Help / Day Planning Required ...
 

Dear Friends

I am in 3 full days [excluding day reaching London - and day leaving from london to paris] and after reading identified following possible sites / visits / do while being in London:

- Big Ben

- Houses of Parliament

- Westminster Abbey

- Buckingham Palace

- Changing the Guard

- Thames River Cruise

- London Eye

- Trafalgar Square

- Cabinet War Room

- London Hop on Hop Off Tour

- Tower of London (Royal Jewels)

- Tower Bridge

- Millenium Footbridge

- Madame Tussads

I would like help to plan my 3 days and club it along sites, which are near by - I would like to know, if I am trying to achieve more than usual / I would like to know if any thing can be excluded or substituted? or anything which I have missed?

Thanks in advance

ravi

>>- Big Ben - just a walk-by

- Houses of Parliament - just a walk-by

- Westminster Abbey

- Buckingham Palace - just a walk-by

- <strike>Changing the Guard</strike>

- Thames River Cruise

- London Eye

- Trafalgar Square - basically a walk-by/walk-through

- Cabinet War Room

- <strike>London Hop on Hop Off Tour</strike>

- Tower of London (Royal Jewels)

- Tower Bridge

- Millenium Footbridge

- <strike>Madame Tussads</strike><<

That leaves one day for the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Millennium Footbridge and you can add St Paul's

And another Day for Westminster Abbey, The Cabinet War Rooms plus the Big Ben/Parliament/Trafalgar Square walk by's

That leaves one day for the Eye, a boat trip and whatever else you want to do -- don't you want to visit any museums or see Covent Garden or anything else?

•••THOUGH - You can ride the Eye in the evening any day•••

janisj has dropped all the things I would. No museums? No Parks? No shopping?

Agree with janisj and bilboburgler about things to drop.

Does the suggestion mean that:

Day 1: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Millennium Footbridge St Paul's

Day 2: Westminster Abbey, The Cabinet War Rooms plus the Big Ben/Parliament/Trafalgar Square

Day 3: London Eye and the Cruise

Also, which card I should purchase:

A] 1 day [Anytime] Zone 1 to 6 Oyster - as I will be coming from Heathrow along with 2 days Oyster with credit of 20 GBP;

OR

B] 4 days OYSTER CARD - Will this cover journey from Heathrow to Pancras / King Cross, where I plan to stay;

OR

C] 7 days TRAVEL CARD - so that I can avail 2for1 Offers;

Thanks in advance:

ravi

First if all you only need ONE Oyster card. No matter what you load on it, it will all be on the same card.

So -- you are in London parts of 5 days- is that right? Arrival day travel from Heathrow in to London and whatever else you want to do the afternoon/evening, three full days, and then travel to St Pancras on day 5?

>>so that I can avail 2for1 Offers<<

You haven't mentioned a "we", only "I". Are you traveling with someone else or on your own? If it is just you, you can't use the 2for1 offers. Whether you are one person or two would make a big difference in what you want so answer that question.

With five days of travel - usually it is best to buy a 7-day zone 1 & 2 travel card (either loaded on an Oyster, or a paper one if there are two of you) plus an extra £3-£5 to cover you from Heathrow into zones 1-2.

Yes / I am travelling with my wife, so it "we" -

Day 1: effective, I arrive in London at 6 pm in evening and nothing can be achieved on that day.

Day 2: Same as planned under heading "Day 1" above; Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Millennium Footbridge St Paul's

Day 3: Same as planned under heading "Day 2" above; Westminster Abbey, The Cabinet War Rooms plus the Big Ben/Parliament/Trafalgar Square

Day 4: Same as planned under heading "Day 3" above; London Eye and the Cruise

Day 5: Leave for Paris in Morning - Eurostar from St Pancras ..

I am too confused about the passes, after reading, and hence, I thought, following:

A] 1 day [Anytime] Zone 1 to 6 Oyster - as I will be coming from Heathrow along with 2 days Oyster with credit of 20 GBP;

OR

B] 4 days OYSTER CARD - Will this cover journey from Heathrow to Pancras / King Cross, where I plan to stay;

WILL be good option.

Regards

Ravi

OK - with two of you what I would do is book a car service like justairports.com from heathrow to your hotel. It will be door to door and only cost about £20 more than the two single tube tickets and you won't have to drag your luggage to the tube station at LHR or from the tube station to your hotel.

Then buy one day zone 1-2 paper travelcards for each day you are in London so you can use the 2for1 offers. You must buy these travelcards at a TRAIN STATION - not a tube station.

Then take a taxi to St Pancras in day five.

I checked on the TFL website it says 6 GBP for the tube ticket till pancras for a single ticket, which means 12 GBP in all / a taxi would cost around 50 GBP. that is why I was thinking of Zone 1 to 6 oyster for day 1 - kindly guide .

Yes a taxi would cost £50 (or more) -- but I did not recommend taking a taxi. I suggested a <u>pre booked</u> car service like justairports.com That would cost you about £35 (£35 for both of you not each, so £23 more than the tube)

BUT if you don't mind the hike to the tube station at Heathrow, the ride on the tube with your luggage, and the walk from the Kings Cross tube station to your hotel, of course you can take the tube. At Heathrow you would have to buy either single tickets or buy two Oyster cards and pay the deposits (which is an extra £5 each)

You cannot buy the paper travelcards that you need for the 2for1's at Heathrow.

,BUT if you don't mind the hike to the tube station at Heathrow, the ride on the tube with your luggage>

Is it really tough / I thought it would be convenient.

I don't know how old or how fit you are, or how much luggage you will have. I can only share my own experiences with you.

I can't take my luggage on the tube and wouldn't dream of it after a long flight, although I did it twenty years ago. This past trip, even less than 10 months since my last sojourn in London, the tube on a daily basis wore me out. Lots of stairs and long passages, of course depending on where you're going. I would never want to do it with luggage.

I noticed a dearth of older people on the tube. If you ask me, it's a young man/woman's game.

But if you're game for it, go for it. I'm not young nor particularly healthy, so there you go. We used justairports.com.

>>Is it really tough<<

Can be - or not

>>I thought it would be convenient<<

Can be - or not

How much luggage do you have? Will it be pouring down with rain? Which terminal are you using? (it can be a fair hike to the tube at Heathrow) Where is your hotel? (iIs it right at the station or across the street, or is it 3 or 4+ blocks away?

I take the tube in sometimes and I take a car service sometimes. But I ALWAYS travel with just one small carry-on sized rolling suitcase.

There is good advice above. Definitely justairports.com from Heathrow to your central London hotel. If you are flying any distance and are jetlagged the driver will be a welcome sight.

Day 1 Tower of London head straight for the Jewel Tower before the crowds get there. Try to be there at opening if you can.

Have you thought about attending the theatre while in London?

Or tea? I can't go there without having tea.

We landing in london at 6/ 20 pm and actually heading for an airport hotel and will then shift to city in morning time / around 9 am to start my vacation.

WHY are you going to an airport hotel first? That is very inconvenient and just adds a lot of hassle. Or do you mean going to an airport hotel for that day/night and going in to London the NEXT morning?



But which ever you meant - Makes no sense.

Used tube first from Heathrow when we had 3 children aged 10, 8 and 6 (younger and silly ) but haven't done that for years - too many steps now for us with luggage . Use a pre booked car .

Land at 6:20 pm, so with plane delays and stuff you could be out the door by 7:30/8:00 feeling a bit gritty

Unless you have a meeting at the Heathrow airport I'd get into a car service and travel through the relatively (!) quiet roadsto a central London hotel. Wake up in your new base makes more sense