Cities on the Cheap

It is morning. You awaken to the smell of a full English breakfast sizzling in the kitchen downstairs. Lying in your soft B&B bed, you contemplate the previous evening's events. Images of "The Ministry of Sound" and various wood-paneled pubs float through your mind. After showering and eating, you head outside to greet the temperate, fresh, English city air. Today's itinerary includes the Tower, Madame Tussaud's, Les Miserables, and a private helicopter tour of the City. Boy, are you excited! But first you must make one necessary stop. Crossing the street, you approach the ATM with caution. After punching in your PIN, terror encloses your heart in an icy grip. You begin to shake, hoping that your sudden humility will appease the gods of finance?but to no avail. Your account is empty. Sound familiar? Even if this scenario is a bit of an exaggeration, city traveling can be rather expensive. "Budget" travel in cities like London, Paris, Rome, or New York, if planned incorrectly, can cause the average backpacker to declare bankruptcy in record time, suddenly transforming an eight-week itinerary spanning Europe and Northern Africa into a couple of hours in Heathrow Terminal B. Don't get me wrong-Heathrow has some great duty free shops-but you may want to explore a bit more. So, in order to tackle the problem, we must first identify it. Put simply, it's too easy to spend money in these cities. Theories abound as to why this is the case. One theory holds that little urban gnomes come at night to steal cash and traveler's checks from unsuspecting tourists. This theory is incorrect. The more likely theories are as follows: