How much does a week-end in London really Cost???

 I went over to London to meet a friend who was over for a rather sad occasion and as I have known him and his family for a very long time, I really thought it necessary to go over and see him.

Since the cheap airlines came about during the Celtic tiger, you could find flights for ridiculous amounts of money like €20 Euro for a flight, but there is always a catch!  Since the death of the Celtic tiger, the prices have increased.

When I went over last year, my company paid - so it wasn't a question of what I did, the company pays for the flight, hotel and all travel and then gives you a budget of £50 per day for meals, so it's pretty easy to stay with in budget.

So I searched for the Cheapest flight to Heathrow, it was really the first time I was going to London on my own, so I wanted the simplest way without having to find my way around the Tubes or several trains.  I booked my air ticket with Aer Lingus the cheapest air ticket I could find:-

€125.97    -   Air Ticket : Return Dublin - London   
£208.00    -   2 nights, Hotel Accommodation - London (Very nice hotel across from Kensington Gardens)
£ 34.00    -    Heathrow Express Return ticket
£   5.00    -    Tube Ticket to Hotel Stop
£   9.00    -    All day Tube Ticket
£   5.00    -    Tube ticket to Paddington
£ 20.00    -    Meals and Coffee's on the Friday
£ 20.00    -    Meals and Coffee's on the Sat

So there is no such thing as a cheap week-end in London, all in all with the exchange rate and various incidentals it cost me about €500.00, yes I know I could have done it cheaper!  But really at my age I deserve to travel in style.

Thank goodness for friends buying me dinner and lunches while I was there else it would have turned out to be much more expensive.

By the way I am not complaining I just wanted to work out how much a my week-end would cost with my cheap flight!  :)