murph7

My husband and I are traveling to London in 2 weeks with our 14 year old son. We are staying 11 days, but for two of those days will only need transportation to and from Heathrow. With the exception of transport to and from Heathrow and sidetrips to Windsor, Hampton Court, Greenich and possibly Statford-on-Avon, we will only be traveling in Zones 1 and 2. I'm very confused on what travelcards/oyster cards to purchase. In particular, any advice on the following would be welcome:

1. What combination of Travelcards do I purchase? A 7 day and a three day and a 1 day with PAYG add ons? A 7 day and 2 one day 1-2 Zones and 2 Zone 1-6. Is there any distinction made for the fact we're visitng (confused about the travelcard/osyter card distinctions)? Do I have to buy all of my travelcards at once?
2. Transport to/from Heathrow: Should we take the regular tube or the Heathrow Express to and from airport (which apparently you can't use travelcard for) or should we just take a taxi to our hotel in central London? If we take tube, do we use first day of our travelcard (with a PAYG add-on) or just buy a one way 6 zone ticket for that trip?
3. Picturecard? Do I need to get a picturecard for my 14 year old if I buy ticket in London (I'm assuming it's too late to buy it online if I need it to reach the West Coast of the US.) If he does need a picturecard, how do I get one?
4. Hampton Court: If I'm understanding it correctly the Oyster card will only work for part of this trip. We would be interested in taking a short (not 3 hrs!) boat ride back, weather permitting. How would I do that?
5. Windsor and Stratford Trips: Anything special I should know about trying to use travelcards towards part of the ticket fee for these trips?

Thanks so much for your help! I've been trying to figure this out on my own, but I'm just getting more and more confused.

alanRow

1) Greenwich is in zone 2. I would buy a 7 day Zone 1-2 travelcard then put a lot extra on to cover the other days on PAYG as PAYG is capped at 50p less than a daily travelcard - ie the MAXIMUM you pay is 50p less. Also the 3 day travelcard only comes as an all-day option which is more expensive than three 1 day cards.

2) Where's the hotel. If it's near Paddington then possibly. If it isn't and you have a lot of luggage then get a car service. if you don't have a lot of luggage then get the Tube. BUT it all depends on where your hotel is

3) I'll leave it to London folk with children but my understanding is that you can get the picturecard at main tube stations

4) When you go to the station just say you have a "whatever zone" travelcard and pay the extra

5) London travelcards don't cover Windsor or Stratford (except the one in East London which ISN'T the one you want to see) so you'll have to buy separate tickets. I'd also do it on days when your 7 day travelcard isn't in effect otherwise you'll have wasted a day of it.

You might find it cheaper to have your 7 day travelcard start after the day you arrive in London and rely on PAYG for the 1st & last days as it's likely you won't get full value from a Travelcard that day

PalenQ

most Overground train stations are yet to be equipped with Oyster Card readers so at Hampton can't use it - take either Dockland Railway or Jubilee tube to Greenwich as Greenwich train station probably doesn't have an Oyster scanner either. Soon Overground stations will be Oyster equipped but are currently clammed up.

PatrickLondon

If you want to get to Greenwich using the Jubilee Line, change at Canary Wharf for the DLR. You'd need a bus from North Greenwich tube station to get to the historic bit, and it's not the most attractive of trips. Much better to get the DLR to Cutty Sark station, or Island Gardens for the view and a walk through the foot tunnel.

PalenQ

Patrick - i recently walked the Thameside path between North Greenwich Jubilee line tube stop (at the Dome, now called O squared) to historic Greenwich and it's the most ugly walk imaginable - by some Tate sugar factory and lots of industrial detritus.
so take pat's advice and don't think North Greenwich is anywhere near Greenwich the historic town.

twk

I'm going to be travelling from St. James Park to Greenwich, and was planning to do so using DLR. I will have a 7 day travelcard loaded on an Oyster. Is that going to be a problem for the Greenwich trip, and if so, what do I do about that?

PalenQ

no not if using the Oyster equipped DLR - i think you'll need zone three coverage to be fully covered...may be wrong

alanRow

Cutty Sark & Greenwich stations on the DLR are Zone 2/3 so as long as you've a pass for at least one of those zones you are OK, see http://cache.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/lon_con.pdf

Brockbank

I am in London right now. We want to go from Marble Arch to Greenwich tomorrow. I understand we should go to Bank and take the DLR. We have oyster cards loaded with 7 day travel. Can we use that on the DLR?