I am having trouble with figureing out if we need to get an oyster card or a travelcard for our trip. We will be in London for 6 days. We are mainly staying in the central london area, except for visiting salisbury and hampton court. We will be arriving at Gatwick and flying out from heathrow. Any suggestions as to the most cost effective way to travel? I also printed of some 2for1 vouchers from www.london2for1.co.uk that are good if you show your train ticket at the venue. But will these still work with a travelcard or oyster? Thanks so much for any advice.

Oyster cards also have a list of 2 for 1 or discount offers available. We always but a 7 day,zone 1-2 , travelcard..now an oyster..if we are in London for more than 5 days.If yu are planning on take the tube to and from the airport someone else will have to help you, we take the train or the Express.

This website: http://www.londontravelpass.com/, explains prices and time limits for buying/ordering a travel card. According to that site, you can also use the Travel Card to travel to Heathrow. Also, for getting into London from Gatwick, visit this site to see prices for train tickets (I buy the Express Class Return ticket): http://www.gatwickexpress.co.uk/. Hope this is helpful.

My family has just returned from London.
I think the most thought, before the trip, went into what kind of travel card to buy. I took a suggestion from the forum which said to go, ask, and make the decision on the spot.
In the end we got a seven day travel card "loaded" on an Oyster card. It cost 22.20. Kids under 17 can get a one day pass for 1 Pound. We bought this at the first tube station we got to in the morning (it took no time). If you travel outside of zones 1+2 you have to add money. They'll let you know how much at the station when you can't go through automatically.

Not to hijack the thread, but welcome back miki. Hope you will post a trip report about your time in London.

Re children & London public transport

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

You can get from Gatwick to Victoria for £9 on Southern Railway. Other carriers serve five other stations. Where are you staying?

You can buy a Travelcard and load it onto an Oyster card. I have posted an explanation here:

http://tinyurl.com/nnpya

WARNING! londontravelpass.com sells more Travelcard than you will ever need. They peddle 6-zone passes when a 2-zone is plenty.

They get &pound;6.30, &pound;18.90, or &pound;41 for a 1-, 3-, or 7-day pass. What you <u>should</u> pay is &pound;4.40, &pound;13.20, or &pound;22.20, plus extensions or single fares to Heathrow for &pound;1 to &pound;3.50 (depending on when you travel).

If you don't have to commute from Hounslow, there's <i>absolutely</i> no reason to buy so much transport.

After reading this post, can we purchase a 7 day travelcard, put on an oyster card, at Heathrow when we arrive?

Buy one at the first tube station you come to.

yes - you can get your oysters at LHR

My daughter is 10, and apparently can travel free on non-peak hours during the weekday with me. I plan on buying a 7 day, zone 1-2 travelcard loaded on an Oyster Card.

However, we probably will take our first tube ride of the day prior to 9:30 a.m. for 4 days (Mon - Thurs). Should I get my daughter a Child Oyster Photocard and load a certain amount of money on there to cover these 4 rides, or should I just purchase individual tickets?

Since the rest of the day would be free, I'm not sure if there's any cost advantage to the photocard vs. individual tickets.

I think for the child photocard, you have to arrange for it 4 weeks in advance. If you are only doing that one trip during peak hours, it might not be such a bad thing to buy one fare for her.

Do your peak-hour trips <u>have</u> to be on the Tube? Children ride free on buses regardless of time of day.

The zone 1-2 child Oyster Tube peak fare is &pound;1.00, and a cash single fare is &pound;1.50, so you would save &pound;2 with a child Oyster photocard. But the card costs &pound;5, so for four trips, single fares are cheaper.