I would change little. Just allow yourself a little flexibility and remember to plan your visit to different parts of London or anywhere in the UK for that matter.

You could easily visit the Westminster Abbey and another attraction in that area the same day. Also, you can get 2for1 FOC by using our National Rail system. There is little doubt you will visit one of these stations. Very easy and you can find out at any of our stations. AND all you need is a printer on your computer. If you ask nicely, because you forgot to print the coupon, almost any one our sites honoring this agreement will give it to you anyway.

Curious that new poster "KingHenryVII" refers to "our" all the time to give the impression that he/she lives in the UK, but then makes such glaring errors referring to "the" Westminster Abbey, "National Rail" and "honoring"! Didn't we have a previous outspoken regular who used to claim he lived in the UK but disappeared (got banned?), hmmm - just wondering...

Could I pre-purchase a 1 day PAPER travel card here..(home) or must I buy it in London?...and where?

No you can't buy them in advance from outside england. Once here you can buy them in advance by purchasing them from a manned station and letting them know the dates.

Could I pre-purchase a 1 day PAPER travel card here..(home) or must I buy it in London?...and where?>

If landing in Gatwick Aoirport buy it at the national train station there, serving the three or so separate franchises or companies serving Gatwick Airport - buy a return ticket and you can get 2 for 1 I believe up until you return to the airport.

Not sure if Heathrow Airport's Heathrow Express train station qualifies or not but ask there too.

Well that is my impression of what fliers into Gatwick can do - buy a round-trip train ticket to any London station - not 100% sure of all.

>>Not sure if Heathrow Airport's Heathrow Express train station qualifies or not but ask there too.<<

Tickets bought at LHR do not qualify for the 2for1's

Thanks again everyone. Like Minx, I am not a newbie traveler (though most of my traveling has been in the two American continents) and I've even been to London a couple of times. But all this advice is very helpful.

The Travelcard with 2-for-1 issue can seem complicated to those who are reading different sites, some of which have different nomenclature. (Note, for example, that the London Pass is sold with a "travelcard" option.)

Thanks to all the responses in this thread, I have clarified what different sources mean by "travelcard" and have narrowed down what I would want to do.

Definitely the 7 day zones 1-2 paper Travelcard (for which we will need to go to the railway station with passport photos as soon as we can after arrival) would be the best way to go since it would save us half price on most of the attractions we want to see.

The question now is how to avoid having to pay for a tube ticket in order to get to a railway station to get the travelcard. :)

We're arriving Heathrow at around 6:30 PM (from Madrid via Amsterdam) on a Monday evening and are tentatively planning on the Heathrow express to Paddington and a taxi from Paddington to hotel. (We don't want to wrestle with bags on the underground. We are not--alas-- as young as we once were, nor--thank God--as poor. :) )

According to the Rail Europe website, the "tourism office" at Paddington is open until 10:00 PM on Mondays, but I can't anywhere that tells me how late the ticket offices that dispense Travelcards are open. Does anyone know, or can anyone point me to the site that will tell me?

>><Blue>and are tentatively planning on the Heathrow express to Paddington and a taxi from Paddington to hotel. (We don't want to wrestle with bags on the underground.</Blue><<

VERY bad idea - it will cost you an absolute fortune and you'll still have to schlepp your bags. The HEX and the tube are not your only options. Pre-book a car service like justairports.com or Ray Skinner at http://www.london-transfers.com

It will be door-to-door and cost less than the HEX - and that isn't even counting the expensive cab ride.

Then the next morning you can walk to the nearest train station to buy your travel cards. Where is your hotel?

I priced the Heathrow express against a couple of "door to door" transfers, and it seemed cheaper (as in 50% less) to take the Heathrow Express and a taxi. But I will look at the sites you recommend, thanks.

As for walking to the nearest train station, as I explained in my other answer, my hotel (in Kensington) is a 40 minute walk to the nearest station. So we'll probably take the tube, if we decide against the Heathrow Express and don't pass through Paddington on our way in.

If your hotel really is in Kensington - then the Olympia Station can hardly be an hour's walk. But maybe the hotel really isn't in Kensington??

>><blue>I priced the Heathrow express against a couple of "door to door" transfers, and it seemed cheaper (as in 50% less) to take the Heathrow Express and a taxi.</blue><<

Sorry but that isn't the case - or wouldn't be if you followed our advice. . The HEX alone costs £40 for two. A cab from Paddington will run maybe £15-ish depending on traffic.

Both car services I suggested will run about £35 . . . much less than the HEX/Taxi option. Of course if you are checking a transfer services offered by the hotel - of course they cost more. That is WHY we recommend specific car services.

<i>my hotel (in Kensington) is a 40 minute walk to the nearest station.</i>

Why would you be walking? Whilst Olympia may not be a station where you can get the "correct" Travelcard as it's run by London Overground, the odds are that you can get either a bus or Tube to Victoria and be there within minutes.

Olympia seems still to be listed as a national rail station, as is West Brompton - Overground is a rebadging of a subcontracted service, so it isn't operated directly by TfL, and I think there are also through services on the national rail system, so it should be possible to get national rail tickets from there.

AlanRow: The reason I mentioned walking was because janisj suggested it. We don't want to be using our time and energy walking somewhere only to save a few dollars (or pounds) so we would almost certainly take a taxi or the tube instead.

Janisj: The rate for 2012-13 at Ray Skinner at http://www.london-transfers.com was
£44 ONE WAY. That is £88.00 ($134.75) round trip unless there is a discount (I couldn't find it.) If there are no additional booking fees, that is still better than the price I had before of £53 ($81.15) one way.

The round trip for the HEX is listed £34.00 per person. That is £68.00 ($104.12) for the two of us. You are probably right that the taxi would make it comparable.

In any case, I think I have all the information I need on this subject. I am looking into the airport transfer by private car and I am definitely going with the travelcard to save on admissions to things.

I thank you all for your feedback.

ttt