aarathi23

Hi all

Firstly, my apologies for yet another question on Oyster Cards/Travel cards etc...I have read all the posts, but am still quite confused and would really appreciate any assistance you can provide.

My husband and I are spending 4 weeks in total in England. We are spending about 10 weeks in between in France.

In London, we're staying in Borough (and flying into Heathrow). We would like to do some day trips to York, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford.

What are suggestions please on best rail passes/cards to get?

Thank you!

Cheers

afterall

Hi,

I guess you are not spending four complete weeks in London but you obviously are going to spend a lot of full days there. In that case I would mix and match the two options. On days when you know you are going to be doing a lot of hopping about AND making multiple trips to your hotel (maybe going back to change before going out again to the theatre, and back again to sleep) then use a one day travel pass. At all other times use an Oyster Card.

Pre Oyster I used to be a huge fan of the one day travel card especially if my day involved getting to or from Heathrow after 9.30am. That trip one way used to be about 4.20 I think, and a one day card was 5.70 so it was a no-brainer.

But the one day card is not such a bargain now. And the brilliant thing about Oyster is that if you end up with unspent money on it you can just claim in back before you leave (at no charge).

Neither sort of card will cover trips out of the Greater London Area (with some exceptions like Watford). For trips out of the capital by train buy discounted tix in advance at a station or thru the internet. Often coach is better than train (depends where you're going) so I always check out national express too.

www.nationalexpress.com

Cheers.

alanRow

You don't need a train pass - you will either need a London Travelcard and/or Oystercard depending on your plans

Remember that PAPER Travelcards give you 2-for-1 offers at places like The Tower of London (www.2for1entry.co.uk)

When you say "4 weeks in total" does that mean you staying for some time in London, then leaving London for a while, then coming back?

janisj

Do I understand correctly you are spending a total of 4 weeks staying in Borough - some of that time at each end of your visit to France? And that all 4 weeks will be spent in London w/ a few days trips?

If so - you won't need any sort of train pass since your day trips out of town would not make them a bargain.

For your in-London travel you can do combinations of Oysters and paper travel cards. The only reason for paper travel cards is to get some of the 2 for 1 discounts. You likely won't use more than 4 or 5 of those - so you can buy paper cards when and as you need them, and use Oyster PAYG on all the other days. One Oyster topped up w/ more £ as needed per person. As for the paper cards - since you get 2 for 1, only one of you needs to have a paper ticket per special.

aarathi23

HI guys

Thanks for the helpful responses...

Yes I'm spending 4 weeks in total in Borough, but with a break in between to France. So in London, on either side of the France break. During time in London, taking short day trips out of London.

Looks like easiest solution is to just Oyster PAYG and normal train tickets for day trips...



Thanks!

PatrickLondon

A monthly travelcard for zones 1 and 2 equates to 14-15 days at the peak (pre-0930) daily price-capped rate for Oyster PAYG, or 19-20 days at the off-peak (starting after 0930).

Up to you where the balance of advantage lies in view of your likely travel patterns.

PalenQ

Be sure to investigate the Days Out of London railpass for trips within a 100-mile or so radius of London, including to Stratford, Bath and Oxford plus two airport transfers on Gatwick, Heathrow or Stanstead Expresses - can be used on almost any train any time - complete flexibility, unlike most discounted cheaper tickets. You may even want to look at the England Flexipass, good for 4 or 8 days of train travel thruout England over a 2-month period - it would also give you an excellent Passholder Fare on the Chunnel trains London to France. Two sites i always refer to for lots on British trains and passes apart from the usual pass prices and an add to cart button are: www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - the latter lets you download its free European Planning & Rail Guide which has a good chapter on English trains and itineraries by rail. www.britrail.com is the official BritRail site.

PalenQ

<If so - you won't need any sort of train pass since your day trips out of town would not make them a bargain.>

I would heartily dispute this - you may or not find a railpass like London Plus or England Pass a real bargain - depends on whether you want flexibility or not to take any train any time

Say like York - the England Pass lets you hop any train anytime - discounted online fares are typically for a certain train and can't be changed or refunded, etc. OK for going - but you may not know how long you are going to be in York and wish to come back - cement yourself in too early and you may wish you could stay longer - or the weather turns nasty and you're stuck there longer than you want.

So don't dismiss a railpass out of hand - there are many factors in that.

PalenQ

Yes don't take any advice that a railpass for your trips out of London may not be a great deal:

England Flexi Railpass

4 days of unlimited travel out of a two-month period - use when you want over two months

costs (2nd class) $265 or $66 or about 33 quid

8 days of rail travel over two months costs $385 second class p.p. or $42 a day or about 21 pounds

For 21 pounds a day for unlimited unrestricted travel this is a great great bargain - go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and even the cheaper online discounts that you also may have to book weeks in advance to get and then cannot change, etc. may cost 21 pounds or more to say York or Bath and back

So IMO disregard any advice saying that a railpass would not be a bargain as it could well be.

