London Pass vs. OysterCard,or get both?

Old Apr 25th, 2017, 12:39 PM
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London Pass vs. OysterCard,or get both?

London Pass vs. OysterCard,or get both?

Please help my confusion: My wife and I will be in London for 3 days. I have read up on the London Pass and Oyster card, not sure if I need both, or which to buy if I need just one. We will be seeing the sights, taking the Underground,but,I guess the question I can't find the answer to is this: Can we use either card to take the train, roundtrip, from Paddington Station to More-in-Marsh (The Cotswolds).Can someone boil this down in simple terms and help me understand?
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 12:53 PM
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Can we use either card to take the train, roundtrip, from Paddington Station to More-in-Marsh (The Cotswolds).>

No- check www.nationalrail.co.uk for train fares and schedules.

No to London Pass -many others will say why that is overkill and maybe to Oyster Card or a paper Travel Card that will give you 2 for 1 entry to some expensive London sightgs.
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 01:57 PM
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PalQ answered the More-in-Marsh aspect - the London Pass is useless for that.

The London Pass will overcharge you. Period.

Despite your vague statement that "[w]e will be seeing the sights" -- and good luck trying to see everything London has to offer in three days (forget about doing so in two if the Cotswolds trip is a daytrip during your London stay) -- the simple fact is that with two of you, nearly all the sites you'll see that require admission fees (except Westminster Abbey) will have some sort of discount available.

Most discounts you would want will be available through www.daysoutguide.co.uk - Tower, Eye, St. Paul's, Hampton Court, War Rooms. Others need no discount - most of London's best museums (the Tates, the National Galleries, the South Kens museums, the Brit and Brit Library, the Museum of London, the IWM, etc) do NOT charge admission fees. So why pay for a London Pass if you're not going to be charged admission?
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 01:59 PM
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So why pay for a London Pass if you're not going to be charged admission?>

Because of marketing hype by the pass folks. Rarely a good deal especially there so few days. Many things you will never get to or even perhaps want to do.

Russ has said it all -end of research.
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 03:33 PM
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For 33 GBP each you can get a 7-day travel card. Unlimited travel in zones 1-2...which covers most of what you'll want to see.

Buy it at a train station and you will qualify for the 2-for-1 vouchers.

If you only visit the Tower (a must) and St Paul's, you will save 46 GBP in admission fees...which means the two of you will have unlimited tube and bus for 20 GBP...a great bargain.

Throw one more high-value sight in like Westminster Abbey (22 GBP) and you've had your three days of public transport for free...actually they paid you 2 GBP to ride everything.

ssander
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 03:38 PM
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just dashing out, but . . . DO NOT buy the London Pass.
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Old Jun 21st, 2017, 01:13 PM
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Hello.
This is an amazing resource and I am greateful for all the great suggestions.
Tim, sorry to intervene in your post.

SSander, can you explain simply how I can get these 2 for 1 tickets? or any other suggestions. So, better the travel card instead of Oyster?
We going to UK in September and will be spending four nights in London.
I too am strugling about buying a pass. Should I? and Which one? Regarding entrances to places.

Of course I want to see as much as we can. Westmister, Churchill, The Tower, Kensington, the big famous stuff. Any recommendations as to what passes we should buy to visit those places? or is it better to pay one by one?

Those two for one sound very appealing. We arrive at Heathrow and will be staying by Waterloo station.


thanks
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Old Jun 21st, 2017, 02:39 PM
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For both posters going to London:

The link given above explains the Paper Travelcard and 2-4-1 offers.

www.daysoutguide.co.uk

There it is again. Visit that page and read it carefully. If you have more questions, come back. Sadly this had been explained here at length, but since the search function isn't very useful, you can ask here.

If you plan on buying the paper travelcard, you must do so, as mentioned, at a National Rail station.

Print out all your vouchers from the guide linked above.

It works very well.
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Old Jun 21st, 2017, 02:54 PM
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tuscanlifeedit: Good info -- Steelmagnolia topped another thread asking the same thing and I gave her a pretty detailed response on that one.


(This thread's OP started two threads back in April and never returned . . .)
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Old Jun 21st, 2017, 02:57 PM
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Thanks! got it!
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Old Sep 7th, 2017, 08:00 PM
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Maybe this is a silly question but we are flying into LHR and taking HEX to Paddington. (Already bought tickets) then we are taking the train to Paris. Do these qualify us for 2for1 deals on daysoutguide?
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Old Sep 7th, 2017, 09:41 PM
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Suzanneaz - no those tickets do not qualify. They need to be national rail tickets.
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Old Sep 13th, 2017, 06:15 PM
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May I please piggyback on this with different circumstances? What is the best card or pass for getting around, all over the London area (and maybe beyond) for someone who will be there for THREE WEEKS, doing research, and just a few touristy activities? (Stonehenge is appealing.) Thank you.
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Old Sep 13th, 2017, 06:37 PM
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Musicelt- just how much time do you plan to spend in London and how much time outside?

Day trips from London are surprisingly expensive. Flex tickets or day of tickets are exorbitant. Either book your tickets well ahead or get a britrail pass. Latter may not pay off if you don't do a lot of day trips.

Oyster card is really easy to use. You just buy it at the station and reload it as you go. Depending on your situation, you may qualify for a discount on a travelcard. I think it's unlikely that describes your situation, but here's a link-

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment...On-this-page-0

Basically, the more zones you cross, the more money you spend. So if you did not cross many zones or you walk a lot, you may not get your moneys worth on a travel card. It depends on where you're staying, where your research is, and how much sightseeing you really plan to do.
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Old Sep 13th, 2017, 06:59 PM
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>>May I please piggyback on this with different circumstances?>What is the best card or pass for getting around, all over the London area (and maybe beyond) for someone who will be there for THREE WEEKS,where in London you will mostly be. You also can load some PAYG (pay as you go) £ on the Oyster to cover any trips outside the zones covered by the travelcard. For example - if you are mostly going to be in zones 1 & 2 but maybe occasionally into zone 6 you wouldn't want a zone 1-6 because that would be expensive and overkill. You'd load a seven day zone 1-2 travel card and extra PAYG to cover any other areas.

>>Day trips from London are surprisingly expensive.where one is going.

For day trips to places like Oxford -- take the Bus (called the Oxford Tube but nothing to do with the tube nor part of London Transport) not covered by the Oyster but cheaper than taking the train.

For Stonehenge you'd take the train to Salisbury and then a local shuttle bus from the station to the Stones.
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