Fancy a visit to London’s vibrant Covent Garden on a budget? My mini-guide will show you how two people can enjoy a date day here for just £75!
I absolutely adore London but perhaps the one thing I love more than exploring the city myself is introducing other people to my favourite hidden gems in the capital. So when the guy I’m seeing had a rare weekend off recently, a day spent in London seemed like the perfect answer.
We’ve been discussing ideas for my 30th birthday recently, including an overnight stay somewhere like Blackpool, Crazy Bear Hotel or a romantic Covent Garden Hotel – after all, there’s never a shortage of fun birthday-related things to do in London or, more specifically, Covent Garden. So it was a no brainer to choose to spend our Sunday there this weekend just gone!
Given the chance to explore Covent Garden on a budget of £75 between us, the challenge was a lot of fun.
Covent Garden Market
Our first port of call was to get our bearings and spend an hour or so simply strolling around the famous Covent Garden market. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy when we first arrived early on Sunday, so having a mooch around the stalls was more relaxing than overrun with tourists. Covent Garden market is a great spot all year round; at Christmas, it boats beautiful decorations and a wonderfully festive feeling, whereas, this weekend, we were treated to talented buskers and the sweet smells of perfume shops and enticing restaurants.
Shaun is a (wedding) photographer too (I mean can you see the clear difference between my filtered photos above and his professional one?!), so he took his camera along and spent the day snapping some street photography. Covent Garden was the perfect opportunity for him to ease back into it; whilst I watched street performers or poked my head in shops, he wandered off taking some beautiful photos.
London Transport Museum
Next, we headed into the London Transport Museum. Right in the heart of Covent Garden, this stunning building overlooks the main square but I’ll admit that I’ve often walked past it curiously, thought it looked beautiful but never even realized a museum was inside (even though it says so above but y’know)! We headed in and purchased two adult tickets at £18.00 – a two-for-one bargain we’d gotten with our train tickets into London. Hosted over three floors, this museum taught us not only the history of London’s tube/transport (obviously), but also things like the branding used for the Tube (the iconic font/logo you’d instantly recognize anywhere) and just how different transport used to be back in the 1900s with colourful horse-drawn carts.
It was really eye-opening to learn about how parts of the underground were pretty much built by men – and in unsafe circumstances too. The final ground floor of the museum gave way to lots of great photo opportunities where we could get up close with an array of old London buses or more modern underground trains. It was a great way to kill a couple of hours before our next adventure.
80 Days – A Real World Adventure
How can I explain this unique treasure hunt around Covent Garden? I found out about this quirky Underbelly show via another blogger and knew it would be the perfect opportunity to explore Covent Garden in an offbeat way. It basically began with us meeting The Baron across the river in Southbank, before heading back over to Covent Garden for our adventure which saw us running about from shop to character, using our phones, a map and, well, our whits to complete the challenge. Because we were on a time limit (80 minutes and also to beat other members), we didn’t have a lot of time to really explore and enjoy each location so to speak – but it did open our eyes up to how many amazing and unique places Covent Garden (and surrounding areas) have to offer.
Tickets for 80 Days – A Real World Adventure are £27.50 each (nearly £60 for two!) but you can grab discounted tickets at Time Out for £16. The only thing I would say is to book both tickets in advance – and it is tickets per person! I couldn’t quite understand beforehand so paid for one discounted ticket, figuring I could buy another on the day once I’d checked with a member of staff, but by the time I had an answer the system was no longer selling tickets for that day – so I had to go to the box office and purchase a full-price ticket! So just keep this in mind when booking – especially as such a fun event isn’t for everyone.
80 Days – A Real World Adventure is running until 29th September and tickets are from £29 (or £16 via Time Out).
Somerset House
Next, we headed over to the stunning Somerset House to check out a photography exhibition – although a visit to the house alone is more than worth it. There’s always something going on, but sometimes just exploring inside or enjoying the sun with the courtyard fountain is the perfect way to relax.
