Read the text. for free (or nearly!) Visiting London? Haven’t got much money? It IS possible to do things in London without spending a fortune. Here are my top tips for visitors on a low budget.

1 London street markets Markets are great places to browse and ‘people- watch’ without spending money. London’s trendiest market is Camden Market, where you can find modern and vintage clothes, CDs, DVDs, books and furniture.

Petticoat Lane Market has over a thousand stalls and is London’s oldest Sunday market. Portobello Market, near Notting Hill, specialises in antiques and jewellery.

Did you know? London’s biggest street market is Camden. It attracts over 150,000 shoppers a week.

2 Explore London by double-decker bus Buy a one-day travel card and you can jump on and off all day. (Under-16s travel for free.) Catch the no. 11 for a fantastic view from the top deck of some of the best sights.

It goes from Liverpool Street Bus Station, past St Paul’s Cathedral, through , past Westminster and the Houses of Parliament, and .

Did you know? Sir Christopher Wren designed the new St Paul’s Cathedral after the old one was burnt down in the Great Fire of 1666.

Think English Intermediate • Unit 1 pp.12–13 © Oxford University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE 3 Watch a trial at the These are the most famous law courts in Britain and scene of some of the most important cases in UK legal history. Trials begin at 10.00 a.m. every day – a fascinating experience, if only to see the traditional clothes and wigs that the judges and lawyers wear.

NB No under-14s, no bags or cameras.

Did you know? Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged for murder in England, was tried at the Old Bailey in June 1955. The jury took just 14 minutes to find her guilty.

4 Visit a museum

Some of London’s best-known museums are free. The most famous, of course, is the . It has an amazing collection of treasures covering 2 million years of world history, with over 90 galleries that cover 4 kilometres.

There are permanent displays from Egypt, Greece and Rome. Its most important objects include the Elgin Marbles, the Egyptian mummies and the Rosetta Stone.

Did you know? The British Museum has the largest collection of mummies outside Egypt – 140 in all!

Think English Intermediate • Unit 1 pp.12–13 © Oxford University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE 5 Watch street entertainers at Busy Covent Garden is where you can spend hours watching jugglers, mime artists and magicians. Some of them are real professionals, others will make you laugh. It’s free and great fun!

Did you know? Supermodel Naomi Campbell was discovered by a model agent in Covent Garden when she was 15.

6 Be one of the audience in a live TV show All the TV channels offer free tickets to chat shows, music shows and quiz shows. But they are very popular, so book as early as you can. Usually over-16s only, but there are some shows for younger age groups. For free tickets, log onto tvguest.com.

Think English Intermediate • Unit 1 pp.12–13 © Oxford University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE