A cab will be very expensive , you might try a private car shuttle service such as justairports. I used them last month and was very satisfied , even less expensive than HEX and a cab fromPaddington.

I always buy a 7 day, zone 1 and 2 and put it on my Oyster for any trip over 4 days. If you want to take advantage of 2 for 1 offers then you would need a paper travelcard purchased from a rail station, not at a tube station for that day. I forget what the Oyster tops out at per day. but for over 4 days the 7 day card is still a better buy than PayG

So avalon, whats the difference between Oyster & Travelcard? Why get an Oyster at all?

and thanks on the shuttle...yes thats what we plan to do..prebook it on the internet

The oystrer you just touch a screen going on and off the tube. We go to London frequently so I always have some leftover money on mine. And it's easy to keep track of the hard plastic card.We don't use the 2 for 1 offers so a paper card from the trains wouldn't be of any use to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_foot_tunnel This is a fun thing to do - at least I thought it was something different. Not everywhere you can walk underneath a river.

Could you use One-week Travelcard instead of Oyster Card and thus avail the 2-for-1 discounts and still get the no--standing-in-Q advantage?

<i>Actually I am confused about tube tickets versus National Rail tickets & Paper TravelCards Vs Oyster Cards & hoping someone can clear that up for me!! Probably basic stuff in London but I am LOST!</i>

National Rail tickets: What you buy to use the train outside London (or going to/from London from another city). You would need a National Rail ticket to go to Reading. Fares and schedules are at nationalrail.co.uk.

Travelcard: Card valid for use on the Tube and buses over a certain amount of time. With five days of sightseeing in London, the best deal for you is probably a 7-day Travelcard.

Oyster card: Just a plastic, credit card-sized card which holds whatever ticket you've bought or cash you've loaded it with. You can either load it with a Travelcard or pay-as-you-go (PAYG) credit. Think of PAYG like a debit card; you pay X amount per ride, up to a certain amount per day.

Disregarding the 2-for-1 offers, all you would do is buy a 7-day Travelcard, which is linked to your Oyster card.

If you want to use the 2-for-1 discounts, here is the official web site with a FAQ section.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

As I understand it, to get the discount, you must have a *paper* Travelcard purchased from a *rail* station which is valid on that day. The discounts are meant to get UK residents to travel to London via train, hence the rail station/ticket stipulations. So, for instance, you could go to Victoria rail station (or whatever the first rail station is that you're close to) and buy the 7-day paper travelcard from the rail ticket office. You do NOT want the Tube ticket office.

What "no--standing-in-Q advantage" do you mean? Not standing in queues at attractions, or not standing in line to get your Tube tickets? If it's the latter, honestly I've never thought the time spent in line was a huge burden (though I haven't done so with kids). For me, the fear of losing my ticket before I get to London is greater than the annoyance of standing in line.

Thanks a lot jent103!