PalenQ

For example a random search for Aug 15 for London to York said the cheapest fare available at this time was 79.60 pounds or about $170 if paying with an American credit card.

Since the 4 day out of 2 month England railpass costs $265 all told that would mean for $95 ($265-$170) you'd have three other days of travel

And this was the CHEAPEST York fare - i could not get the site to show me the conditions of the cheapest fare but it is likely restricted as to time, etc. and not flexible.

A flexible fare may cost twice as much (don't know for sure as site was bulking and i could not easily get)

But i know when i took the train from London to Manchester recently the one-way 2nd class regular fare was 133 pounds - or about $270 - more than the 4 day railpass costs.

PalenQ

and the cheapest fare for Aug 15, randomly select London to Bath was about 23 pounds or $50 or so - add that to the cheapest fare to York and back of $170 and you have $220 - that's only $45 less than the 4 day railpass

and you still have two days of unlimited travel for Stratford, Oxford, airports, etc. You may find you can use the 8-day pass ($365) and take the cheapest possible (and perhaps restricted i don't know but often are) York and Bath fares a total of $220 - then you get the next 6 days for $145 total or about $24 a day - about 12 pounds per rail day for unlimited totally flexible rail travel.

Pass seems a no-brainer IMO for OP's travels. And we have not even investigated or added on the return fare to Stratford yet.

texasbookworm

We just got back from 2 weeks in London with 5 day trips. We had the BritRailEngland 4-day Flex pass--And we loved it. The flexibility is what makes it so attractive. We decided day by day which day to travel on and didn't have to try to make a certain time train. Isn't that worth tons!? (We went to Northampton, Dover, Chesterfield/Sheffield, and Salisbury). We rode Oxford Espress coach to Oxford--excellent choice also for us. £30 pounds for 2 return.

In town we used the Oyster card, adding to it when low. We only bought 1 day paper cards for the day we went to The Tower of London and the Tower Bridge Exhibition, which have 2for1 offers. Technically, you have to go to a train station to purchase said paper tickets, so arranging to go to a train station has to go into your schedule. It was worth it for us for the savings on this day (you can buy 1 day tickets one day in advance, which is what we did, being at a train station the day before we wanted to use the paper tickets).

Hope this helps--I highly recommend the Rail Flex pass, either 4 or 8 day, and the Oyster card almost exclusively. (and our experience on all public transportation for the 2 weeks was wonderful--on time, efficient, no glitches at all!)

aarathi23

Thanks, that is really helpful

Just out of general interest - with the paper cards and the 2for1 savings, exactly how much does one save? For example, what would normal price tickets be for Tower of London etc? Sorry if this is a dumb question..

texasbookworm

Tower is £17.50/adult and I think the Tower Bridge is £6, so on the day I used the vouchers I saved almost $50--dollars. Enough for us to eat one meal--ha!

texasbookworm

Oh, I forgot--the travel cards DO cost more than you'd spend using the Oyster card on the same day. It's a real math/algebra problem to do all the maths and try to figure out the Oyster/travel card/voucher scenarios! But for something expensive like the Tower, or if you're going to go to 2 or more things with 2for1 vouchers in the same day, then it is a savings. If you only hit one venue a day, or it's not that pricey, then to me it didn't seem worth the hassle or the extra expense of travel cards over Oyster. Another option that we didn't need would be to get 3 day travel cards and do all your 2for1 things within those days.

Do your internet homework and planning, but know that weather and bodies may dictate that you change your plans a little!

yk

Just to expand a little on what Texasbookworm said,

The Oyster PAYG has a daily capping, and for the usual tourist who travels within zones 1-2 on the tube/buses etc, the Oyster PAYG cap is 50 pence cheaper than the One-Day TravelCard; plus Oyster PAYG doesn't have limitations of peak & off-peak travels.

helen_belsize

Oyster cards now offer their own 2 for 1 offers on some entertainments see the Oyster section on www.tfl.gov.uk .
It is true that there is a daily price capping system that gives you flexibility, in other words you don't need to decide in advance whether you want to stay in zones 1 & 2, if you go outside you will pay but you won't be penalised for having underpaid. Also you can travel before the offpeak hours BUT you will pay the Day Travelcard (Peak) capping price. You can use the paper travelcards to visit many suburban rail stations and so avoid paying for two tickets, underground and rail, so if for example you wanted to go to the Horniman Museum or William Morris's Red House (NT at Bexleyheath) you are only going to zone 2.

This does make lugging your computer to check all the details when abroad become more and more necessary, unless you can do a lot of preparation in advance.