teach905

e will be staying in a flat in Battersea SW11 3RF for those of you who Know London better than me.

With free accomodations in the city, we will be taking day trips.
Hampton Court and Kew Gardens,
Windsor Castle,
Portsmouth are the day trips we have in mind.

I know we will be in Portsmouth earlier in our trip, but the luggage situation just made us decide to head on to Bath for the day and do Portsmouth as a day trip from London. DH is into that stuff and I want him to have an entire day in Portsmouth if he wants. I didn't want to do that in a rush. With the train prices we got to Bath from there, that just made better sense for us.

In the city we want to see the Cabinet War rooms and the war Museum and the Old synagogue.

Other than that, we will maybe be doing the free museums, walking. We have friends in the Golda's Green. I also want to see the old synagogue.

What train card should I buy for travel outside London? Should I get the 7 day oyster card?


Which museum pass is the best to get considering the must see sites. Any help in this will be appreciated.

janisj

only time for a quick comment right now -- Oyster does not cover Hampton Court, Portsmouth or Windsor. You are spending so much time outside of London - I'd just use PAYG on the oysters. (A paper travel card gets you some 2 for 1 discounts - but you really won't have much use for most of those offers and some like HCP you'll have a paper ticket anyway

You won't need a train pass. And there is no "museum Pass" since most of the museums are free, There is a London Pass - but you don't want that.

afterall

Buy your train tix for journeys outside London as far in advance as possible - that's the way to get the best deal. Standard just rock up fares are seriously expensive!! I wouldn't bother with a train card (not even sure there is one). And check out the coaches before plumping for the train - they are usually much cheaper. London departures go from Victoria Coach Stn which is a short walk from Victoria train main line which is only one stop from Battersea Park or two from Clapham Junction if it's that part of SW11 you'll be staying in. Hope it is (it's my old stomping ground) as you'll find there are lots of good eateries around Northcote Road and Lavender Hill.

www.nationalexpress.com

Oyster Card gets my vote every time. Remember, you can reclaim unspent credit at no charge before leaving London so why not just load it up and forget about it.

afterall

PS - It's Golders Green (and no "the").

PatrickLondon

Fares to Windsor, Hampton Court and Kew won't be affected by the need to book in advance, as they're within the commuter belt. Portsmouth will be a different matter - check on www.nationalrail.co.uk to see what sort of difference advance booking makes.

You'll be in a slightly awkward position for public transport, since the postcode you quote is in the riverside part of Battersea and a good 10-15 minutes' walk from Clapham Junction railway station (easier to get to Portsmouth, indeed all the day trip destinations you've mentioned, from there, than from anywhere else). You'll be just off Lombard Road on this map of local bus routes:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...port-13607.pdf

When you say the "old synagogue" I'm guessing you mean Bevis Marks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevis_Marks_Synagogue
http://www.bevismarks.org.uk/

PatrickLondon

And just to confuse the issue a bit, you won't be able to use Oyster PAYG on the lines out of Clapham Junction that you're most likely to use (to Victoria and Waterloo) - these are run by national rail companies who haven't yet installed the necessary equipment.

It might make more sense to get 7-day paper travelcards for zones 1 and 2 at Clapham Junction station: they'll cover all the travel you're likely to make within London (on both TfL and national rail) and give you some reduction on the total cost of trips to Windsor, Hampton Court and Kew.

Theoretically, to mkae use of Oyster, you could confine yourself to the line from Clapham Junction to connect with the tube at West Brompton, but that would be a time-consuming and roundabout way to start trips into central London. For the places you've mentioned, you'd be better off going to Waterloo on the national rail services (about 10 minutes from Clapham Junction).

teach905

Patrick London and janisj and everyone else::

Patrick, Since you suggested the Travel Card, I also looked at the London Pass.

janisj: Things we are interested in doing:

Churchill War Rooms
Hampton Court
Windsor Palace
Apsley House
Thames River cruise
Kew Gardens
HMS Belfast
Britain at War
Shakespeare's Globe

You are all right. We will be using the Clapham Junction train station, but there is a bus stop right outside of the apt.

I am thinking about getting the LondonPass for 6 days. Should I get the Travel Card with it?

Does that make sense?

I know when we got the museum pass in Paris, we did so many more things because they were available and pre-paid. As we walked past things we went in and took real advantage of the cards. Since we've been to London before, these are things we haven't yet done or might like to do again.

Thanks for all of your help.