We went to see Kaleidoscope: Immigration and Modern Britain – a photography exhibition exploring identity and immigration in modern Britain. What was weird about this is that I’d looked to see what was on at Somerset House last week and had scrolled past this exhibition, not quite realizing it was a photography exhibition or anything that would interest us. On Saturday night, Shaun was showing me some of his favourite photographs and artists and brings up a series right from the exhibition – I was like ‘Oh my gosh, we can go there tomorrow! I was looking at this last night!’, haha.
I loved this exhibition. It was so interesting – from my point of view – to see portraits that were seemingly taken in a documentary style – much like I’ve been studying over the last month or so – and I loved being able to see photos from inside people’s homes, seeing families wearing traditional attire or scoping how they’d decorated their living rooms. It was really interesting and I’m so glad we found the time to check this out.
Kaleidoscope: Immigration and Modern Britain is running until the 8th of September at Somerset House: entry is free.
Heinz Beans Museum
We managed to swing by Heinz Beans Museum pop-up next! After a twenty-minute wait, we were inside…but I did find myself disappointed. I expected lots of fun selfie opportunities but really it was just a busy busy place; a hallway that led onto a hall where we could barely move. The ball pit was also no place for adults, unfortunately! Still, as we were in and out within five minutes, it really only took up half an hour of our day and not much more luckily. I should have known, considering we both hate beans…
Flight Club
After a quick pit stop for lunch, we headed over to Flight Club for darts, cocktails and many Instagram opportunities. This cool bar has an electric atmosphere with its carnival-themed deco and extravagant cocktails. I have no idea how to play darts but unfortunately, there were no free slots by the time we arrived. However, after ordering some delicious cocktails (Raspberry Rose and Rose-ito), we headed upstairs to the smaller and more intimate area which hosted just three gaming areas, a tiny bar and a few tables for a more relaxed feel. After a busy day of running around Covent Garden, this was exactly what we needed.
We watched other people play, scoured the menu and debated some nibbles and just got a little tipsy on pretty cocktails. It was a great way to end a fun date day and Flight Club is the perfect date spot – especially if ‘just-drinks’ isn’t quite your thing, We both agreed we’d love to come back with a group of friends and get competitive too! What I really wish we’d had time for was brunch: for £30, each guest gets a bottle of Prosecco (each!), an hour of gameplay (plus an hour with a table just enjoying the atmosphere) and unlimited pizza. Yes please!
Covent Garden on a Budget – Did We Manage It?
Our final cocktail-and-a-half-each took us up to our budget of £75 and we headed to the tube, tipsy and with a day of fun memories behind us. I soon realized just how much there is to do in Covent Garden apart from ‘just wandering around’ – £75 got us entry into a museum, an immersive treasure hunt amongst London, delicious cocktails in a quirky bar plus we also managed to squeeze in some strolling around a visit to an eye-opening exhibition. I also think that had I thought ahead and booked both tickets for 80 Days – A Real World Adventure, the spare £15 or so would have also got us some tasty food at Flight Club too – the mix’n’share mini plates sounded tasty enough that I have already decided I will definitely be going back to try them.
What Else Does Covent Garden Have to Offer?
Unfortunately after our cocktails, it was time to go home – but we wished we’d had much more time to explore Covent Garden and it’s nearby areas. Some places we had hoped to visit but just didn’t have the time was the London Film Museum and Mr Fogg’s Tarven, but these didn’t quite fit into our budget. Other free places we wanted to visit included Neal’s Yard, The Vintage Showroom and Alice Through The Looking Glass for some window shopping!
In the past I have always strayed away from Covent Garden – as much as I love enjoying the festive atmosphere, I’ve always thought the area to be too expensive for my budget to actually do anything. But this challenge has taught me that there’s so much that can be enjoyed on a budget – and yet there was also a list of free things we didn’t have time to do!
Have you visited Covent Garden recently? What recommendations do you have? Let me know!
*Please note, The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.
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