London For Explorers

Lots of people visit London because, well, it’s London, and who in their right mind wouldn’t want to check out the most interesting capital city in the world?

But if you’re on a long holiday where London is only a part of your itinerary, then this guide is for you.

We know that the rest of England and the UK is absolutely beautiful and offers some of the most stunning countryside and history that you can find on the face of the globe (or any other part of the globe, for that matter).

So if you’re staying in London before moving on, or you’ve done some UK travelling and are coming back to the capital (or both!) then it’s a good idea to know where’s best to stay so you can save both money and time, which is the real currency of life and should be spent wisely!

You could be popping into town for that life-changing job interview or some contracted work, or you could be visiting relatives at the other end of the country and need somewhere to stop over in London. We’ve all got reasons to put up in the bustling capital for a night or two, and we’re here to make sure you can get it right first time and enjoy yourself immensely at the same time!

The North / Kings Cross

With increased political devolution in the UK, the North is becoming increasingly popular with businessmen and tourists.

Whether you want to travel to major cities in the north west, such as Manchester and Liverpool, or check out our great northern universities as a prospective student in the north east (like Leeds, York and Hull) then, as far as London’s concerned, you’ll want to stay in Kings Cross.

Kings Cross serves the north of the UK broadly, and just in case you got a certain letter on your doormat recently, then it also serves Hogwarts.

Luckily for you, it’s one of the most popular areas for our customers and we’ve got a huge range of cheap London hotels slap bang in the middle.

The Kings Cross Inn Hotel is a clean and comfortable three-star accommodation in a phenomenal location, and with rooms starting at £20.00 per person, you don’t have to spend a fortune to stay in relative luxury. It has its own Italian restaurant and bar to help you unwind and get a decent meal, too!

At the bottom of the price range in the area (though it’s a shade further from Kings Cross) is the New Market House Hotel, which has its own pub, Long Stay discount advantages and free WiFi throughout so you can make sure your train times haven’t changed.

Sliding up the price range slightly is the Astor Court Hotel, another cheap three-star accommodation with rooms beginning at £25.80 per person. It’s a recently refurbished, clean and stylish hotel with free WiFi throughout and you get a free continental breakfast when you book with TravelStay.com!

Another popular budget London hotel with our customers is the European Hotel. This could be for a number of reasons; it has superior rooms starting from as little as £32.50 per person, it offers free WiFi throughout, and TravelStay.com customers are entitled to a free English breakfast with their stay! Certainly can’t sniff at value like that.

There are many, many more budget hotels in Kings Cross when you browse TravelStay.com, so be sure to check our page dedicated to the best and most up-to-date offers!

The West / Paddington

One of the jewels of the UK is Cornwall, with its unspoiled, almost tropical beaches, its word-famous surf culture, its great universities and its unparalleled countryside (as well as the fact it’s a pretty cheap place to stay).

The West is also full of great university towns, such as Plymouth, Exeter, Bath and Bristol. Some of the most fun you could possibly have can be found in the South West of the UK, and with its universally laid-back vibe it’s popular with tourists but by no means overrun.

In fact, if you’re coming form abroad, then seeing the best and most romantic places the UK has to offer on a shoestring can only really be done in the South West.

To get there, you’ll need to travel from Paddington station.

Good news, we’ve got cheap London hotels galore in Paddington.

Why not check out the Ascot Hyde Park? Despite it’s extremely posh sounding name, this is a great budget hotel that punches well above its weight for quality. With rooms starting at £19.50 per person and with incredible savings for Long Stay bookings (10% saving on bookings of 3 nights or more), you couldn’t really do better.

The accommodation also has its own associated restaurant if you want to unwind at the end of the day and offers student discounts of 10% (a TravelStay.com exclusive) if you’re heading west to check out their many universities. As the name suggests, you’re also minutes from Hyde Park if you want to check out London’s most famous bit of greenery in your down time.

Also on the doorstep of Paddington with rooms starting at £21.00 per person is the Normandie Hotel. It’s a three-star accommodation on a shoestring, and TravelStay.com customers get a free English breakfast when they book to help your pennies go even further!

And for something a little posher, you could always stay in the 27 Paddington Hotel. It’s an upmarket three-star accommodation within sight of Paddington Station, and has great perks for TravelStay.com customers such as free WiFi throughout and a free continental breakfast when you book. With rooms starting at £36.33 per person, this is true luxury on a budget.

The South / Victoria

By ‘The South’, we really mean the South East. The rest of the South tends to be covered by the South West and therefore served by Paddington, however there are some lovely areas like Southampton, Littlehampton, Gosport, Bognor Regis and Chichester that are verging on the South West but we’re including in our South section because they’re served by Victoria or London Bridge.

Kent is nicknamed the Garden of England (not Eden, sadly) because of its sublime beauty and old-worldy charm. With thatched cottages, tiny streets lined with overhang Tudor houses, cathedrals, countryside and ale producers, it’s a postcard perfect area of the UK that is unmissable for any traveller.

It’s served by Victoria station, and we’ve got hundreds of great, cheap hotels in Victoria.

With rooms starting at £18.20 per person, the alliterative Holly House Hotel is a great option. Within an easy walk of Victoria station, it offers free WiFi throughout and TravelStay.com guests are entitled to a free continental breakfast.

You could check out the modern and chic Chester Hotel Victoria, which has rooms starting at £20.00 per person and has free WiFi throughout. Located a short walk from the station, the hotel is a comfortable and basic accommodation perfect for flying stop overs.

And a firm favourite with our customers is the Romanos Hotel due to its low prices of £23.80 per person, its free WiFi and its complementary continental breakfast for all TravelStay.com customers.

The East / Liverpool Street

The East of the UK is a little different as London itself is pretty easterly and many attractive locations out east are accessible on the tube directly.

Indeed, we’ve even got a bunch of hotels that one could consider in the east of England as well as in London.

For instance, you could try the Park Hotel Ilford or the Best Western Hotel Ilford, which have budget rooms within easy access of Ilford station that go directly into Liverpool Street. These hotels offer free parking and free WiFi and have starting prices of £14.75 and £20.00 per person respectively.

But if you want to go from Liverpool Street to beautiful Eastern cities such as Norfolk, then we recommend staying in nearby Stratford – from whence you can get to Liverpool Street on the Central Line in a matter of minutes.

For £20.00 per person you could stay at Lodge 51, a short walk from Stratford and all it has to offer. This cheap London hotel has free WiFi throughout and means you can save your pennies to spend on the beautiful beaches of the East.

The Glorydale Inn, near Stratford and with rooms starting at £23.32 per person, also offers free WiFi throughout. This modern accommodation also has a shared kitchen so you can prepare your own food and keep costs down that way.

And if you like staying somewhere with a beautiful pub attached, then try the Forest Gate Hotel. This comfortable, homely accommodation has free WiFi and free parking, and TravelStay.com customers get a free English breakfast when they book!

We strongly recommend that, even if it wasn’t part of your original plan visiting London, to get out of town and see some of our beautiful country. You’ll be amazed just how much our culture varies depending on where you go, from the tiny, tumbledown fishing (and smuggling!) villages of Cornwall through to the expansive manor houses of Yorkshire, there’s so much available that you simply can’t witness in London that we think it’s unmissable.

And if you’re touring the UK and want to use this guide to find the right place to stay, then great. We can’t think of a better way to see the UK than by train, and we hope you find a great budget London hotel that lets you do everything you always wanted in the country.

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