fieldtripcoordinator

We will arrive at London Heathrow and are staying near Paddington Station. I've pretty much determined our best transport option is the underground. It's a little slower, but the express train is expensive for three people.

We will be flying from Luton to Paris via Easyjet two days later.

What kind of card or pass should I plan on purchasing? Or a combination of Oystercard and Travelcard since Heathrow is in zone 6 and the rest of our travels will likely be in zones 1 & 2?

The tfl site is tremendously confusing to me...especially after 10 pm when my brain wants to shut down.

fieldtripcoordinator

Nix the Labor Day comment. I had my dates confused.

janisj

If you are staying near Paddington - the tube will require at least one line change, or possibly two depending on where exactly you mean.

Where exactly are you staying? "Near Paddington" could mean anything from Queensway/Bayswater to Edgware Rd.

There are other options - like a car service which for 3 will be cheaper than the Heathrow Express train and will take you door to door. Or, the Heathrow Direct train which is a lot cheaper than the HEX.

Also &quot;<i>combination of Oystercard <u>and</u> Travelcard</i>&quot; isn't really applicable. An Oyster is a plastic card that you put &pound; on sort of like a debit card. A travelcard is just one option you can store on the Oyster.

So if you DO decide to slog in on the tube, you'd get an oyster at the LHR tube station - and on it you would place the amount of &pound; required for a zone 1-2 travelcard plus an extension for zone 6 from LHR.

sf7307

<i>the amount of &pound; required for a zone 1-2 travelcard plus an extension for zone 6 from LHR.</i>

Why wouldn't they just put enough money on it and use it Pay-as-you-Go? Why the zone 1-2 travelcard? (I have no idea how one gets to Luton)

fieldtripcoordinator

We are staying at the Barry House, just north of Hyde Park.

janisj

Oh - I missed the &quot;two days later&quot; bit. Sorry. ( I was thinking you'd be in London a week -- thus a weekly travel card)

No &quot;travel card&quot; required. Just put the amount on the Oyster that the agent at the LHR tube station advises.

You'll be using pay as you go (PAYG)

Hope that didn't confuse you even more that the TFL website

sf7307

How DO you get to Luton?

janisj

The Barry House is in Sussex Place and is closer to Paddington than to Bayswater.

You'd take the Piccadilly line to Earls Court and change to a District line train to Paddington.

For Luton - you'd to go to St Pancras Station. There you will take a mainline train to Luton Parkway, and then a shuttle bus to the airport. The mainline train is not covered by tfl/oyster.

OR - - you can take a coach that starts at Victoria - the most convenient stops for you are Marble Arch and Baker street - and then all the way to Luton. Also not covered by oyster.

Whichever you choose, allow PLENTY of time. the budget airlines are very strict about check in times.

thursdaysd

&quot;How DO you get to Luton?&quot; - see www.london-luton.co.uk/en/airport/. I plan to take the train and shuttle bus.

alanRow

Why do you need to stay near Paddington. As you've discovered it's awkward to get to cheaply

As for your travel needs - I'd pay the &pound;4 single ticket Tube price to your hotel, then - as you said &quot;we&quot; - go to your nearest train station and buy two 1 day paper Zone 1-2 Travelcard from the train station booking office - NOT the Tube booking office. This will allow you to use the offers on www.daysoutguide.com

alanRow

And why are you flying from Luton to Paris - you'll need to factor in the costs of getting to &amp; from 2 airports plus the security and luggage restrictions.

What's wrong with Eurostar from St Pancras?

fieldtripcoordinator

We have ended up being able to fly directly to Paris from Dulles. We are staying in London at the end of our holiday instead of at the beginning. This makes our itinerary less complicated!

Thanks for all your input. It helped us figure out a better way to do things.