hello everyone,

my husband & i are taking our first trip to europe 2 weeks from today - we leave for london 9/19, arrive 9/20 & come home 9/25 - i'm so excited i can't stand it =). we've got pretty much all our plans figured out but i'm still trying to figure out part of the transportation aspect. all the attractions we're going to are in central london so we'll be traveling within london all five days & the tickets are all walk up except for the play at the globe theatre so i figure we'll do a combination of tube, bus & walking depending on our mood. we're flying in & out of gatwick & i read on the boards that southern trains are more affordable than gatwick express so i checked their website & it looks like it should cost about $70 total for our 2 round trip tickets. from what i've read on the boards & on the london tube website, it sounds like the oyster card is more affordable than the travelcard because you get a cheaper price per ride & there's a daily maximum depending on whether you start riding before or after 9:30 a.m. but i think i saw that each one of them are purchased in "x" amount of days increments & i'm a little confused. i'm thinking if i budget $200 total that's $70 for the southern tickets which leaves $130/$65 per person for travel around london - does that sound like enough or should i adjust this amount?

also, the southern train arrives at victoria station & our hotel - hyde park rooms hotel(48 pounds double room shared bath per night with full breakfast included - good reviews on tripadvisor & the owner carol sounds very nice so i have high hopes)is right around the corner from picadilly station - what's the best way to get from victoria to picadilly? i don't really want to walk - although i'm looking forward to walking around the city, it looks on our map like it would be a little bit of a hike with our luggage & i know cabs are expensive & slow in central london so i'd prefer to take the tube if there's one that goes between the two stations or a bus.

thanks =)

This is what we did recently:
Arrived at Gatwick Airport.
Went to the ticket booth.
Purchased Southern tickets to Clapham Junction.
Purchased 7-Day TravelCards (paper), for Zone 1-2.

With this combination, you can ride the Southern train to Victoria, because the 7-Day TravelCard kicks in after Clapham Junction. So far as I understand, you can ride trains in Zones 1 and 2, as well as the tubes and buses.

You will be using your TravelCard on 6 separate days, and the 7-day option pays off after 4 days. I doubt you will get any cheaper option. You could get the 7-Day TravelCard on an Oyster, but I can't see any reason why that would be useful in your case.

With the 7-Day TravelCard, you can get two for one deals on various attractions as well (I can't find the link now, but it's mentioned on this forum elsewhere).

how much will it cost for a 7-day travelcard? i'm looking on the tfl website & it talks about the travelcards but i can't find a price for them.

thanks =)

23.20 pounds for a 7-day, Zone 1 and 2 TravelCard.

oh, that's great - that means it should be about $100 total for the two travelcards & $70 for the two southern tickets so about $170 total - i was thinking $150 but was worried that wasn't enough. i'm glad to hear the total should be closer to $150 than $200 - not that $50 is a huge difference, especially with all the costs involved for an overseas trip but when it takes $2 to equal 1 pound every little bit helps.

thanks again =)

With a 7 day travelcard , loaded on an Oyster, you get lots of 2 for 1 entry fees, keep your dated receipt, even though hardly anyone will ask for it.

That's why I liked the 7-Day paper TravelCards - no need for a receipt if you want to use the 2for1 deals and no need for a deposit on the Oyster. The dates are stamped on the 7-Day paper TravelCard itself.

The cost of the two options is the same, except for the Oyster deposit.

You are misinformed. When you load a 7-day Travelcard on a new Oyster card, the deposit is waived - so the cost is <i>exactly</i> the same as paper.

A good reason to NOT get a paper Travelcard is that you have to pay full cash fares (instead of the vastly more economical Oyster fares) for any extensions. Example:

LHR to Zone 2
Oyster (off-peak) &pound;1
Oyster (on-peak) &pound;1.80
Cash &pound;3

You can't buy paper travel cards at tube stations anymore and the &pound;3 deposit has been waived for some time.

The Hyde Park Rooms Hotel is nowhere near Piccadilly - it's a five-minute walk from <u>Paddington</u> Station.

The absolute cheapest way to get there from Gatwick is by taking Southern Railways to London Bridge (buy your Oyster cards there), then the Tube to Paddington (change at Baker Street). Here's the cost for two:

Train (open return) &pound;32
Travelcard &pound;46.40
Total &pound;78.40 ~ $158

We bought the paper cards just two weeks ago (at Gatwick Airport).

