katwinkel

My husband and I will be in London and environs for seven days in August. We'll probably take a day trip or an overnight at some point. In London we want to see the State Rooms, London Tower, St. Paul's, Wellington Arch, War Rooms, Westminster Abbey, National Gallery, and British Museum. I figured we could save about 40 pounds using coupons. Using a London Pass for eligible places on our list saves only a couple pounds but it seems we could save time because we'd be able to by-pass queues. I'd go with coupons but am afraid I'd regret it as we stood in a long queue to show our coupons/travel card before going in. Any opinions?

texasbookworm

From what I've read and know about the Pass, it is not a good value. The 2for1 vouchers are, if you don't mind the issue of securing paper tickets. If you are at the Tower of London as it opens (and go straight to Crown Jewels) even on a crowded day you shouldn't have much wait. Ditto with Westminster Abbey. Could do Abbey and Westminster/Buckingham area on one day and maybe even walk up to Trafalger Square and the National Gallery; could do the Tower, walk along SouthBank and over to St. Paul's on another day. British Museum another half at least day. Good day trips are Oxford or Cambridge; Stonehenge/Salisbury also. Half-day trips to Greenwich, Hampton Court or Windsor might fit. Group your sites by looking at a map. Avoid the Pass; make flexible plans; know that London is huge and travel takes time, but is easy really with good map, the tube and your feet!

alanRow

<<< Using a London Pass for eligible places on our list saves only a couple pounds >>>

Using the 2-4-1 offers saves the cost of a week long Travelcard in under 6 attractions

This might help you

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...n_England.html

Note also the large number of FREE attractions in London like all the major museums and galleries - including the British Museum.

janisj

"<i>Using a London Pass for eligible places on our list saves only a couple pounds but it seems we could save time because we'd be able to by-pass queues.</i>"

You won't find queues at many places -- except for the Tower of London, and maybe Westminster Abbey. Really, the only place the London Pass allows one to jump a queue is at the Tower -- and you can avoid that problem by arriving early.

There are almost no situations where the LP makes more sense than the 2-for-1's

katwinkel

Thank you all so much -- that is so helpful! The way the Pass website talked about queues, I had visions of hours-long waits. My husband and I are usually early risers so this will work well. I'm excited! This is our first visit to England.

janisj

katwinkel: The best strategy for the Tower is to get there maybe 10-15 mins before it opens. There will be a small queue that disappears as soon as the gates open. After the bag search, you cross a bridge and there will be a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) assembling one of their free tours. Ignore him (or her --there is currently one female Beefeater ) and walk across the inner ward to the Jewel House to see the Crown Jewels w/ practically no one else around. Then after seeing the Jewels - go back to the entrance area and hook up w/ a later YW tour.

After the YW tour - which other than the chapel, only covers the outsides of the various bldgs - you are on your own to explore the White Tower and other interiors.

freberta

I have a couple of very specific questions that hopefully someone here can answer.

We will be arriving in London on Wednesday, Aug. 4, and later that day we are going to walk over to Euston Station and pick up our rail tickets to be used later in our trip, a Family and Friends Railcard, 2 youth Oyster Cards that were ordered online, Oyster Cards for 4 adults and 4 one-day Travelcards to be used with 2-4-1 vouchers on Thursday when we go to the Tower of London and the Churchill War Rooms. Do I have it right -- we can use our Oyster Cards that I plan to load with about £10-15 on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning and the Travelcard on Thursday? If we use the Travelcards on Thursday but get on the Tube during peak time, how does that work? (We want to get to the Tower of London before it opens.) Do we have to add money to the Travelcard to cover the difference ? It's my understanding that the Travelcards are good for travel only during off-peak times. When we get to Paddington Station on Monday morning to take the train to Moreton-in-Marsh, we can turn in our Oyster Cards to get back our "deposit"?

I hope this isn't too confusing to understand.

Thanks.