United Kingdom in 5 Days on a Budget
Five days, two cities, one advance-rail ticket
The United Kingdom is four nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, not just England, and this trip crosses the border between two of them: London (England’s capital and the UK capital) and Edinburgh (Scotland’s own capital). The currency everywhere is the pound sterling, never the euro, and displayed prices already include 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. Trains, not driving, carry this whole plan: three days in London on free museums and a contactless daily fare cap, then an LNER train north to Edinburgh, advance fare from roughly £34-35 if booked ahead. That single booking is the biggest budget lever in the whole trip. Expect changeable weather and pack a layer and a rain jacket regardless of season. The UK is genuinely expensive and very safe, with pickpocketing in crowded spots the real (not the imagined) risk.
This nests inside the longer plans and sits above the shorter ones in this lineup. If five cities feels rushed, the 4-day version drops one London day and keeps the same spine, while the 6-day plan adds a Highlands day trip from Edinburgh. Staying in London the whole time is the 2-day plan.
Book these before you go:
- A London walking tour of Westminster and the Tower: check options on GetYourGuide , useful if you’d rather have a guide than the free self-guided route below.
- A Thames river cruise or Changing of the Guard tour: compare options on Viator , a way to add structure to a free-sights morning.
- Edinburgh Castle skip-the-line entry: check availability on GetYourGuide , worth pre-booking since walk-up queues run long in summer.
- A budget room in central London and Edinburgh: check rates on Booking.com , then repeat the same search for Edinburgh once you’re ready to book that leg.
Day 1: Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London
Start at Westminster and walk past the Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower, better known as Big Ben, free to see from the street. Continue to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard if the schedule lines up (it varies by season, check ahead), still free from outside the gates either way. Tap a contactless card or phone at every Tube reader rather than buying anything in advance; London’s daily fare cap for Zones 1-2 runs roughly £8.90, capped no matter how many trips you take. Spend the afternoon at the Tower of London, a paid ticket but a genuinely worthwhile one for the Crown Jewels and nearly 1,000 years of history. Close with a pub dinner.
Rough spend: budget room (£50-70) + Tower ticket (£30-35) + Tube daily cap (£8.90) + food (£25-35) = roughly £114-149.
Day 2: The British Museum, the National Gallery, and the South Bank
Spend the morning at the British Museum, free permanent-collection entry, and book a timed slot online in peak season (April-August) to skip the queue. Walk to the National Gallery for another free collection, then follow the South Bank past the London Eye, Borough Market, and Tower Bridge, a scenic riverside walk that costs nothing beyond whatever you buy at the market. Book a West End show for the evening if there’s one you want; walk-up tickets exist but a specific seat for a specific night is the safer plan.
Rough spend: budget room (£50-70) + Tube daily cap (£8.90) + food (£25-35) + theatre ticket (£30-60, optional) = roughly £84-174.
Day 3: Tate Modern, Borough Market, and the train north
Spend the morning at Tate Modern, free entry again, then a Borough Market lunch before heading to King’s Cross for the afternoon LNER train to Edinburgh Waverley, the fastest direct service running around 4 hours 8 minutes. Advance fares start from roughly £34-35 one-way if booked ahead of the walk-up rate; book this leg as early as your dates allow, since it is the single biggest fare swing in the whole trip. Check into an Edinburgh room and walk the Royal Mile in the evening light.
Rough spend: LNER advance fare (£34-35) + budget room in Edinburgh (£45-65) + food (£20-30) = roughly £99-130.
Day 4: Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile
Walk the full length of the Royal Mile from the Castle down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, then decide on the Castle itself: a paid ticket, but the one splurge worth budgeting for if funds allow, since the Royal Mile and the views from the esplanade are free either way if you’d rather skip it. Duck into St Giles’ Cathedral, free to enter, along the way. In the evening, find a pub with live music, a genuine part of the Edinburgh night out.
Rough spend: budget room (£45-65) + Castle ticket (£19-30, optional) + food (£25-35) = roughly £70-130.
Day 5: Arthur’s Seat and the walk home
Climb Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano at the city’s edge with a genuinely free, unhurried summit walk and panoramic views over Edinburgh, before checking flight or return-train times. If timing allows a return through London rather than flying out of Edinburgh, the same LNER route runs south too, though most travelers on this length fly onward from Edinburgh directly.
Rough spend: budget room (£45-65) + food (£20-30) = roughly £65-95.
What 5 days across London and Edinburgh actually costs
| Day | Focus | Base/train | Rough daily cost (GBP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westminster walk, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London | London | £114-149 |
| 2 | British Museum, National Gallery, South Bank | London | £84-174 |
| 3 | Tate Modern, Borough Market, LNER train to Edinburgh | London to Edinburgh | £99-130 |
| 4 | Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, St Giles’ Cathedral | Edinburgh | £70-130 |
| 5 | Arthur’s Seat, departure | Edinburgh | £65-95 |
That’s roughly £432-678 across five days, rooms and the train fare included, before flights and the one-time ETA fee. Book the LNER leg as far ahead as you can; that single fare, not any single meal or ticket, is what separates a lean version of this trip from an expensive one.
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 on National Rail ticket machines, so there’s little reason to carry much cash.
Should you take the train or rent a car for this trip?
Take the train. The London-Edinburgh leg by LNER runs city center to city center in about 4 hours 8 minutes, and driving in London adds a £18/day congestion charge plus a £12.50/day ULEZ fee on top of the hassle of left-hand-drive unfamiliarity for visitors used to driving on the right. A car only earns its keep on a countryside leg like the Cotswolds or the Highlands, not on this two-city route.
Is 5 days enough for London and Edinburgh?
It’s tight but workable: three full days covers London’s core sights at a walkable pace, and two days in Edinburgh gets the Castle, the Royal Mile, and Arthur’s Seat without rushing. A traveler who wants a slower Edinburgh pace should look at the 6-day version instead, which adds a Highlands day trip on top of the same two-city spine.
One real budget trap: several sit-down restaurants 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, the Edinburgh Castle ticket price, and live LNER fares at visitbritain.com , gov.uk , and nationalrail.co.uk before you fly.