But the extension policy definitely favors Oysters, so I revoke my recommendation of paper .

I'm going to London in December for the 1st time and after reading this thread, I'm having some trouble understanding the transport system in London and the cards used.

I'll be in London only 4 days, I'm flying into LHR but I'm still deciding on hotel but most likely will be in the Mayfair/Soho area.
1. What will be the best travel card to purchase?
2. Is there a shuttle from LHR into the city?
3. How much would a cab be into Mayfair/Soho zone?
4. Is there a website where I can read more details on the Oyster or Travelcard?

Thanks for the advice!

1. Depends on what you mean by 4 days - ie what time are you arriving, what time are you leaving. Also what dates in December

2. See the &quot;to and from our airport&quot; section on the Heathrow Airport website

3. If you have to ask, you can't afford it - VERY expensive. For a cheaper option do a search for &quot;car service&quot;

4. Plenty -
www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm
www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/oystercard.htm

or do a search on these forums for Oyster or travelcard

alanRow, thank you for the info.

I'm arriving at LHR 7am Dec. 13, leaving Dec. 17 to prague at 5pm.

As for the cab fare, I will pay up to $50 myself and it's two of us riding. That's why I asked because we wouldn't pay more than $100.

You recommend the car service, is it cheaper than a cab?

Expect anything from $100 upwards depending on traffic

Car service will probably be cheaper. If you do a search there are some recommendations around

Versus, I'm a little confused if you are talking pounds or dollars, but two people can get a private car service from Heathrow to Mayfair for just over 25 pounds ($50) for the two of you.
Check www.justairports.com but plan to pay in cash for considerable savings compared to a credit card.
Forget a regular taxi from Heathrow unless you have excess money to throw away.

So far as I can understand, the original poster is landing at Gatwick. Generally car services from Gatwick are not necessary, given you can so easily take the train to Victoria. From Victoria, you can either splurge for a taxi, or take the tube to get to your hotel.

To figure out the tube route, look at
http://www.thetube.com . I'd say from Victoria, take the Circle or District line to Paddington Station and walk to your hotel.

There are yet more options, more trains, and more ways to do this, but the above will work.

You will be in London for part of five days, and since you arrive early Thursday and leave late Monday, you will probably need at least some transport around town on all 5 days.

In any case you should acquire an Oyster Card, because otherwise you have to pay outrageous cash fares. You can load an Oyster with either of two things: a 7-day Travelcard, or cash for Pay-As-You-Go fares. PAYG is &quot;capped&quot; at &pound;6.10 per day if you travel on the Tube before 9:30 AM on a weekday, or &pound;4.60 if it's later or by bus. PAYG Oysters require a &pound;3 deposit which will be refunded with some hassle.

If you choose to ride the Tube back and forth to Heathrow, the ride will cost you &pound;3.50 between 7AM and 7PM, or &pound;2 outside those hours if you PAYG, or &pound;1.80/&pound;1.00 on the Travelcard.

So do the math. Add up what you think you will spend each day and compare it to the &pound;23.20 cost of the Travelcard.

thanks very much everyone for all the help.

i think we're going to buy the 7-day travelcard &amp; load it on an oyster card. i've read about the 2-for-1 discounts available but where can i find more information on that?

i'm glad to see we can easily connect from victoria station to paddington station via the circle line, i think it will be the quickest &amp; most convenient way to get to our hotel which is exactly what we're going to want since we'll almost certainly have jet lag. i don't know where i got piccadilly circus from - i think i'm overloading my poor brain trying to plan &amp; double-check everything to death the closer we get to the trip, which is exactly what my husband(&amp; myself actually although i hate to admit it) knew would happen but oh well, that's just my nature =).

Twofers: www.daysoutguide.co.uk

If you go into Victoria, the easiest ride to your hotel is Bus #36 or #436 to Sussex Gardens. Taking the Tube involves going down into the ground and climbing out again. The ride takes 18 minutes by either Bus or Tube. Here is where you will land:

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use..._46E18C002.pdf

Two Open Return tickets from Gatwick to Victoria will cost &pound;35.60 (vs. &pound;32 to London Bridge) on Southern.