I am travelling to the UK... how much AUD will i need to save up?

Question

I am 21, and have booked my flights already and paid for them for may 2010. I have already paid for travel insurance too.
I have accomodations taken care of BUT would like enough so that if things go sour with my accomodations i can still look after myself and not have to be on the street.
I do not plan on eating out at FANCY restuarants. But i do want to see alot. Hyde park, stonehenge, london eye etc.
I realise i need to get a passport and Visa and that these will cost me, but that im not worried about. My trip will last about a month. Please any help or advice is welcomed

Answer 1

You will need quite a lot of money to have an enjoyable and stress free holiday in the UK. The UK is much more expensive than Australia, especially in London and the south of England. The further north you go the cheaper things are.



Food:

Eating and drinking will be at a high cost sometimes. One person can dine at an Italian restaurant for about £20-30 (depends what you have). If you just want a quick meal then a McDonald's/KFC/Pizza Hut will cost you about £5.

For lunch you can easily buy yourself a sandwich from a shop for about £1.50.



I am guessing you are traveling to London Hethrow Airport and staying in London. Don't spend all of your month away in London as there is plenty of other places to go. If you are planning to go on the London Eye then expect verrrrrrrrrrrry long queues of up to 2 hours (in August) and it is verrrrrrrrrrry costly. Check out their website for further details.

If you are staying for a month then try to go to as many places as possible. I would 100% recommend to go to the city of Liverpool in the north of England. Great city. Lots to do. I have gave you a link to good quality and cheap hotels in the UK for you to stay in (just type in your destination and see how much it costs).



I would suggest you bring about £3000 and a credit card just in case.



I have gave you some links to do with the UK, the city's that I would recommend you going to, train times and fares (train is the easiest way to get around the UK).



Good luck and I hop you have a nice trip to the United Kingdom.



If you want to know ANYTHING about the UK then I would be more than happy to hear from you. E-mail me by clicking on my avatar and follow the link.

Answer 2

As a basic rule anything you pay AUS $ for here in Australia will cost you the same in British pounds in England. So $10 worth of goods here will cost you 10pounds there.

Cigarettes are far more expensive than here.

London is one of the most expensive places on earth so be careful where you stay and what you do.

As a 21 year old, look at joining YHA(Youth Hostels Australia), which has a British equivalent. While you do not have to stay at youth hostels, they are the places where people with less money travel, and they learn all the best places to find value for money.

They also have made deals with places for discounts that you can access through membership.

An additional idea is to try and contact people in the UK in the area you are going and ask them for the cost of various things.

Seeing how you have already planned your holiday I am sure you will do very well.



No matter where you go there are basic rules that will increase your spending.

Smoking costs more.

Drinking alcohol costs more.

Paying for other people increases costs.

Buying tourist gifts and presents to bring home increase costs.

As long as you have moderation, $5,000 spending money for a month would be great. You will have rest days where you spend less and you will have big days that are very expensive.



Check the internet because many of the events you want to see and do will have prices online. Eating food while you are out will cost more too.



I went to Stonehenge. It was cheap and a great experience.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Well it depends really on several things - the first being whether you intend working or not. If not you will have to accept the fact that England (being part of Europe) IS expensive there's no doubt about that. But if you plan things well you should be able to see all the things you want to. I have made several trips to the U.K. - my last trip (which I have to say was 10 years ago now) $2,500AUD but I did work at different times. However I bought weekly bus/tube tickets (great savings and you can buy monthly ones as well). These allow you to travel freely day or night as much as you want. The fact that you have your accomodation in order is a huge plus but if all goes pear shaped you should be able to stay at youth hostels (which I found very comfortable and clean compared to Aust. standards) for about 20-25 POUNDS per night. You should be able to check these out on the web under Youth Hostels Assoc. (YHA). Bear in mind that quite a few of the hostels (probably all of them now) will only let you stay for a maximum of 4 consequtive nights (for memory). As far at eating it seems the U.K. has become a second U.S. with regards to fast food so you should be okay there provided you're happy eating that way. Look around and you'll find that there are always restaurants etc that will have lunch time or even dinner 'specials' going. To answer your question though I personally would not be going with anything less than 3,500AUD. This may well turn out to be a trip of a lifetime for you and to return home disheartened because you couldn't do this and couIdn't do that would be a pity so take enough money so you can enjoy yourself but not over indulge so to speak. I hope this is of some help to you. All there is left to say is HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!

Answer 4

I agree with a lot of the comments that have been made already. A couple of other places well worth seeing are: York, Chester and The Cotswolds. The Heritage Pass is well worth it as it can be used all over the country.

I lived in the UK up until 14 years ago and go back to see family every two years.

For food the best thing is good old pub grub.

When you are in London you can get a daily or weekly train ticket at a reasonable price. Get a map of the train stations and you can get around easily on the underground.

Answer 5

I'm so envious of you! If you have accommodation where you're able to prepare a packed lunch for yourself, then that will save you an absolute fortune, don't waste your money buying stale sandwiches when you can make your own fresh to take with you.



