Dream Vacation
1. Vacation Destination
London, England
2. Why?
I chose to plan this vacation to London because I have always dreamed of travelling
there. I love Europe and its history, and dream of one day exploring many more of the countries
in it, such as France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Greece. However, England is my number one
right now. It’s more important to me to visit beautiful places like these rather than white-sand
resorts.
3. Number of people?
1
4. Budget amount?
$1,950 CAD
SPECIFICS
Dates:
Travel Dates: April 4th – 10th
Leaving home on the evening of the 4th, arriving in London on the morning of the 5th. Then leaving
London on the morning of the 10th, and arriving home on the evening of the 10th.
Days: 5 full days
Nights: 5 nights at hostel
Weather:
Similar to weather here in Surrey/Vancouver, with highs of 13°C and lows of 6°C. Average is 11°C.
Sunshine per day is roughly 5 hours. Typically has 16 days of rainfall in the month of April.
Need to pack clothes similar to what I already have: jeans, raincoat, sweaters, t-shirts, etc.
Because of its mild climate, you can really visit London at any time of year. The summer and during
Christmas is the most popular time of year to visit, so during the off-season is the cheapest and least
busy. I chose to travel in April because it is partly off-season, but the weather in spring is usually nicer
than going during January or February.
Hotel + Flight:
Accommodations: Safestay London Kensington Hollard Park (Hostel)
Flight: Air Transat
Flight There: April 4th 5:05pm – April 5th 10:35am (Non-stop)
Flight Home: April 10th 11:50am – 8:15pm (1 stop in Toronto)
Total Cost: $908.90 CAD
Distance:
Number of kilometers total: 16,863km
Home to YVR: 32.1km
YVR to LGW: 7,627km
LGW to hostel: 38.9km
Hostel to LGW: 38.9km
LGW to YYZ: 5,745km
YYZ to YVR: 3,349km
YVR to home: 32.1km
Flight going there: 7,588km
Flight going home: 9,097km
Roundtrip flight kilometers: 16,685km
Transportation:
I’m choosing to travel mainly using an Oyster Card. It’s the cheapest way to pay for single journeys on
the bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, Tfl Rail and most National Rail services in London. I am
also using the Gatwick Express to travel from the airport to central London and vise versa. I would then
use other modes of transportation with my Oyster Card to travel around and from central London to the
Hostel that I am staying at near Holland Park. For any short distances, I will be walking.
Gatwick Express from Gatwick airport to central London:
£19.80 per journey = $35.55 CA
I will need to pay for this twice for the two times that I travel from the airport to London and back to the
airport.
$35.55 x 2 = $71.10 CA
Oyster Card:
£12.50 daily price cap = $22.44 CA
I will be spending 5 days in London.
$22.44 x 5 = $112.20 CA
Total cost for transportation:
$71.10 + $112.20 = $183.30 CA
I want to round up for my costs to drive from my home to YVR, which costs about $8 for gas each way.
So in total this would be about $16.00.
$200.00 CAD
Food:
I’m celiac, which means I’m gluten-free, so I had to find gluten-free choices of places to eat in London. I
found a lot more places then I thought I would. I’ll just be showing you the menus from 4 places though:
Beyond Bread, Farmstand, Hemsley and Hemsley, and Niche.
Breakfast:
£5 = $8.91 CAD
Lunch:
£10 = $17.81 CAD
Dinner:
£15 = $26.60 CAD
Snacks:
£5 = $8.91 CAD
Total Cost per day: $62.23 CAD
Total Cost for Trip: $311.15 CAD
Itinerary:
April 5th: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and Museums
Since my flight landed a little before noon, I’m probably going to be pretty tired from travelling. So for
my first day I wanted to do some things that were closer to my hostel accommodation. I chose to visit…
Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens: Free
There I can see the outside of the Kensington Palace, wander the Kensington Gardens, visit the Princess
Diana Memorial Fountain, and see the Peter Pan statue.
Victoria and Albert Museum: Free
Natural History Museum: Free
Total Cost: Free
April 6th: Westminster
The next day I will travel to the region around Westminster.
Tour of the Buckingham Palace State Rooms: £24.00 = $42.72 CAD
Westminster Abbey: £20 = $35.60 CAD
Big Ben, Palace of Westminster: Free
London Eye: £24.30 = $43.26 CAD
Total Cost: $121.58 CAD
April 7th:
Trafalgar Square/National Gallery: Free
Piccadilly Circus: Free
St. Bartholomew’s Hospital: Free
Sherlock Holmes’ Museum: £15 = $26.60 CAD
Sherlock Holmes Statue: Free
Total Cost: $26.60
April 8th:
St. Paul’s Cathedral: £18 = $31.92 CAD
London Bridge: Free
Tower of London: £22.70 = $40.26 CAD
Tower Bridge: Free
Total Cost: $72.18
April 9th:
Harry Potter Studio Tour: £41.00 = $72.72 CAD
King’s Cross Station (Platform 9 ¾, Shop): Free
Total Cost: $72.72 CAD
Total Cost for Itinerary Activities: $293.08 CAD
Spending Money:
Spending Money Budget: $236.87 CAD = £133.56
Per day: $47.37 CAD = £26.71
Total Costs:
Budget: $1,950
Flight & Accommodations: $908.90
Transportation: $200.00
Food: $311.15
Activities: $293.08
Spending Money (whatever I have left): $237.87
