The Broke Girl's Guide to Travel: London & Glasgow

One of the most compelling reasons for moving to Spain was the ability I would have to travel around Europe, so I'm planning my first weeklong trip to the United Kingdom in January. My birthday is January 9th so I figured I would consider this trip a little birthday gift to myself.

My flights and buses have been booked! I even have a couch to crash on in Glasgow. As plans emerge I will continue to update my itinerary.

January 22nd - Depart Coruña at 15:40, arrive in London at 16:40, travel overnight to Glasgow

January 23rd - Arrive in Glasgow 8am

January 24th - Glasgow

January 25th - Glasgow, Depart Glasgow, travel overnight to London

January 26th - Arrive in London 7am

January 27th - London

January 28th - London

January 29th - Depart Heathrow at 17:35, arrive in Coruña at 20:40

This gives me about three full days in Glasgow Scotland, and nearly four full days in London. By traveling overnight I am eliminating the need to find a hostel or couch to surf for two of the seven nights. The cost of the plane and bus tickets totals US$185, round trip. I found the flights through Vueling and the buses through Megabus. My plan is to travel light - just my trusty Vera Bradley overnighter and camera bag (which also functions as a super cute cross-body purse!). I will be staying with a friend near Glasgow. So now all that's left to plan is accomodations for London and to pack my week full of exciting sights and adventures!

Update Jan 8 2015

With the craziness of the holidays and traveling back and forth to New York I haven't had a lot of time to plan my trip to the UK. Luckily I had some time today to sit down and get some more plans sorted out.

I've sent a message confirming my weekend of couch surfing with an old friend near Glasgow and I've booked a bed at a youth hostel in central London. I used Booking.com when I traveled with my friend to Ireland, and everything worked out well on that trip, so I decided to check and see what deals they had for accomodations in London.

My must-haves are cleanliness and a great location. I decided on YHA London Central which had good reviews on TripAdvisor and on Booking. I reserved a bed in female dormitory for the three nights that I will be in town. YHA scored a 8.1/10 overall with a 7.8/10 for cleanliness and a 9/10 for location. It was also really affordable at US$83 for the three nights. I like that they have lockers for secure storage and luggage storage for the days that I arrive and depart.  And of course, the free WiFi is huge plus.

Several of my friends have been to London, so now come the task of gathering advice on places to see and things to skip so that I can make the most of my time. Also, Booking.com favorited my tweet and it made my morning #itsthelittlethings