Dec 4, 2007
How suburban London guest houses can save you big money
The savings generated by a decision to locate yourself a half-hour away from the center of London, can often save you as much as $900 in a single week. As proof of that, you might want to go to the website of the charming Avalon Cottage (www.avalon-cottage.com) in the Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, literally 30 minutes by subway from central London.
For other low-cost digs in the very same charming area, consult www.visitrichmond.co.uk, and click on "stay." You'll find 32 properties whose rates go down to as little as £25 ($50) per person, including breakfast -- and that kind of price can no longer be found in central London.
The advantage of staying in a nearby town less than 30 minutes away is also found, as I pointed out in a recent blog, near the hideously-expensive Venice, with some of the highest hotel and guesthouse prices of Europe. This awesomely beautiful city of canals is chock-a-block with tourists in every month other than November through February, and its rates when it is full are fearsome. In a response to my blog, a reader wrote of the charm of historic Padua, less than 30 minutes from Venice, and pointed out that he often took the 7:30am train to Venice from Padua, arrived at 8am, spent the entire day touring Venice at his leisure, and then returned to Padua in early evening for dinner. The savings from such a course can literally amount to hundreds of dollars less than you'd pay for room and meals in Venice.
Write and read comments about this post.
For other low-cost digs in the very same charming area, consult www.visitrichmond.co.uk, and click on "stay." You'll find 32 properties whose rates go down to as little as £25 ($50) per person, including breakfast -- and that kind of price can no longer be found in central London.
The advantage of staying in a nearby town less than 30 minutes away is also found, as I pointed out in a recent blog, near the hideously-expensive Venice, with some of the highest hotel and guesthouse prices of Europe. This awesomely beautiful city of canals is chock-a-block with tourists in every month other than November through February, and its rates when it is full are fearsome. In a response to my blog, a reader wrote of the charm of historic Padua, less than 30 minutes from Venice, and pointed out that he often took the 7:30am train to Venice from Padua, arrived at 8am, spent the entire day touring Venice at his leisure, and then returned to Padua in early evening for dinner. The savings from such a course can literally amount to hundreds of dollars less than you'd pay for room and meals in Venice.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: accommodations, london
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
