London - 10 days, what to see, what to do, where to stay

Running along the embankment would be cool, Hyde park is lovely, covent garden is nice to visit with loads of nice shops London is great so many nice things to do and see.

I really think you're being incredibly optimistic by hoping to find accommodation for 50 Canadian dollars per night (that works out to just over £32, if I'm not mistaken). London is a very expensive place to stay!

Your options would be to stay just outside of London and see if you could afford a group travelcard for the time you'll be spending here, or to stay at a hostel. Hostels are great- cheap, some of them will even give you access to a kitchen so you can cook your own meals some nights, and you can rent a dormitory between the whole group.

As for things to do- the major museums are all free, as are a number of the big galleries. I would only do the big 'tourist' things if you can get a group discount as they are very expensive for what you're getting. The V&A have two (paid for) exhibitions on Tudor, Stuart and early modern Russian art and fashion and David Bowie until the summer; you'd need to book in advance but you can get group tickets and if you book before you go that wouldn't be too much of an issue. The British Museum also have a (paid for) exhibition on Pompeii that looks pretty cool.

As for other places to go- Carnaby Street for window shopping, Portobello Market and Spitalfields are worth a wander.

The Tower of London does charge an entry fee but it's a must do. The markets at portobello road and camden lock are also worth a wander :-) good luck finding low cost accommodation. London is notoriously expensive! Try gumtree.com, select London, then flats and houses, then holiday accommodation. :-)

Looks like we will be there right around the same time! I don't have anything to add other than have fun! Maybe we will see each other running or walking hahah :laugh:

Tube is the way to get around quickly (worth getting an Oyster Card) - but there is also a huge bicycle hire scheme if the weather is kind (see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ for more info on both).

The Royal Parks all have different flavours (Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Green Park etc.)

The area along the river from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge is full of historical interest (House of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London etc.). Also Tate Modern if you like modern art. Most of the river has good pathways if you want to run and sight-see at the same time.

British Museum, Science Museum, Imperial War Museum all very interesting.
The City of London (aka The Square Mile) is interesting to explore at the weekend when it's quiet.

Worth getting out of London as well if you fancy a short train ride - Hampton Court and Windsor are two good examples. Train travel after the rush hour is much cheaper by the way.

Oxford Street and surrounding area is good for shopping (if you like that kind of thing!).

I'm a huge fan of charity and second hand shopping! There are great vintage/second-hand shops around Notting Hill and Shoreditch/Brick Lane. I like one near Brick Lane called The East End Thrift Store. Definitely check out the London markets for 2nd hand shopping - Portobello market is pretty touristy near the Notting Hill end and I imagine is overpriced as a result - the other end has stalls selling £1 makeup and there's a Malaysian food shop you might like to go to called Makan. It isn't vegetarian but there's definitely vegetable dishes you can have like eggplant sambal and rice. The charity shops in Chelsea are more expensive (for charity shops) but are super quality - Hugo Boss suit jackets for £20 and the like. If you like vintage sales/other vintage stuff it might be worthwhile to check this website to see what's going on: http://www.thevintageguidetolondon.com/

Go to the parks. If you walk up Primrose Hill you get a good view of London. Go to Kew Gardens as well - it isn't free but is really lovely.

Edited to add: Franco Manca in Brixton has good sourdough pizza. I suspect Canada might have better pizza though.
Brixton market has other good food options.

This is in central London and is cheap and good for vegetarians and vegans:
http://www.iskcon-london.org/govindas-london.html

Except, they have some kind of pink cake and it looks good but it sucks. DON'T EAT THE PINK CAKE

If you guys like clubbing check out Fabric.

I'm not sure if £50 is enough to stay in central London, but you could check out hostels (I've stayed in YMCAs in other parts of the UK and they were OK) or maybe stay around Hoxton or Dalston, which are relatively well connected and interesting areas with things to do at night, cheap food to eat, nice pubs, etc.

Westminster, British Museum, and join in on a pub crawl!

I'm a Londoner, you'll love it here,

You would probably enjoy Camden market, it's on a Sunday in Camden, north London.

Other things to see are, London Eye, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Houses of Parliament, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace - you can see the changing of the Guard there at certain times.

Have fun!

I live right in central London so if you have any specific questions get in touch

I deffo would agree with using the underground and if you want to keep up with the exercise WALK - London is easy to walk around if planned in advance so you know where you're going.

Regents Park and Hyde Park are great for running too.

Things to do: I would recommend Greenwich (you could ride the boat down there and see the sights along the way) and then walk up the hill to the Greenwich meantime museum -there's a fantastic view. I would also recommend the Museum of London - free and really interesting - it's also near to St Pauls Cathedral.

Walking along the Southbank is also free, fun and you can see a lot of sights from there.

Portobello Road/Camden Markets I'm not keen on (I work right off of Portobello Road lol) but that's personal taste.

The cheap hotel I can't help you with - I would recommend areas not to go, but I wouldn't want to offend anyone

Nyk