House sitting is the absolute perfect way to see London. Firstly, house sitting means basically free accommodation, so you'll be able to afford to stay in one of the most popular and expensive cities in the world. Secondly, with so many luxury house sitting London jobs available you will be able to enjoy London the way it was supposed to be enjoyed - in style. Put simply, house sitting London will enable you to travel to London both cheaply and luxuriously - how often do those two things go hand-in-hand?
1. Where to Find House Sitting London Jobs?
Getting a house sitting London assignment is really easy, there are so many London house sitting jobs that you're almost guaranteed to get a house sit - even if you are new to house sitting. But where can you find house sitting jobs in London?
Trusted House Sitters is the biggest house sitting website out there. In our opinion it's also the best, because we've found all of our house sitting opportunities through Trusted House Sitters.
We signed up in 2013 and have continued to renew our membership every year since. We've done over 30 house sits with them, and had back-to-back sits in Australia and Europe through them. This includes three spectacular house sitting London gigs.
Trusted House Sitters Discount code!
Trusted House Sitters London membership costs just $119 for an entire year. You'd be lucky to find good accommodation in London for one night for $119. And, to make things even better, we are happy to offer you a Trusted Housesitters discount code - simply click that link (and be sure to check out our house sitting blog post for full instructions on how to use the discount code). Once you've signed up, make sure to fill in your profile as thoroughly as possible, and include nice photos of you, preferably with animals. Once that's done start applying to house sits in London! If you need more advice on how to start house sitting check out this house sitting blog post: how to get started with house sitting.
Luxury House Sitting London
House sitting and luxury travel often go hand in hand, but this is predominantly true in London. There are so many luxury house sitting London opportunities for you to do, you'll be spoilt for choice. From swanky apartments to actual mansions, anything is possible when house sitting London.
House Sitting London Short Term
Many people that live in London have high powered jobs with not a lot of holiday time. This means many house sitting jobs in London are short term only. Think long weekend to weekly trips max. This is perfect for new house sitters, because you can see if you really enjoy house sitting without having to commit to a long term house sit. Additionally, with so many house sitting opportunities available in London, you're almost guaranteed to get multiple short term house sits in London. If you piece them together correctly, you should be able to see many different sides of London - something that most Londoners themselves can't claim!
House sitting London long term
But if you're looking for house sitting London long term, don't worry. Firstly, although they're not as common as house sitting London short term gigs, long term house sits do happen in London, keep an eye on house sitting opportunities for the latest and greatest long term house sits.
Secondly, with such an abundance of house sitting London jobs, in a pinch, what you can do is actually create your own house sitting London long term gig. By this I mean, you can put a number of house sitting London short term jobs together, and house sit back-to-back. House sit in Piccadilly for a weekend, move over to Oxford Street for 8 days, skip over to Balham for two weeks, head into Pall-mall for a long weekend and boom, you've just house sat in London for an entire month. Added advantage - you got to see more of London. (Which, put frankly, is so large that most Londoners don't get to see so much of it.)
House sitting UK
Ask any non-Londoner (like myself) and they will tell you: there is so much more to the UK than London. Whilst you're over there, why not extend your trip and see more by house sitting UK? We've house sat in some beautiful places (mostly around the Cotswolds). And if you're looking for long term house sitting jobs, you're far more likely to find these outside of London. The UK has the advantage (here) of being a tiny place, so, unlike house sitting in places like Australia, USA and Canada, you really can get a taste for the entire country without travelling for hours on end. (Literally, to drive the entirety of the UK only takes 16 hours.)
Here are some short term house sitting opportunities that we found on THS in central London: look after two cats for a short weekend. The house is the best of both worlds - really central London and 5 minutes away from the train station, but simultaneously on a very quiet and peaceful street - rare for central London!
Here's another one: house sit for one beautiful cat in Eastern London for three weeks. Home owners are retired (hence the longer house sit), lovely cat has never been in a cattery so kind cat sitters are very much needed. And there are many more... sign up to THS and you can check yourself.
2. Things to Know Before You House Sit in London
Best location to stay in London
I've never found a location in London that I didn't like but, be warned, the different neighbourhoods are extremely different to each other. London used to be a collection of little villages and you can still tell: some are snobby, some are hipstery, some are 'rough'. All are always changing, so one that was considered 'dangerous' ten years ago, is probably now considered one of the hottest up and coming neighbourhoods - the best place to buy your first home. Do a little research before hand, and you won't end up in a neighbourhood that you hate.
Transport in London
Transport in London is a bit of a nightmare. It's expensive, it's confusing and it generally sucks. Last time I was in London I took a 15 minute train ride for £20 and it was so full of people I couldn't breathe. Yey. So... top tips:
Get an Oyster card, it makes the Tube a fraction of the price
If you have a contactless card, you can use it to pay for the buses (they don't take cash)
If you have to change trains (which happens a lot), it's often cheaper to pay for two tickets, aka one to wherever it is you change and another from there to wherever you're going. Don't ask me why. It's crazy.
Airports in London
Don't be fooled, half of the 'London' airports aren't really in London at all. To get into central London, with public transport keep in mind it takes about
30 minutes from Gatwick airport (10 Euros)
45 minutes - 1 hour from Heathrow airport (5 Euros)
1 hour from Luton airport (10 - 20 Euros)
2 hours from Stansted airport with the bus (10 Euros) or 1 hour by train (20 Euros)
I always use Kiwi. Kiwi to find the cheapest flights into London, their website is super easy to use. You can write in 'London' or even 'England' and it will check all the airports for you to find you the best deal. It also finds you the route that is the quickest (something no other flight comparison website does). Put simply, Kiwi rocks.
Things to do in London
Some of the best things to do in London are absolutely free. I'd even go as far to say that the more expensive something to do in London is, the shittier it is (case in point: riding the London Eye). London is so big and so diverse, you absolutely can and will find something that is unique to do in London and well within your budget.
3. Wrap Up: House Sitting London
House sitting in London is one of the first places I recommend people house sit - it's diverse, there are plenty of house sits available and newbie house sitters are almost guaranteed to get a house sit. I always say that house sitting is almost a contradiction - what other method allows you to travel both cheaply and luxuriously. With London being such an expensive city usually, and with so many luxury house sitting London jobs available, this cheap/luxurious travel paradox is very apparent. For more on Europe, how about trying house sitting in Ireland? We have also made this video for newcomers to housesitting, enjoy :)
P.S. Trustedhousesitters.com was kind enough to provide us and our readers with a 10% discount -- click on the link to use it!
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ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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