another London visitor travel card question
 

I'm arriving in London on a Sunday, at Heathrow, with my husband and 2 kids (ages 9 and 12). We'll be staying with friends in Hounslow (Zone 4). We leave 9 days later (on a Tuesday) to take the Eurostar to Paris. We'll be traveling to Zone 1 or 2 for sightseeing on most of the days (probably go to Bath on one of weekend days) My question is what sort of pass should I buy? The 7 day Visitor travel pass or the Family Pass. What are the advantages/disadvantages? Please advise.

The Visitor Travelcard is only available for Zones 1-2 or 1-6, so I think that's a non-starter for your situation.

To give you an idea of travel times, Hounslow Central is about 38 minutes from Piccadilly Circus by Tube, and more than an hour by bus. All-London bus passes would be the cheapest option by far, but you'd have to start out at dawn to get anywhere.

Zone 1-4 Family Travelcards for all 10 days would set you back £80.80 , but you can't use them until 9:30 (any time SaSu). Obviously, you wouldn't have to buy them for every day, and if you wanted to head out earlier on certain days, you could pay full fare. If you're going out to Greenwich for a whole day, for example, the round trip would cost £15.60 for 4.

There are thousands of permutations. Get out your spreadsheet and refer to

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/downloads/tfl-fares-2005.pdf</b>

A 7-day Zone 1-4 travelcard is &pound;30.40 adult/&pound;14.20 child.

I'm not quite clear on the Family travelcard. The prices on the website say &pound;3.40 adult/&pound;0.80 child (so that would mean &pound;8.40 per day for the family of 4?) If that's correct, the daily family card would be the better deal. But it's for after 9:30 AM travel M-F (all day weekends.)

Here's the website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...rd-day-3.shtml

Don't forget when you have a Family Travelcard you ALL have to travel together - two of you can't go one way and two of you another - all together....all the time...think about it!
Also, bring the kids pictures from home - cheaper that way...and yes you will need them for kid passes.

&quot;The group must consist of one or two adults traveling with between one and four children...&quot; So two groups of one adult and one child fits the rules.

Pictures are not needed for children younger than 14.

Pictures ARE needed for an individual child pass.

It's my understanding that photocards are required only if the child is 14 or 15 years old.

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/downloads/tfl-fares-2005.pdf#page=17</b>

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

4totravel wasn't referring to the One Day Family Travelcard. It's the exception rather than the rule presumably because the children are only allowed to travel with the adult holders of the pass.

Virtually every other ticket or travelcard requires children age 5-15 to have a photocard.

obxgirl, one of us isn't tracking this very well. You said &quot;4totravel wasn't referring to the One Day Family Travelcard.&quot; But 4totravel's initial post began &quot;Don't forget when you have a Family Travelcard you ALL have to travel together...&quot; It seems to me 4totravel was speaking ONLY of the Family Travelcard, and nothing else.

And your statement that &quot;Virtually every other ticket or travelcard requires children age 5-15 to have a photocard&quot; employs a definition of &quot;virtually&quot; with which I am unfamiliar. The rules and their rationale are laid out in the fare guide.

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/downloads/tfl-fares-2005.pdf#page=27</b>

5-10s need photocards only if they look older than 10. 14-15s need them only for certain tickets. A more accurate statement would have to start &quot;Virtually NO other ticket...&quot;

The brochure is a little vague but my interpretation after reading it is that under 14 year olds do not need photocards when purchasing family travelcards....but I would admit it is a little unclear.

Ok one more time with feeling - If you buy the family travel card you all have to travel together.

If you don't buy the family card and buy separate multiday travel cards (individual travel cards) for your children... they must have photographs.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll take some pictures with me just in case, since I'll need at least one for the Carte Orange in Paris. I think I'll have to go with the Family Travelcard. I think realistically we'd be out the door at 9:00 a.m. at the earliest anyway, so another half hour won't make much of a difference. Is it possible to buy them all at one time or do you have to buy it only on the day of travel?

4totravel, what part of this quote from the TfL fares brochure don't you understand?

&quot;The group must consist of one or two adults traveling with between one and four children...&quot;

Therefore, if each adult pairs off with one child (creating <u>two</u> groups), they don't <i>all</i> have to travel together.

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/downloads/tfl-fares-2005.pdf#page=17</b>

monique123, You purchase the 1 Day Family Travelcard on the day you're going to use it. Hope you report back and let everyone know how it went. Your trip sounds fabulous.

I looked at an online map to figure out how to get to Windsor and Hampton Court from where I'll be in Hounslow. It looks like I would take a combination of tube and then train ride to get there, but the train map looks very confusing. Can anyone help?

Piccadilly Line direction Cockfosters to Hammersmith

District Line direction Richmond to Richmond

SWT Windsor direction Windsor &amp; Eton Riverside to Windsor &amp; Eton Riverside

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Piccadilly Line direction Cockfosters to Earl's Court

District Line direction Wimbledon to Wimbledon

SWT Hampton Court direction Hampton Court to Hampton Court

To Robespierre: You are amazing. Thank you so much.

As for Eurostar fares on a Tue the cheapest is $90 one way or return for adults and $45 for youths under 26 but these are only on trains Mon-Thu between 11am and 3pm and subject to availability; these are fares thru RailEurope in US and also require $15 booking fee for the whole order not each ticket and a $15 mailing fee. Some RailEurope agents like BETS (800-441-9413), who i've bought Eurostar tickets from many times and can highly recommend for their expertise, won't charge the $15 mailing fee. I think if you compare fares with www.eurostar.co.uk in UK the US $ fares are usually cheaper right now due to the falling dollar which makes things bought in pounds or euros more expensive.

Monique, if you happen to be staying near the Hounslow train station, the easiest way to Windsor is train to Staines, changing there for a train to Windsor and Eton Riverside.

I should have also added that you can get to Hampton Court by train with one change. Change is at Clapham Junction.