While London may seem like a long way to go for just the day, you can surprisingly fit a lot in. A few weeks ago, I decided to take a Saturday out of my studying and do something a little bit different.

Being a student has its financial challenges, it can be hard to make ends meet sometimes but everyone should treat themselves every once in a while, and that’s exactly what I did. I offered up the idea to my boyfriend that we should take a day trip somewhere and we got to work planning where we could go. We’d gotten a little bored of exploring every nook and cranny of Northern Ireland and so decided that we wanted to go a little further afield.

Booking the flights

I got to work on researching flights and saw that when you fly from Dublin you can get flights much, much cheaper than from Belfast. London stuck out to me at only £29 return. Of course, I’d have to factor in the coach down to Dublin but at only £16, it was a no-brainer that flying from Dublin was still much cheaper than from Belfast.

Our plane fare included a small backpack only, but this was perfect for a one-day trip. We also paid a few extra pounds to book our seats beside each other but this wasn’t necessary, just personal preference.

^{We enjoyed a beautiful view of the sunrise as we flew to London}

We booked the first flight out from Dublin which left at 6.20am, so it was a very early start to get to Dublin Airport in time. It wasn’t too much of a hassle though as we caught up on lost sleep on the journey down and on the flight. We took some cereal bars with us for breakfast as we didn’t want to add the cost of another meal, but we did buy some water in the airport.

Getting from the airport to Central London

The airport we had booked to go to was London Stansted, about an hour and a half outside of London with heavy traffic. After looking through all our options we settled that the cheapest way of getting to London was the £19.50 (with student discount) return National Express coach. The fastest option would have been the train but there was construction happening on the line causing delays when we went, and it also would be a lot more expensive.

The tickets were very flexible in that you could get on any coach within 3 hours of your scheduled time. Our flight landed early, meaning we got on an earlier coach and were in London for 9.15am.

What to do in London

The coach went straight to London Victoria, but we decided we would get off at a stop in Baker Street. We wanted to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum and be able to find our own route into the city. It took just over half an hour to walk to Buckingham Palace, which was the first stop on our checklist.

Buckingham Palace was one of our first stops and while there were plenty of people around, we’re glad we went early to get our pictures as you could barely move for crowds in the afternoon.

As we are both from Northern Ireland and have only been to London a couple of times, seeing the main tourist sites was our priority. A walk around Buckingham Palace and the adjoining St. James Park was nice, and surprisingly peaceful for a Saturday.

^{Feeding the parakeets in St. James’ Park was one of the highlights of my day}

From there we went to the Horse Guards and then passed Downing Street into the heart of Westminster. Westminster Bridge offered the perfect position for us to take photos of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the London Eye. We also walked around the outside of the Abbey. We didn’t pay for any tours or to go into the building as we wanted to keep our costs down.

^{Westminster Bridge was the perfect place to take cool pictures!}

Lunchtime!

Next, we had a stroll up to Leicester Square to see all the West End theatres and by then it was hitting lunchtime. Again, we weren't looking to spend out on a fancy meal and didn't want to waste time in a sit-down restaurant, so we opted for a Gregg's as we knew we liked it. Lunch was sorted for £3 each which was amazing.

^{The bronze statues in Leicester Square are so cute!}

More exploring…

We spent the rest of the day just seeing more tourist sites, going to Piccadilly Circus, and Trafalgar Square and enjoying a walk up the Mall. Then we went back up to Marylebone to find some cheap souvenir shops. Don’t buy from the stalls on Westminster Bridge, they’ll charge you double what a small souvenir shop will just a few miles out of the centre!

^{The fountains at Trafalgar Square are beautiful!}

You can fit in a lot more than you might expect in a day! We were back in Baker Street, near our coach stop by about 4.30pm so went into a Costa for a drink and a traybake. Our flight home was at 8.55pm so we left London on our coach back to the airport at around 5pm just to make sure we still had plenty of time if we got stuck in traffic.

Getting through the airport was quick and easy, with enough time to grab a quick bite to eat before our journey home. We went to Burger King as it was the cheapest option. We didn’t eat the healthiest on our day trip but our walk around the city clocked up over 35,000 steps so I think it was well deserved!

Summary and total cost

If you choose to take a day trip to London, then you must be prepared to be exhausted! The day was extremely long but went very quickly. We took advantage of the free time on our flights and coaches, fitting in quick power naps when we could and arrived back in Belfast at around 12.30am on Sunday morning.

It was so worth it though! The total cost of the trip was £81 each including our travel, drinks, meals and souvenirs which is super affordable for students. Save up a few pounds here and there and you’ll be on your way before you know it!

Find out more

Want to go further afield? Check out Tessa's vlog on European trips

Charlotte Lock Geography| Undergraduate Student | Northern Ireland I am an 18-year-old Geography student at Queen's and I am really loving it! Something that makes my degree so special is that it is so open and mixes sciences and the humanities together. I'm really enthusiastic about learning about Earth's amazing processes and how our future might look on a warming planet. Outside of the lecture hall, I love to do all sorts of crafts and travel with friends all across Ireland and beyond!