London - 2-4-1 attraction deals
 

We'll be visiting London in March - 2 adults 2 kids. This is our first trip to London. We are planning to visit many of the sites listed on the offer. I think I'm reading that you need a paper train ticket in hand to purchase the 2-4-1 deals. Is that correct? Where are the 2-4-1 tickets available for purchase? Do we purchase tickets for each site separately? Any advice / tips for using? Thank you!

Do a search on this site for travel card 2 fo1. This can be confusing because of different transport options in London. There was just a discussion not long ago about these. You need to purchase the travel card at a rail station, I.e. Victoria, not at the underground (subway) stations. Print out the coupons before you leave home. Show the travel card and coupon at each tourist spot you will be visiting to get the two for one benefit.

Other fodorites please chime in..........

How old ar ethe kids -- this make a difference.

>> think I'm reading that you need a paper train ticket in hand to purchase the 2-4-1 deals. Is that correct?<<

Yes. You will need paper travelcards or train tickets covering the days you want to use the 2 for 1's. If you are in London for several days -- then what you would buy are a seven day, zone 1-2 paper travel card for each person at a <u>train Station</u>. This would be instead of Oyster cards and would cover the same transport.

>> Where are the 2-4-1 tickets available for purchase? Do we purchase tickets for each site separately?<<

You don not purchase 2for1 tickets. There is no such thing. What you do is print out the vouchers before you leave for England, buy the paper travel cards in London and then at each site/attraction you present the voucher and show the travelcard at the site's ticket office. You would pay for one entrance but it admits two people.

But if the children are young -- then they get in cheaper anyway and either get free or reduced cost transport so you only need to do the 2for1's for teenagers and adults.

More info on 2 for 1 travelcards, courtesy of T.A.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel...p.By.Step.html

What we do...

Print out a voucher for every attraction that we might even have a very slight chance of visiting...just to be safe...unless, of course, you have easy access to a printer at your hotel.

As stated you use the voucher (like coupons in the US) at the attraction to get two people in for the price of one...they are not printed tickets.

ssander

Look at each attraction and compare the cost of two adults with the family ticket. Oftentimes there isn't much difference so the 2for1 wouldn't save much money.

Thank you for the responses. I will check prices at each attraction before 2 for 1 to see if we save anything using the promotion.

We are staying at Marriott County Hall and planning to visit Tower of London, Westminster Abbey. Going to use hoho and river cruise to Tower of London. Was advised to buy train tickets from Queenstown Road to Vauxhall and present with 2-4-1 vouchers. The train ticket is very inexpensive and doesn't have to be used if I understood correctly. Great deal if this is correct.

Hoho plus a boat is a silly way to get to the Tower. Would take forever and you want to get there just before opening time to avoid the queues. That would be impossible using the hoho.

The hoho's are NOT transport. Just take the tube.

You are staying practically across the road from Waterloo station so you can buy paper travel cards/tix there.

The boat is a great way to go from Westminster to the Tower -- we've done it several times -- but ONLY if you want to enjoy the Thames cruise, not as a means of getting from point A to Point B.

Otherwise take the tube.

ssander

<<I will check prices at each attraction before 2 for 1 to see if we save anything using the promotion.>>

That is a weird statement. The 2 for 1 means you get TWO entries for the price of ONE. That is a savings of 50%. You won't beat that by paying the rack rate.

And even a cursory review of the "family" tickets (where available, e.g., the Tower, HCP) will show you that the 2for1 offers used for (1) you and spouse and (2) kid1 and kid2, beat the family tickets by a LOT.

Don't get me wrong - the boat is fine -- just not to get TO the Tower. After visiting the Tower one can always jump on one of the boats back up river.

I guess everyone is different but we enjoyed the river cruise to the tower and back to Westminster on a previous trip and plan to do it again in April. River cruise included in the HOHO ticket if you decide to do that but can be purchased separately if not.

JanisJ - your suggestion is a good one that would save time. Instead of roundtrip on river we may get there via Waterloo and just cruise back. Didn't realize it was such a quick and inexpensive route!

Don't do a H-o-H-o to get a boat trip - Just get on a boat.

The H-o-H-o's are expensive but "Hey, they give you a boat trip" . . . which means you are spending hours sitting on a slow bus to get a 'free' river trip" Bad idea IMO/IME.

We've never taken a HOHO anywhere, so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt...but when we've seen them in London (or in many other cities as well), they often seem to be moving along at a snail's pace in the traffic.

...and I don't know how often you have to wait for the next one when you "HOff" and are ready to "HOn"

From the ground, it seems like it's not a very efficient use of time.

Besides, with a travel card (or even a single ticket), you can see a lot of London from the upper deck of the No. 11 bus (as well as others):

http://www.sanderhome.com/London-Bus-11-Tour.pdf

ssander

We too were thinking of getting the 2 for 1 tickets for St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London and Westminster Abbey but needed help with the logistics. We are staying near Russell Square/Holborn tube stations and wondering how to best get the paper ticket from a train station needed and then use the tube to get nearer the sights...any thoughts??

My friend was also telling me that with the 2 for 1 tickets you wait in a long line to buy the tickets and may need to come back as it is timed entry. Going in late April so not sure of how crowded these sights are at that time.

For Russell Square/Holborn the nearest place to get a national rail ticket would be Euston or Kings Cross.

Does anywhere impose <i>separate</i> entrance conditions for people using the 2for1 vouchers on their tickets? Long lines and timed entry may well apply in any very popular attraction (I'm guessing your friend may have been referring to the Tower, which does get mobbed as the day wears on, or maybe St Paul's, but then those conditions apply to anybody surely?)

Very few sites in London have timed tickets. Mainly the Eye and major exhibitions in various galleries and museums.

To miss the long queues at the Tower you go there just before opening time.

At St. Paul's the queue is mostly the security screening and everyone has to pass through that. At the Abbey there can be a queue but it ebbs and flows during the day. Going there early helps.

<<<Was advised to buy train tickets from Queenstown Road to Vauxhall and present with 2-4-1 vouchers. The train ticket is very inexpensive and doesn't have to be used if I understood correctly. Great deal if this is correct.>>>

This is a loophole that many people have used successfully but I understand that some attractions are clamping down on this and that the small print has been changed.

The original idea behind the 2-for-1 vouchers was to encourage people to use the train to travel - and therefore that the rail ticket used with the voucher must therefore be for a valid trip to that tourist attraction. So people from elsewhere in the UK who use the train to get to London can show their return (round trip) tickets to get the discount.

By extension this gives a loophole that includes travelcards for London transport IF when they're bought at a National Rail station - the idea being that tourists buy those on arrival in London via train...

BUT I've seen a couple of posts - possibly on another site - that as Queenstown to Vauxhall Rd isn't an appropriate journey to get to the Tower of London (for example), the vouchers obtained via this ultra-cheap loophole are sometimes being rejected. So just a word of warning!