5D/4N Backpacking London Without A Tour – Free & Easy Travel Itinerary

I have always been fond of London, United Kingdom since I was young. My earliest introduction to London town came through the form of nursery rhymes my mother used to read to me before going to sleep every night. 😀

During my formative years, I came to love the British Monarchy and admired Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana and her two beautiful sons – Prince William and Harry. Disney’s animations, documentaries and Medieval London history lessons, plus the British English language and its profound literature (my major and minor studies in university) and the ever charming British accent and impeccable mannerism added my fascination towards England’s captivating capital.

I vow that one day, I will visit London, United Kingdom and that eventful day finally came.

A Historic Instagram Photo Contest

Through an Instagram photo contest organised by The Malaysian Women’s Weekly magazine, I won 2 economy class return flight tickets to London courtesy of Malaysia Airlines. My effort and hidden talent in food art pays. And, if I may add, dreams do come true if we make it happen.

It was not until the final round (Round 3) that my creative photo finally won! My first two attempts failed miserably in the first 2 rounds, but my stubborn perseverance was rewarded handsomely in the end. I burst out in hysterical excitement upon knowing that I won the last pair of return flight tickets to London! Blimey holy guacamole, I won free flights to LONDON?!! LONDON in the United Kingdom!! Great Britain a.k.a England, here we come!! Woohoo…happy max!! Now, if only I could win flight tickets to Reykjavik, Iceland. Greedy me, I know! 😛

With that, my sister and I embarked on our first voyage to Europe and visited London for the very first time in our lives. It was also our maiden flight with Malaysia Airlines that made the experience extra special and memorable. Winning the free flights drastically cut down our expenses by half, something which we were really grateful of. Else, a 3-week getaway to London/Europe (Paris, Rome, Athens and Santorini) would take us a decade just to save enough money to get there. No kidding!

5D/4N Backpacking London Without A Tour – Free & Easy Travel Itinerary

London, United Kingdom is a pretty expensive city to visit thanks to the supremacy of the British Pound. To save cost and stretch our budget, I have decided to spend 5 days at the capital and spent the remaining days venturing out to visit other captivating cities in Europe.

A thorough research had me creating a comprehensive 5D/4N Backpacking London Travel Itinerary that took my sister and I to various significant sites/landmarks that required minimal or no money to visit in London such as the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Borough Market, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Museum of London, The British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Palace of Westminster, Big Ben Clock Tower, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Green Park and Hyde Park.

We also stayed in cheap, but comfortable and strategically located hostels located in 2 different areas in London – The Dictionary Hostel (East London) and Generator Hostel (nearer to Central London). I will share my honest reviews of the above hostels and other valuable information on getting around in London on separate blog posts. Be sure to bookmark my travel blog and stay tune for the updates. 😉

Walking Maps of the Places of Interests in London

I planned the route of the places of interests that we want to visit in London based on a walking map. Walking is by far the best way to travel, save money and keep fit and healthy at the same time. Therefore, using Google Maps, I created simple routes for us to follow.

The starting point of the routes is from the hostels we stayed. From there, we made our way towards the nearby places of interests on the map, before heading back to the hostels in a loop. I created a total of 2 walking maps – focusing on the places of interests located in East London (Part 1 – The Dictionary Hostel) and nearby Central London (Part 2 – Generator Hostel).

In the end, we followed the walking maps and had a wonderful, free and easy time sightseeing in enchanting London, United Kingdom. Walking and using the jolly good and convenient public transportation service such as London‘s iconic double-decker bus and the London Tube/Underground trains has certainly helped us to save a lot and not burn a humongous hole in our pockets. It also gave us a memorable experience of our precious time in London, United Kingdom. 😀

As promised, below is my 5D/4N Backpacking London Without a Tour Travel Itinerary for your travel guide and reference:

DAY 1

– Arrive at Heathrow International Airport

– Buy the Oyster cards at one of the London Tube/Underground train stations OR buy the Visitor Oyster cards with special privileges online (at the website here) before one’s arrival in London. Do take note that the Visitor Oyster cards cannot be bought in London 🙂

– Check-in The Dictionary Hostel

– Sightseeing in the surrounding area

DAY 2

– Visit the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Borough Market, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Museum of London

– Sightseeing in the surrounding area @ BOXPARK

– Shoreditch’s street art/graffiti search

DAY 3

– Check-out of The Dictionary Hostel

– Check-in Generator Hostel

– Sightseeing in the surrounding area

DAY 4

– Visit The British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Palace of Westminster, Big Ben Clock Tower, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Green Park and Hyde Park

– Sightseeing in the surrounding area

DAY 5

– Check-out of Generator Hostel

– Take the London Tube/Underground train to Heathrow International Airport

– Depart Heathrow International Airport