walkinaround: If you walk in to the hallway between the brasserie and the main restaurant (past the hostess station) there is a glass door out to the observation deck. I've only been out there during daytime or late afternoon so maybe it isn't open to the public at night.

Is there still a 24-hour hop-on-hop-off bus pass which includes a boat trip on the Thames? We didn't purchase it, but it looked like it could be cost-effective. A boat ride on the Thames in the evening is a must IMHO, and not very expensive. We just bought it separately.
There may be a family-pass or carnet for the tube that saves over per/person tickets-- anyone know for sure?
Shopping on Oxford Street is jam-packed with people, but the teenage girl stores are alll there in that one block area. So you can get done with it. Try Zara, TopShop and Mango (I think are the right names that my daughter liked last June). They aren't really inexpensive, but are moderately priced, with lots of accessories that are fun for teen girls.
Have fun! London is a blast.

http://www.theoriginaltour.com offers a 50-minute circle tour or a one-way to Greenwich.

http://www.bigbus.co.uk has a 30-minute ride (that I think is one-way only).

Since you can buy either ride for a few quid (with 1/3 off with a Travelcard), I don't think buying $40 worth of bus transport to get a boat ride makes much sense.

I've had so many useful replies to this query, they are all much appreciated. I'm aware that 3 days is nowhere near enough time to do London justice. Although my last visit in 1984 is a bit blurry, I do remember that over the course of 3 weeks or so I walked about 9 hours a day & loved London (lucky to have great weather). This trip will need to be a great deal more efficient than that, but not feel like a frenzy of "off to the next site".
To obxgirl & Noe,( sorry for misspelling your moniker),my youngest on further questioning just wants to try on a bearskin hat, not that keen on the changing of the guard persay. I think if we walk past the palace at another time of day (?photo op), catch the guards as they march to or from the palace (hopefully less crowded) and try to catch the change at TOL we'll have met her requirements as well as we can. The eye at sunset sounds great, though sunset around Jun 21 is as late as it gets (9.20) so if the eye closes at 9pm we're out of luck. I haven't seen any photos on the web of the view from the eye in the rain, which has me doubtful about prebooking a flight, despite the knowledge that we run a fair risk of missing out altogether.
JoeTro- I'm the only one interested in art so perhaps their dad can take the D's shopping while I do a quick visit. Jgg- I was surprised to find so many of our chosen sights included in the GBHP-perhaps the 15 day pass will be warranted. I now need to find out how much for 13 & 15 year olds to also visit the sights-possibly reasonable? as their are no child passes available.
Merseyheart- not sure if we'll get to Oxford St (shopping, by my D's choice is just something they'd like to sample) so Covent Gardens might fulfill multiple requirements.
Have noted your comments on OXO tower Janis & walkinaround- could be a good reserve if the Eye doesn't come off.
Maureen, we miss the birthday party at the Palace by a couple of days.
alanRow,you're probably right about Day 1 (did you see my comment about 'if we're still awake'?) however the TOL appealed because it allows outdoor as well as concentration bouts. It we feel lousy when we arrive at our accom & there's no early apartment availability for a snooze (they're doing their best for us there)I do have a plan B . Will delay purchasing TOL tickets though until after we get to apartment.

Robespierre- the tail end of my post go lost. I presume I hit the word limit. That tourist bus map will be very useful but after reading 50 pages of London transport info & quite a bit of your info I've calculated that if we travel only on buses it will cost us a bit over £33 for 3 days (based on £12 for Adult Oyster cards & daily cap, £5 for D aged 15 (needs photo oyster card to travel freee on buses) £6 for LHR extension for adults & 13y.o (no oystercard)£1 LHR extension for 15 y.o and £9 for us all to take 30min boat ride?
However if we do a couple of tube rides it could get more exy & wouldn't take long to make a 3day travel pass more viable, even though it comes in at about £63 for all of the above.Thanks for the tip about the LHR extension I hadn't realised that it wasn't available on the 3 day pass.

Forgot to say, according to that mammoth PDF document 3day passes also peak travel

A 3-day Travelcard costs £15.40, and three Oyster caps totals £13.20 - so if you don't need the peak travel that's automatically included on the Travelcard, Oyster is what you want.

(Plus the Travelcard doesn't get you Oyster fares for extensions.)

Well we do arrive at 5.45am and no bed 'til much later. When you travel the Heathrow London tube at Peakhour, there isn't much of a saving on the Oyster (50p). Some people have mentioned a family pass, but I don't see any mention of such a thing (on the websites you directed us too Robespierre, except that a Day ticket (different from a Day travelcard, in that it only allows travel on tube & DLR) allows children 5-15 to travel for 1pound for the day. Travelcard gives a 6pound (1/3 off)saving on the boat, but we can't travel to Chelsea,except at peak hour. I've only just got onto the boat info, so it might influence our decision.

I believe the Family Pass is no more.

Correct. Family Travelcard has been supplanted by Kids for a Quid and a range of free Oyster and bus transport. It's all here:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...eetravel.shtml

Thought I should make a correction to a previous post. I thought there were 2 types of day travel card , one that included buses, one that didn't. I was basing this on info about kids travelling cheap, & the info I was reading didn't mention buses because those were already free to this group. So kids can travel for £1 providing they accompany an adult with a travel card. I have an email from TfL confirming that the children then have a pass that allows travel in all 6 zones. Alternatively if the accompanying adult is doing pay as you go, then the child can purchase an all zone pass for £2. (the above refers to offpeak). Not quite sure what applies to 15 year olds on the bus who don't have a photo oyster pass (just too much hassle for only 3 days), the system doesn't mention this group.
So once again thanks to everyone for their help, especially Robespierre with helping to unravel the mysteries of TfL. BTW does anyone know how long I should allow to travel by bus from Earls Court to the Tower of London in peak hour (want to get to ToL by 8.40am). We will probably walk to Kensington Rd, catch a bus to Picadilly & then change to go to the Tower. Alternatively we could brave the squash & extra cost & take the tube which runs direct & will take about 30minutes (allowing 3 mins per stop), but would prefer to only do this if the bus at this time of day is a disaster.

Don't bother taking buses all across London during the morning rush. The Circle Line from Gloucester Rd to Tower Hill will be easier, and faster as well.

But not infrequently, <i>walking</i> is faster than the Circle line ;)

ttt

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