United Kingdom in 4 Days on a Budget
Two honest days in London, then the train north to Edinburgh
The United Kingdom is four nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, not just England, and this budget route covers two of them: London, the UK capital, and Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, joined by rail. The currency is the pound sterling, not the euro, and every price on this page already includes 20% VAT with no tourist refund. Most visitors, including US and EU passport holders, now need a UK ETA before boarding, roughly £20 via gov.uk; British and Irish citizens are exempt. Skip a rental car: the London-Edinburgh train is faster, cheaper, and avoids London’s congestion charge and ULEZ entirely. The UK is genuinely expensive, but free museums plus one advance-booked rail ticket keep this route honestly budget rather than backpacker-cheap. Pack layers and a rain jacket regardless of the forecast; the weather changes fast. It’s low-crime and very safe overall, though pickpockets work crowded Tube carriages and busy market crowds.
This is the plan for a reader who wants London plus a second, genuinely different city on a lean budget, not just a longer London stay. Two days of free London icons, then a booked-advance LNER train swaps the capital for Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and Arthur’s Seat. Staying put instead? The 2-day plan never leaves London. Want more time up north? The 5-day and 6-day itineraries stretch the Edinburgh leg further and add a third stop.
Book these before you go:
- A London walking tour or Changing of the Guard experience: check options on GetYourGuide , a way to add structure to Days 1 and 2’s free-sights walk without much extra cost.
- An Edinburgh Castle or Royal Mile guided tour: compare options on Viator , useful if you’d rather book Castle entry ahead than queue on Day 4.
- A budget hostel bed in central London: check rates on Booking.com , roughly £30-45 a night, the single biggest lever on Days 1-2.
- A budget hostel bed in Edinburgh: check rates on Booking.com , roughly £20-30 a night, and worth locking in ahead of Fringe season crowds.
Day 1: Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and the British Museum
Start at Westminster and walk past the Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower, better known as Big Ben; no ticket is needed to see either from the street. Continue to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard if the schedule lines up (it varies by season, so check ahead), still free either way since you’re watching from outside the railings. Tap a contactless card or phone at the Tube reader all day instead of buying anything in advance; the daily fare cap for Zones 1-2 runs roughly £8.90 at tfl.gov.uk rates, and you never pay more than that no matter how many trips you take. Spend the afternoon in the British Museum, free permanent-collection entry, and finish with an evening walk along the South Bank past the London Eye.
Rough spend: hostel bed (£30-45) + Tube daily cap (£8.90) + cheap lunch and dinner (£20-30) = roughly £59-84.
Day 2: The Tower of London, Borough Market, and Tate Modern
Walk the river to the Tower of London; the grounds and the view of Tower Bridge cost nothing, though the Crown Jewels sit behind a paid entry (roughly £34.80) worth flagging as an optional splurge rather than a required stop on this budget. Cross to Borough Market for lunch: a stall roll or a bowl of something hot costs far less than a sit-down restaurant and is genuinely a better meal. In the afternoon, tap back onto the Tube (still covered by the same daily cap) to Tate Modern, another free permanent collection, before an evening stroll back along the South Bank.
Rough spend: hostel bed (£30-45) + Tube daily cap (£8.90) + Borough Market lunch and a cheap dinner (£20-30) = roughly £59-84.
Day 3: London to Edinburgh on a booked-advance LNER train
This is the day the budget actually turns on, so book it weeks ahead. LNER’s fastest direct trains run London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in around 4 hours 8 minutes, and standard-class advance fares start from roughly £34-35 one-way if booked early at nationalrail.co.uk or lner.co.uk; the same seat bought at the platform on the day can cost several times that. Treat the advance fare as the one line item worth planning around before anything else on this trip. Once in Edinburgh, drop your bag at the hostel and walk the Royal Mile down from the Castle esplanade to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, free to walk end to end, window-shopping and people-watching along the way.
Rough spend: LNER advance fare (£34-35) + Edinburgh hostel bed (£20-30) + food (£15-25) = roughly £70-95, the priciest day on this trip precisely because of the train, and still far cheaper than flying or booking that fare last-minute.
Day 4: Arthur’s Seat, the Royal Mile, and Edinburgh Castle if budget allows
Hike Arthur’s Seat first thing, an extinct volcano at the city’s edge with a genuinely free, non-technical walk to the summit and panoramic views over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. Spend the rest of the morning back on the Royal Mile, then decide on Edinburgh Castle: entry runs roughly £19.50-21, a real cost worth weighing against the rest of this budget rather than assuming it’s included. Skipping it still leaves a full day; the Castle is the one genuinely optional splurge in this itinerary, not a must-do to make the trip work.
Rough spend: Edinburgh hostel bed (£20-30) + food (£20-25) = roughly £40-55 without the Castle, or roughly £60-76 with it.
What 4 days in the UK actually cost
| Day | Focus | Base / Train | Rough Daily GBP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westminster walk, Buckingham Palace, British Museum (free) | London | £59-84 |
| 2 | Tower of London exterior, Borough Market, Tate Modern (free) | London | £59-84 |
| 3 | Advance LNER train to Edinburgh, Royal Mile walk | London to Edinburgh (train) | £70-95 |
| 4 | Arthur’s Seat hike, Edinburgh Castle (optional) | Edinburgh | £40-76 |
That’s roughly £230-320 for the four days, hostels and the train fare included, before flights and before the one-time ETA fee. The advance rail ticket, not any single meal or museum, is what makes or breaks this budget; book it early and the rest of the trip stays genuinely lean.
Do you need a visa or ETA to visit the UK?
Most visitors do now, even from countries that used to travel paperwork-free: the UK ETA is required before boarding for US, Canadian, Australian, and (since April 2025) EU/EEA passport holders, among many others. Apply through the official app or gov.uk before you fly, budget roughly £20, and apply a few days ahead. British and Irish citizens don’t need one.
Is the UK on the euro?
No. The currency is the pound sterling (£), not the euro, and it never has been; UK prices already include 20% VAT with no tourist refund since Brexit. Contactless cards and phones work everywhere, including directly on the Tube and Edinburgh’s buses, so there’s little reason to carry much cash.
Should you drive or take the train to Edinburgh?
Take the train. The London-Edinburgh LNER route is faster, more comfortable, and cheaper once booked in advance than driving, and it sidesteps London’s £18 congestion charge and £12.50 ULEZ fee entirely, both of which apply the moment you bring a car into the city. Save a rental car, if you ever want one, for a countryside leg like the Cotswolds or the Highlands, not this route.
Is 4 days enough for London and Edinburgh?
It’s tight but workable, more of a highlights run than a relaxed trip: two full days in London, a travel day that still leaves you a Royal Mile walk in Edinburgh, and one full Edinburgh day. Readers who want a full, unhurried Castle day on top of Arthur’s Seat should look at the 5-day or 6-day version of this route instead.
One real budget trap: several sit-down restaurants in both cities add a 12.5% “service charge” to the bill automatically, so check before tipping again on top, and never tip at a pub bar when you’re just ordering a pint. Confirm the current ETA fee at gov.uk , general trip planning at visitbritain.com , and the live advance fare at nationalrail.co.uk before you book.