The Best Kept Secrets to a Budget-Friendly London Vacation

Is a vacation to London on your Bucket List? Something you’ve always wanted to do, but think of London as an expensive city to visit?  Well, start packing, because there a way that your dream London vacation can come true.

As any traveler knows, accommodations in a large metropolitan city anywhere in the world can be a vacation budget-buster. That is, unless you know the secret – forget the pricy hotels, and rent a timeshare instead.

Many people don’t know that when timeshare owners can’t use their weeks, they list them for rent, usually at up to 50% less than the cost of a hotel room. This allows savvy travelers looking for affordable accommodations to get a great deal – and then some.

Renting a timeshare from an owner not only gives you inexpensive accommodations relative to the cost of local hotels, but you also get much more, such as space. Instead of staying in one cramped hotel room, you get separate bedrooms, a separate living area, and a dining area.  Space enough to spread out and relax, just like a home-away-from-home. All for less than the cost of a hotel room.

You’ll also get a kitchen.  The cost-savings with your own kitchen is another bonus. No more having to eat out for three meals a day. And a kitchen is convenient, too – eat breakfast in your pajamas, easy to fix snacks throughout the day, and have popcorn or ice cream at your fingertips in the evenings.

To further your budget-friendly London vacation, there are many things to do and see in this beautiful city that are free.  For example, the world-famous Tate art galleries (the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain) are free, as, amazingly, are all of London’s major museums, including the Museum of London where the history of London dating back to the Roman times comes alive.

The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is a must-see, and is free. Just get to the palace gates early to get a good view.

Take a free self-guided walking tour (you can download a number of London walking tours from the internet) along the South Bank of the Thames where you’ll see many of London’s most famous landmarks, including the London Eye (formerly known as the Millennium Wheel).

London is justly proud of its stunning parks and gardens – which are free, of course. St. James Park will give you a beautiful view of Buckingham Palace, and Kensington Gardens is where you’ll find the Diana Memorial Playground, and the Peter Pan Statue.

And speaking of parks, as London readies itself for the 2012 Summer Olympics, amazing Olympic Park will be another park for the public to enjoy. After the 2012 Olympic Games, Olympic Park will be transformed into one of the largest urban parks created in Europe for more than 150 years. The London 2012 Games are the catalyst for transforming a square mile in east London of what was once industrial, contaminated land into a green backdrop for the Games and a new green space after 2012 for people and wildlife alike to enjoy.

So, if you know the secret of timeshare rentals and the many free activities available, you can see how a London vacation can actually fit your budget quite nicely.

Alice Perkins is a timeshare travel blogger for RedWeek.com, the largest online market place for timeshare rentals, where vacationers can find luxury accommodations for less than the cost of a typical hotel room.