You can get into the 'Natural History museum' in London free of charge at the end of the day, it's so huge and fantastic i think it's better to go for an hour a day and see a different section each time rather than spend the whole day which isn't enough time anyway to see it all. Take the coach or train to Norwich (Norfolk), it's not expensive and takes around an hour or so, and go see the 'Norwich Castle Museum' and absolutely don't miss seeing 'Elm Hill' at night, it's beautiful, old cobbled street and little old buildings, you can look up 'Elm Hill' on the net, there are some pics on there to give you an idea. For a month in England i would set aside five thousand pounds spending money. Maybe hire a car and drive yourself to those places where trains and buses or coaches don't go. Drive out to the Norfolk Broads and see the windmills and beautiful scenery. Check out 'Norwich Cathedral', there's no charge to go inside, and whilst you're at it, go to 'Stranger's Hall' museum, the Castle Museum and Strangers Hall museum and the Cathedral are situated in the city of Norwich and you can stroll from one to the other as they're very close to each other. There are many gorgeous villages around Norfolk and there are some really old buildings and ruins to see and it's all so scenic and pretty.



Send me a postcard, won't you? . You'll have a wonderful time in England. Don't forget to visit 'Madam tussauds' (waxworks) and the 'Planetarium' in London. You MUST go to Norfolk and visit Norwich.

Answer 6

Throw away the travel book, you'll just end up at a lot of expensive, boring locations.

Timeout is a great way to find lots of events & sights in London, even the locals use it. This time of year is amazing for festivals in the UK, after 9mths of winter they really let loose for summer, take a look at www.efestivals.co.uk to find something that will have you grinning for years.

There are hundreds of museums and galleries, the major ones are free. Go to Camden markets, brick lane, southbank, etc etc where there is a great vibe and lots to see, but no queue or charge to get in. Go to the top of Tate Modern for the same view as the london eye, but no charge - have a nice lunch there instead.

Get an oyster card and cut 2/3 off your bus/tube/train expenses.

Ask around, local knowledge is best.

Answer 7

From the modern Coca-Cola London Eye to the ancient Tower of London, London has significantly to provide, see more with Hotelbye . In London you will also discover the world-famous British Museum. British Museum exhibits the performs of man from prehistoric to contemporary times, from across the world. Shows range from the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon statues and the mummies in the Ancient Egypt collection. Another spot to see in London is the London's National Gallery, a huge space filled with Western European paintings from the 13th to the 19th centuries. In this gallery you may find functions experts such as for example Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Constable, Renoir, Titian and Stubbs. London is just a place where you are able to see days gone by and the further in the exact same place.

Answer 8

There is no set answer to your question it depends on how you want to eat and live for the best cheap fantastic meals the small country English pubs are the best.

As for money I found the best way was a visa card (debit) as there is less chance of paying exchange rates as you do with travellers cheques

London is very expensive to stay as you are young you can still enjoy yourself,the most important thing is check how many with drawls you can make on your card before you go and don't get to much cash out at a time incase you get your pockets picked,and don't keep your card in your wallet keep it in a safe place such as a personal container inside your clothes.

I have made 5 trips to England and have been using these ideas and had no problems so please enjoy your holiday.

I went with A$5000 dollars on my card< I was there for 5 weeks.

Answer 9

We went to London last year and it is really best to book and pay for as much of the tour things before you leave OZ especially with the ex rate at the mo. We used a cash passport which is like using your own money and you cna use it at ATM's all over Europe and you can log on and find out where the ATM's are in each city. Try and base yourself someplace for about a week, and do day trips to locations from there, the rate for hotels and B&B's goes down once you get over about 4 nights staying. Oyster cards are brillian and we spent about $1500 in 10 days on food and excursions and shopping etc. Also, bucket travel shops for trips to Europe are everywhere so put aside money for that cos you will want to travel. Get a copy of Time Out mag as soon as you land. Good luck (we are going in June next year but only for a few days)

we are basing ourselves in Italy cos its cheaper than London and flying everywhere.

Answer 10

No. Airlines will not let you on board without a valid passport. You do not need both passports at the same time. As you have dual nationality, you do not need a visa for either the UK or Australia no matter which passport you are travelling on. If you were to renew your Australian passport, take the old UK passport with you so if there are any questions when you return to the UK, you can show it and demonstrate that you are a UK citizen - but it shouldn't be necessary. You could do it the other way, renew your UK passport for travel and take your old Australian passport with you to establish citizenship. I have both UK and Australian passports. I usually use my Australian passport for travel to and from Australia but the British passport is more useful when travelling round Europe.

Answer 11

I just got back from a UK trip last week..I would recommend getting a English heritage pass. You can get one for a few weeks and it will allow you free entry into all English heritage sites such as stone henge. You will only have to pay entry into the the privately owned castles,which will set you back 15-30 pounds entry. You also can buy packages to the attractions in London and receive a huge discount such as the London eye, London dungeons, madam Tussuad and the tower or London. Your first day in London I recommend going on a hop on hop off tour called the big bus sightseeing tour. Its a 24 hr ticket and it will also give you a tour along the River Thames..That way you can see the sight that interest you can you can revisit them later.



