cost of living. You have to remember though that the areas and places you will have seen were probably tourists areas where real British people don't actually live, so prices will have seemed even higher to you.

As for the specific items you mentioned, well, first of all Haagen-Dazs is regarded as a luxury here, I don't know about in the US, but in the UK, unless you have money to burn, you only buy Haagen Dzs once in a while. The tube is indeed expensive, but people who use it regularly (ie. for commuting) have season tickets. The millenium wheel is a total rip-off I agree there, but they have the high construction costs to cover.

Answer 4

It's not as expensive as some places, you can get a bus for only £1.30, I know somewhere, where the bus is about £4 and it's a shorter distance that the places you can get to in London. Haagan Das is expensive anyway, cheap Ice-Cream is much better. All Touristy places are expensive except the Museums and Parks and Monuments. For the salary, minimum wage is about 5-6 pounds per hour, depending what part of London you work in.

Answer 5

Yes it is expensive. I go to London regularly and if you'd like something to do that's not too expensive try The Original London Walks. They do guided walks all over the city with various themes etc and they're only about £5 per person and last about 2 hours. Oh I nearly forgot, a lot of the museums and art galleries have no entrance fees now also.

Happy travels.

Answer 6

No s*** buddy, London is one of the most expensive cities in the world along with Tokyo. Just be glad you didnt go to Oslo or Stockholm where everything costs twice as much as London!!!! People in London get a liitle extra money than their contemporaries in the rest of the UK (a person doing my job in London gets £17000 a year while i get £12480) but often times that isnt enough and a lot of people who do low-paid but crucial jobs like teachers and nurses are quickly being 'priced-out' of being able to live anywhere near London, and it isnt uncommon for them to be found living in exurbs or satellite towns more than 50 miles away. The stuff you describe however (Haagen Dazs and the London Eye) isnt part of Londoners lives.......the next time you come, try living more like a Brit.......go to Museums/galleries instead of stupid Ferris Wheels (They're 100% FREE!) and instead of going out for a fancy meal (Why? English food is crap anyway, and you can always have Chinese back home or more authentic continental fare in Europe), go to a pub, have a few drinks while watching footie (ugh, ok....'soccer') with the locals and have fish and chips or steak for dinner!!! If you wanna go out, I personally think Southeast London is much better than the horriby expensive places in central and west London anyway, but if you've got any racist tendencies, give that one a miss.

Answer 7

London is mega expensive- and yes people that live in the city get city allowance in their wages.
I live 30 miles from there, and find the best thing I do is look on the Internet for any offers. Alternatively most train services that run into the city give you a book full of discounts to attractions, meals, etc, and although us English don't have a very good reputation for being nice, ask around and people will guide you to the best places for the minimal money!

Answer 8

Firstly, god knows how much I make a year -- enough to fly between London and America a lot and stay in some awesome 4/5 star hotels.

Secondly, London is about to become cheaper for me with a special FREE travel pass.

But yeah generally London can be expensive. You just need to know where to eat, stay and visit and how to do things cheaper.

http://www.LondonPass.com could make it cheaper for you.

If you want any help or anything else let me know or something and I'll be able to help -- for the cheap London price of NOTHING (a.k.a: FREE) :-)

Answer 9

I think most of England is more expensive than America. I've known people come back from the US with about 10 pairs of shoes which cost less than buying one pair here. The further south you go(in England) the more expensive everything tends to be. Salaries aren't that great. Many English people have a hard time living on theirs.

Answer 10

I personally have not gone to London, but am looking to go to the UK in 2007. It is very expensive. My acquaintences that live there say it is very expensive. The best thing to do is to try and stay in a hostel. I have looked into them and there are some nice ones. But I am saving money now for a trip that is a year away.