London transport -- what ticket do I need?
 

We (two adults) will be in London for one day, stopping over on our way from the US to Africa. We're staying at the Sheraton Heathrow hotel. We want to go into central London for lunch and a little sightseeing. What's the best option for us? One-day travel cards seem like a good idea, but from the London Transport web site I can't tell exactly what sort to get or how much it costs.

Oops, I pressed "post" too quickly.

To continue, the London transport site is very helpful at planning our route, but I'm a bit confused about which tickets are good on which type of transport, and from where.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thank you,
Celia

it depends on the day of week and time of day (on weekdays, off peak is cheaper, while weekends are "off peak" all day)

But basically - an off-peak 1-day, zone 1-6, travelcard costs £7.

Are you coming back to London on the way back...if so you might consider a PAYG Oyster card and allow whatever transportation you use determine how much it costs...for the one day stay, no I wouldn't go the oyster card direction but more than one day, it might be worth it.

As janisj says, a zone 1-6 off-peak (after 09:30 on weekdays and anytime on weekends) travelcard costs £7. If you head for London before 09:30 on a weekday, you'll need a zone 1-6 peak travelcard which costs £13.80.

Thank you! We'll be there on a Saturday, and won't be returning through London, so the off-peak one-day travel card will be fine.

Here's the route that London Transport shows me:

**********
Sheraton Heathrow Hotel
Walk to Colnbrook By-Pass


Bus
Colnbrook By-Pass Stop: C
Take the Route Bus U3 towards Heathrow Airport Central

Walk
Heathrow Airport Central
Walk to Heathrow Central (1-2-3)
HEATHROW TERMINALS 1-2-3 STATION: Travelcards and Freedom Passes are not accepted on Heathrow Connect or Heathrow Express services to or from this station. Journeys between Terminals 1-2-3 and Terminals 4,on Heathrow Connect and on Heathrow Express to or from Heathrow Terminal 5 are free of charge at all times.

Rail
11:04 Heathrow Central (1-2-3) Rail Station
Take the Heathrow Express towards Paddington National Rail Stn


Walk
Paddington National Rail Stn
Walk to Paddington


Tube
Paddington Underground Station
Take the Circle Line towards High Street Kensington


Blackfriars Underground Station
**********


So this is all pretty clear to me except the part about Travelcards not being accepted on the part of the journey from Heathrow Central. Do I buy a different ticket for that, or what?

The tfl journey planner isn't always the sharpest knife in the box. It was developed under the stewardship of Ken Livingstone (just 23 dsays left!!!!!). Doubtless under the wise direction of Boris the Good it'll acquire a bit of common sense.


You can't use travelcards on the Heathrow Connect or Heathrow Express. So you get the tube from Heathrow. Tell the tfl planner you only want the tube, and if it doesn't do as it's told tell it Boris will make it write out 500 lines of the Iliad.

What sightseeing are you actually planning to do & what happens between High St Ken & Blackfriars ? With just one day I'd suggest just getting the open top hop on hop off tourist bus, for an overview of the major sights, getting off anywhere you like the look of. Remember you won't see any sights from the tube.

Boris? Common sense? Does not compute.

Thanks, Flanner! Asking for just bus and tube I get a much more straightforward route.

Catherine, we've been to London several times, so we don't plan to do any specific sightseeing this time. We're just going to have lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub, and maybe take an interesting bus route or two before it's time to go back to Heathrow for our evening flight.

Thank you all for the help!

(Flanner, I wish I understood the references in your satire. It's good, though, even with an imperfect understanding.)

US translation: Ken Livingston is the current Mayor of London (not Lord Mayor - that is a whole different thing) - about as left wing as any main-stream politician ever. "Boris the Good" is Boris Johnson - the Tory candidate running to unseat "Red Ken". Both have - shall we say, "quirks" :)

It is a REALLY fun campaign to watch . . . . .