It will depend if your driving or if you are catching the train around UK as to how much it will cost. Trains can pretty much take you everywhere. I drove all around England and I had to fill up 4 times at a cost of 60 pounds each time. Typical accommodation I found was between 60-120 pounds a night in a hotel and a lot of them included breakfast. Food i found was cheaper in UK than Australia, unless you went to a restaurant. Since I had breakfast with my accommodation i only spend 50 pounds a day on food.



I only went over with 2000 pounds for 15 days and it was fine for me. I visited London, Salisbury, Bath, Manchester, The Lake District, and Newcastle as well as stopped in between places. I did however already had the sight seeing packages pre-booked and paid for before I left. Also I recommend taking photocopies of your passport with you. They will ask for a copy when you check in at a hotel to validate who you are.. Just make sure you get the copy back when you leave.

Answer 12

ALOT - I am from England and it is very expensive, and when you convert your money from AUD to BDP your money will half - eg $6000 AUD will be $3000GBP

London is one of the most expensive places so for London alone for you to see what you want you will need appox $1500AUD maybe more - transport further out of London for you to see more than just London isn't to bad - any the further out you go the cheaper things will become

Answer 13

I would suggest you go on the Internet and locate the YWCA in the areas you with to go. Little Chefs are not too bad to eat at and are usually located with a Travelodge; rooms on offer with them can be as low as 19 pounds a night. If you stay in London you will need a fortune. Go north where there is history, and cheaper food and accommodation. I would suggest you use the Internet to locate the Travelodge’s in the areas you wish to go. York is a brilliant place, Chester is also but they are tourist areas and you do tend to pay. May is a beautiful time of year to be there. But London is not England. Try Wales and Scotland.

Answer 14

Depending on how long your staying? 10K will be plenty, it is expensive over there, however you can live cheaply, buy food from supermarkets when you can. Public transport is better priced then australia also. make sure you learn all the travel prices, weeklys work out best.



Get a good map, you can go to all the tourist destinations without having to catch cabs or totally overpriced tour bus's. I lived there for 2 years, grabbed the tour bus schedule and then mapped it out taking normal buss's and only paid 5 pounds for the day instead of 50 pounds.



Beer is cheap too, so drink plenty of it!



and have fun!

Answer 15

Even with accommodation paid for you can NOT survive sight-seeing London and surrounds on less than 50 pounds per day.



For example, a trip to Stonehenge is going to cost 60 pounds plus. If you want to do things like the Tower of London, Madam Tussuad's, London Eye, etc you need to be budgetting 100 pounds per day, minimum.



Or if you are really doing it on the cheap and only going to the free places like Hyde Park, allow 50 pounds per day, because even a meal and drink at a cheap place costs 10 pounds. Or KFC/McDonalds 6.50. And the tube is about 4 pound per day.

Answer 16

You have not mentioned your place of residence. I traveled to UK in May 2008 from Melbourne, Australia. All inclusive (air tickets, hotels, food etc), it cost me approximately $5000.00 (Australian dollars). As an Australian citizen, I was given a 30 day visa at the airport on landing. I stayed in UK for about 14 days.

Answer 17

i spent roughly 800 quid over 3 days in london, went out every night for lunch n dinner n breaky and just ate junk lol n stayed in the city centre. also went indoor sky diving which was so good in bedford.

Only problem was when ordering my food, cos i have a scottish accent they kidded on they couldn't understand me and made a drama out of things. If u like football though you should go and see a game, and if u go to Glasgow try and see an old firm (amazing)

And if u go to glasgow u can go on a bus from George square which takes u up as far as aberdeen, i did it and was suprised at how good it was. takes like 12 hrs though and isnt too expensive.

Answer 18

3000 Pounds To Aus Dollars

Answer 19

With a father who lives in England and a brother who travels over there every 5 months...I would say you need LOADS. But if you take into account that our dollar is roughly 50pence there, so if you think about it you need double our money. I would say you would need about 2,000 dollars of our money, convert that into pounds...you would have around 1,000 pounds.



It is very very expensive there so my father keeps telling me, so start saving now!

Answer 20

try on-line to hire a camper van for the month, it will save you money on travel, accommodation and food we hired one to travel UK and Ireland had a great time, cant give prices as I went in 1981and yes it was expensive then

good luck and enjoy

Answer 21

1500 AUD

Answer 22

London is expensive the north is ok



if your mum or dad where English born you entitled to dole money or social security well use to be don't think it changed know my nephew born AU his mum English he got it

Answer 23

get bus to Scotland.enjoy the friendliness of Scots..Aussies made really welcome.visit castles using scottish heritage pass, visit Glencoe,FortWilliam,Oban ,Inverness..SYHA good for accomodation, B& B in private houses next best option..enjoy your visit...ex scot now living in Blue Mountains

Answer 24

100 lb

Answer 25

considering that u already paid for accodomation, 8000-10,000 should b plenty

Answer 26

coke is 40 quid a gram and pints around 2.50 this is all you need to know.. ps the girls are easy, rock on