children and travel in london
 

Hello we will be in London for 3 days with 1 extra day going to the Harry Potter studios before catching a train to Woking to stay with relatives for the remainder of our time in England.

Whilst in London we will be staying at the London County Hall Premier Inn close to Waterloo Station and visiting attractions such as Tower of London (already have tickets), St Pauls, Westminster Abbey and a few museums. We have 2 children (11 and 8).

I am unsure whether to get an Oyster card for my husband and I or a travelcard. I am also unsure as to what to get for my 11 year old daughter. I understand my 8yr old will be free on all trains/buses. Do i need to carry a passport for her id to prove she is under 11 every time we travel within London?

When we go to Watford for the Harry Potter day, do we need to purchase an additional ticket or top up the oyster cards? What about when we travel from Waterloo to Woking?

Thanks for your help!

To go to Woking, you buy tickets at Waterloo National Station as a wholly separate operation from travel within London (straightforward, use the ticket machines)

For your travel pattern, Oyster pay-as-you-go would probably be a bit cheaper than getting a 7-day travelcard (which usually pays for itself somewhere around 4 days).

The only wrinkle on that would be if you wanted to take advantage of the 2for1s (www.daysoutguide.co.uk), for which you would need a ticket issued from a National Rail station - in this case, you'd have to buy 7-day travelcards, but whether you save enough on the 2for1s to make up for the cost of the extra days and the extension ticket to Watford, I don't know but you're welcome to work it all out for yourself!
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/fares

For your 11-year-old, you'll either need to get day travelcards for each day, or get an Oyster photocard in advance.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-paym...ter-photocards

F

Ooops, pressed the wrong button:

For your 8-year-old, there would only be an issue if she might look over 11. You could always carry a photocopy of the relevant page in her passport in case you're challenged about it.

I wouldn't bother w/ the National Rail paper travelcards since the biggest 2for1 bargain would be at the Tower and you already bought your tickets and will miss out on the discount. So just get the Oysters w/ PAYG.

Hi all

Thanks for your help. It looks like best option will be to get oyster cards and a travelcard for my daughter. Do you think 30pounds per card for the adults would be a good starting point?

£30 per adult for 3 days sounds a lot to me . We put that on ours and stayed out in Zone 4 for a week haven't used it all yet.

Check out the fare tables at the link above. For the adults (3 x PAYG daily cap = £19.20 ) + (2 x single extensions to/from Watford = £5.70) + ?(2 x single extensions to Heathrow = £3). £30 sounds about right, but you can check how much you have left every time you check in and out, or at ticket machines at stations or at any of the corner shops and convenience stores that have a terminal, where you can top it up.

Thanks very much for your help!