When I first arrived in London, I felt stuck in a catch-22 situation: all of the attractions were must-see novelties to me, but I multiplied their entrance fees into my home currency and soon felt daunted. I wanted to visit the best entertainment and historical sites I’d read about and seen on TV, from Tower Bridge and the London Eye to Ministry of Sound, Planet Hollywood and Westminster Abbey. But it just didn’t seem possible on my student budget.
London is a very big city that can seem expensive to newcomers. One way to get discounts to tourist attractions, shows and restaurants is to use discount vouchers. I visited a discount shopping website and joined their mailing list so that they emailed me daily specials, which included 20 per cent discounts on tickets to attractions such as St Paul’s Cathedral and two-for-one meals to great restaurants like Little India.
The useful thing about discount codes is that they’re easy to apply for and don’t require any registration or upfront payment. They’re valid for up to six people, meaning I could take my friends to Planet Hollywood and their fares were discounted, too.
Simply by applying for the code, printing the voucher and presenting it to the teller, I could get as much as 20 per cent discounted from tickets to shows in London’s exciting theatre venues in the West End. But the codes aren’t restricted to leisure activities; I used them to go shopping on Oxford Street where many codes were applicable to big-name brands, saving me quite a few pounds on necessities like furniture and kitchenware.
I used discount codes to get to know the city by taking bus tours and Thames cruises. When I got a bit braver, it was easier to input a wider travelling distance to the discount code website and go further afield – to places like Birmingham, Cambridge and Surrey. Thanks to London’s excellent transport infrastructure, it was easy to travel to these places, and exciting getting to know the surrounding hamlets too.
Don’t be daunted by the size and scope of London when you first arrive; use discount vouchers to save some pounds when exploring England’s biggest and most cosmopolitan city.
