Hi Fodor friends,

My husband and I are planning 5 days in London the first week in September. I was looking into advance purchase tickets for Buckingham Palace and came across London Pass. We are definitely going to the Palace, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, St. Pauls Cathedral, Kensington Palace. Has anybody purchased this pass and do you feel it was a good choice?

Thanks!

The pass - No

The travel option - NO NO NO NO NO

Thanks! Do you recommend any particular site to purchase the Buckingham Palace passes in advance?

http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/de...icle&ID=30 - it's the one linked to from http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/de...icle&ID=30

For other things try www.2for1entry.co.uk and read up on www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm

I'll try that again

http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/de...icle&ID=30 - it's the one linked to from www.royal.gov.uk which the offical website for all things Royal (except conspiracy theories about lizard people and Di killing)

For other things try www.2for1entry.co.uk and read up on www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm

I was in London recently in August and checked palace ticket lines and it seemed there is little need to reserve ahead - just show up and the wait is minimal - i asked the ticket booth and they confirmed that.

Thanks for the info!

I was just in London and I didn't get the pass, since a lot of the sights (in particular the museums) have no admission for the permanent collections, which is what you usually want to see as a visitor. I don't think Westminster Abbey is included in the pass either.

Try adding up the admission and comparing with the price of the pass. Perhaps if you squish more of the sights into a two-day period, it might be worth it to get a pass with fewer days.

For some attractions like the Tower of London, you can bypass the line without the London pass by pre-buying tickets at many souvenir shops, like the one right under the Tower Hill subway station. Kensington Palace also has joint admission with one of the other sights (don't remember which).

The value of the London Pass is not just sights but a panoply of activities it does cover - bike tours, canal boat tours, Thames boats, etc. Many tourists do not do all these things but coverage with the pass of these pricey things is one positive thing about it.

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But just for the sites you mention no pass for you.

If you decide a pass is good for you i think they could well be cheaper in US thru RailEurope due to the late surge of the Pound vs Dollar - check prices on the official London site and in US i'd advise calling BETS (800-441-2387) and check prices or www.raileurope.com but they would add a hefty mailing fee for orders uner $399 which BETS would not. Could be quite a savings i suspect by buying in US currently but not sure so check both sources.

A year ago i would have suggested a Great British Heritage pass for you as it would have covered St Pauls, Kensington and half off Tower and several other London museums that do charge, like Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace and Queen's art collection there but Queenie has taken royal properties out of the Heritage pass so now Windsor Castle, Kensington and Tower no longer covered.

The London Pass overloads one with all the many sites it covers - but that is really just this side of a scam since you'd need to hit all the covered places on consecutive days. So in order to get to more than just a handfull of alllllll those sites, you'd need to buy the very expensive 7-day version. The shorter ones would mean runing from place to place to try to get your money's worth.

As for Buckingham Palace, since you are in London such a short time I <u>would</u> pre-order tickets. They are timed and to avoid having to wait around for an opening you could buy tix for the exact day/time that fits best in your schedule.

If you were in London for 2 weeks - then you could wait until you are in town to buy. But w/ just 5 days and one of those likely jet lagged, and one a travel day - book ahead . . . .

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The Royal Collection - The State Rooms, &lt;br&gt;Buckingham PalaceTickets may be purchased from the Ticket Office at the Visitor Entrance, Buckingham Palace Road, open 09:15-17:00, 14 July to 25 September. ...
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/de...icle&amp;ID=30

Thanks everybody. I have booked my tour for Buckingham Palace and will take care of the others on my own. I decided the length of our stay and my desire to do some of the London Walks tours both in and out of the city made the London Pass somewhat restrictive because of the consecutive day use requirement. Thanks to all, I'm really excited! I've been looking forward to this trip since I was a little girl.

Have a great trip - London won't disappoint . . . .