Could you experienced travellers or locals please tell me if this sounds right. My family and I (4 people) will be arriving at Heathrow to stay one week in London. I plan on getting a 7 day travelcard zone 1 & 2(with an add on for the airport). We will be taking the tube from Heathrow to our hotel. On our first day I would like to take the "Big Bus Tour" so we can get our bearings of the city above ground. We will be doing the major attractions of London, we are staying in Kensington and seeing 3 shows.Any advice?

1) Be sure to get the Travelcards and cash for extensions loaded on Oyster Cards.

2) If you'd rather not shell out $120 for the benefit of a Big Bus commentary that you may or may not be able to understand, you can get from sight to sight on TfL buses for free (since you have TCs). Here are two maps to facilitate your tour:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/cen_bus.pdf

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf

And a tour guide: http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default...9781562519551B
- or -
eBay 230092844255

Thanks Robespierre,but I really don't understand what you mean by loading the travelcards and cash on the Oyster card, pls. excuse my ignorance and explain.
It is still up in the air whether we will shell out the $120 for the Big Bus.
Thanks for the links it might help me change my mind.
Heyjude

An Oyster Card is a plastic card containing a stored-value payment device. If you don't buy your Travelcard on an Oyster, you have to pay the cash price for the airport extensions from Zone 6 to Zone 2 (£4 instead of the £1 Oyster Fare). More on Oyster:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tick...er/general.asp

Thank you Robespierre I think I understand, finally.