London on the Cheap - not necessarily a contradiction

For those making the journey for the first (or second or third) time, lets face it, London is expensive. Shockingly enough, there ARE no cost to low to moderately priced things to do!


So here are a few ideas, hopefully fellow travelers will add some more.

1) The Markets;

From Portabello Road and Camden Locks (over priced IMHO - give me the rag and bone market in Bow anyday) you can find almost ANYTHING... and looking doesn't cost you a penny.

Personal fave, Pettycoat Lane in Whitechaple - found some cool SW vintage toys there fairly reasonably too.

2) Museums - thanks to the end of Thatcher's reign, they are (mostly) free but for some of the special exhibits.

Personal faves: The British Musuem and the Imperial War Museum (Used to be "Bedlam hospital" - Don't miss the Blitz Experiance.) Farther afeild in Hendon, The RAF museum is a MUST for warplane buffs.

3) London walks, for less than a tenner US you can experiance some really cool sites....

Just to get you started.

 

Yeah, Camden town is great for something to do for free. Meet real English Punks

 

I haven't seen a real Punk in Camdem for years! Did they migrate back?

(Note: I live in the US but was born in Romford, have relations back home and go back as often as I can)

 

yep they seem to have migrated back, Camden is where most of my mates go and they are either goths or punks.

 

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A bit of history, and you can get there on a £6.30 travelcard
Elstree is not the nicest of places though

You also have the Tate Modern and Tate Britain which are very good and free. And the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square.

 

Sure can Sabine. This site has all the info on buses: Lonodn Buses

Daily travelcards cover all bus journeys with-in the six zones, as well as tubes and trains. You can get just daily bus passes too which are cheaper, but personally I'm not a fan of buses so will always tube or train it. But one bus trip on the top deck is worth it for the experience

 

Let's come to something important: TOYS!
How much do you guys normaly have to pay for a 3 3/4 figure eg?

That would help me calculate how much money I have to bring

 

Guess it depends on the pack really, forbidden planet which is the main place in London to get things from you are looking at £6 and up. As I said, it depends on what ones you are getting.

 

£5.99 is the Recommended Retail Price and most shops (Toys R US, department stores) sell them for that. Forbidden Planet, as you know Jule , has a very good selection but not very good prices. They range from £8-15. By next July though, we'll be having the 30th anniversary range of figures & packaging, so who knows

Either way, they're cheaper here then in Germany but I reckon the dealer room at CE will have lots of bargins

 

i'm sorry,lordtice but those two phrases do not go hand in hand...
dealers room and bargain...
at least not when it comes to action figures,anyway...
at least not in my experience...
but then i am a skinflint.

 

Actually, I did very well in the dealers room at C-3 - lots of stuff for under 5-10$

Mind you, I like unusual things - like the poster for the Clones dvd release in germany - it was 'well loved' but I paid a fiver for it and gave it to a freind who LOVED it.

Figures I can get here cheap, odds and sods... I'll get from a dealer's room.

 

I hope to get some vintage SW comics. If I don't find those in the dealer's room, does the Forbidden Planet sells comic books too, not just toys and novels? Do you guys know any good comic shop in London?

 

Forbidden Planet does sell comics but they are mostly current or very recent ones. I haven't seen any vintage ones there.
Orbital Comics is pretty good. They are on Charing Cross Road up near the intersection with Oxford Street. It's not a bad walk from FP to there. I got some SW back issues there but nothing I'd really call vintage.

 

With CE in town the comic shops might change the prices though... what do you think?

 

Not sure, has that happened in the US too? I know with CIII the prices seemed to be better in the local shops - ie discounts on things. I'd say it'll be better for fans than the other way round, plus not sure shops like FP are allowed to increase their prices just like that for a short period. Never seen it myself, even for LFCC.