Reading in 3 days on a budget
Under $80 a day including a bed, if you pick the right hotel and eat where the students eat.
Broad Street shopping area in Reading on a weekday morning
Where to sleep for under $60
The Ibis Reading Centre on Friar Street is your best bet at around $55-70 a night booked 3 weeks out. The Premier Inn Caversham Road is similar money and 10 minutes' walk from the station. Avoid festival weekend (last week of August) when everything triples. For the absolute cheapest, the Travelodge on Oxford Road drops to $45 on Sunday and Monday nights.
Day one: free Reading
Reading Museum, Reading Abbey Ruins, Forbury Gardens, and the Riverside Museum at Blake's Lock are all free. That's a full day. Lunch at Grosvenor Casino's carvery ($9 for 2 courses if you sign up free), or a bakery pick-up from Warings on Kings Road under $6. Dinner at Wokyko on Friar Street — bao and noodles under $10. Evening pint at the Retreat on St John's Street, one of Reading's oldest pubs, around $6.
Day two: Caversham on foot
Walk everywhere — Caversham Bridge, Caversham Court Gardens (free), View Island (free), and the Thames Path to Sonning if the weather holds. Pack a supermarket lunch from the Sainsbury's on Friar Street, around $5. Back in town, spend an afternoon at Reading Central Library (free wifi, warm) or the free galleries at the Museum of English Rural Life on Redlands Road — genuinely one of the best small museums in the country.
Day three: a cheap day trip
Buy a GWR Super Off-Peak day return to Pangbourne or Goring — around $8, both are Thames villages 10-15 minutes away with river walks and cheap pub lunches at the Swan or the Miller of Mansfield. Alternatively, Basingstoke is $10 return with Milestones Museum entry. Back in Reading by evening for a $9 curry at Bhel Puri House on London Road, a vegetarian institution.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they set off on this one.
Yes, if you book the hotel early, eat one meal from a supermarket, and stick to free attractions and one paid day trip.
There's no traditional backpacker hostel. The Ibis Budget on Reading Road (Winnersh) is the closest thing at around $50 a night.
Reading Museum, Museum of English Rural Life, Central Library, and the Oracle shopping centre for warm window-shopping.
Yes, Reading tap water is safe and free everywhere. Carry a bottle.
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