Best bargains
Buy unique and funky gear at London's markets - Portobello at Notting Hill on Saturday, Spitalfields on Sunday and Camden (Saturday and Sunday). Catch a designer sale in Brick Lane. Drive 20 minutes south of central London to TK Maxx in Croydon (1 Drury Crescent, Purley Way) for daily designer bargains in men's, women's, children's fashions and homeware. Back in central London, tkts Ticket Booth in Leicester Square sells unsold theatre seats cheap from 12pm for matinees and from 2pm for evening shows - join the queue to bag your bargain.

Free fun
London's top museums are free. See costume and decorative arts at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Gaze upon Elizabeth I and thousands more famous faces at the National Portrait Gallery (including the sleeping David Beckham), thrill the kids with the robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex at the Natural History Museum and a trip to the Interactive Gallery at the Science Museum next door. Round it off with contemporary art at the Tate Modern, great British art at Tate Britain, and Egyptian mummies at the British Museum

Best view
Head for London's green spaces. From Greenwich Park, take in views of the Dome, Canary Wharf, the City and the snaking Thames. From Primrose Hill, look over London Zoo to the Telephone Tower, St Paul's and the Gothic grandeur of King's Cross Station.

Cheap eats
Take your pick from hundreds of curry houses on Brick Lane - seek out the cafes (not the touristy restaurants) for the best value, like the Meraz Cafe, on Hanbury Street just off Brick Lane, where a delicious curry costs less than £5. Slurp up spicy noodle soup at a Wagamama branch (Lexington Street, W1 in Soho, 4A Streatham St, WC1 near Tottenham Court Road and 26-40 Kensington High Street, W8) or discover wholesome Turkish classics on Green Lanes (Newington Green), like fish and lamb cooked before you on the red-hot coals.

Cheap travel
Buy your travel card (for bus and tube) after 9.30am or buy a bus pass (cheaper than the tube). Alternatively, get on your bike (there's a lovely bike route on the Thames Path, running from Hammersmith to Kew Gardens) or walk.

Splash out
Take a spa treatment at Bliss (60, Sloane Avenue), dress up and go to the Opera at Covent Garden (tickets are up to £150), eat at Nobu, London's top sushi restaurant, at 19 Old Park Lane or shop along Old Bond Street.

Want to share your cheap travel finds? Join live discussions on our travelling on a budget message board: