LMGSONIC

My husband, our 6 year old son, and I are visiting London for the first time in March, staying for 8 nights. We are arriving at and departing from Gatwick. Our hotel is near Gloucester Road Tube Station. We will be sightseeing in the greater London area the whole time, save for one day in Bath.

We feel pretty comfortable with the sights we've chosen to see while we're there, but I'm still trying to wrap my brain around our transportation options, as well as trying to determine if the Days Out 2 for 1 deals make sense for our family of 3. Just looking for confirmation of our choices, or alternative advice if you think there's a better way for us!

1. Purchase roundtrip anytime tickets for Southern Railway train for Gatwick-Victoria. Use this ticket to qualify for the 2 for 1 deals. Do we save any money by purchasing the ticket in advance and retrieving it from the machine at the station when we arrive?

2. Get a regular Oyster card and load it with a little $$ for our tube rides on arrival and departure day. Get a 7-day Travelcard for zones 1-3 for the remaining sightseeing days and have it loaded onto the Oyster. We want zone 3 as we are going to an event at Alexandra Palace one day. Also, it will get us to Wimbledon Tube Station where we can transfer to the train station, buy a train ticket and take a Southwest Train to Hampton Court Station.

Some of the 2 for 1 sights we are hoping to visit include: London Eye, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Hampton Court Palace, Monument, the Cutty Sark and possibly the London Transport Museum. With three of us, one being a child, do they let one adult in for free, or will it be the child that goes in for free? Trying to figure out our savings vs. buying combined tickets or family tickets. It seems as though we'd save a lot, but just trying to make sure before I start printing vouchers!

Any other advice or suggestions are appreciated, especially for kid-friendly restaurants or great playgrounds. We are planning 2 or 3 sights a day, plus a playground visit. I'm organizing our sightseeing by neighborhood to maximize our time. We probably won't spend a lot of time at most sights as our son likes to keep moving constantly (high energy). This visit is just to get our feet wet - hopefully we'll be back in a few years to explore more of England, plus Wales and Scotland as well.

LMGSONIC

In brief:

1. Will we save any money by purchasing our Southern Railway ticket from Gatwick to Victoria (as well as the return) in advance?

2. Does the Days Out 2 for 1 deal make financial sense for a family of 3? We will probably visit at least 8 sights that have the deal.

3. Suggestions appreciated for family-friendly playgrounds or child-friendly quick service restaurants either in Bath or central London.

Lexma90

I can't answer your transport questions, we visit lots of museums in London, and those are free, so our calculations of passes was different.

Re your high energy kid, keep in mind that we will be doing a lot more walking than he usually does, so you may tire him out a bit.

There are kids friendly quick serve restaurants all over, so I don't think you'll have a problem finding those. Try to have pies, the savory kind, at least once. (sometimes also called pasties depending on where you're from). Also, fish and chips are a local favorite and tends to be take away types of places.

Enjoy!

LMGSONIC

Thanks, Lexma! We are from Florida. Definitely want to try a pastie and fish and chips. We have Pret-A-Manger and Wagamama Noodle on our "potential restaurants" list. Just wondering if anyone had suggestions that weren't chain restaurants with 50 billion locations! Not that those are bad, but just looking for additional suggestions to make the most of our short trip!

sofarsogood

There is the option to buy the slightly cheaper Advance tickets online, but as they are only valid for the booked train, if your flight is late yo loose the tickets. So yo may decide to just go with the walk-up tickets.

Also keep an eye the Southern website for any planed strike action that may affect your journey.

http://www.southernrailway.com/

The 2for1 makes for financial sense as rather than two adults paying for entry, the cost will be halved.

As for restaurants - don't get too hung up on this they are too numerous to mention unless you want exclusive Michelin starred grub

sofarsogood

"you lose". So you...

planned...

no bloomin' edit function

LMGSONIC

Thanks, sofarsogood. That was my worry with the advance tickets. I have been keeping an eye on the strike schedule. I hope it's resolved by mid-March!

29FEB

"no bloomin' edit function"

It's called preview and works like a charm.

texasbookworm

The train ticket to use for 2 for 1 deals has to be a PAPER ticket bought from a NATIONAL RAIL STATION office and CANNOT be loaded onto the Oyster card. The 7 day card whether in paper form or "loaded" on the Oyster costs the same. BUT the 7 day credit loaded on the Oyster, available at Tube/TfL sites, will NOT qualify for use with the vouchers to allow 2 for 1 entry. You have to purchase a PAPER ticket. At a NATIONAL RAIL station like Victoria or Paddington--which is why the whole thing becomes not so simple. Do you want to make the effort to go to such a station? How will you handle the travel not covered by such a paper 7 day card? Do you actually want a 7 day zone 1 card and just buy supplemental travel card on the days you go out of Zone 1? etc. etc.!!

But it is definitely a possible great savings.

LMGSONIC

We plan to use our paper roundtrip ticket between Gatwick and Victoria for the 2 for 1 deals, if it will work. We will NOT be riding the Gatwick Express, but rather a local Southern Railway train that stops frequently at Gatwick. Southern is listed on the National Rail web site, so I assume it qualifies for the deal. Please let me know if I'm wrong!

sofarsogood

The OP is covered for the 2for1 through their return Gatwick train ticket so it is simple. all sorted.

janisj

You need to but the R-T tickets at Gatwick. But that only costs £1 or £1.50 more so no biggie.

A big advantage is with the Round trip tickets covering your entire time in London, you can get regular Oyster cards for your transport in London.

texasbookworm

Right! Sorry if I caused any confusion.

LMGSONIC

Yes, that's the plan, janisj - get Oyster cards for my husband and me and load them with a 7-day Travelcard. I read our son travels for free on the Tube and buses, which is awesome!