will be in Scotland for 5 days and London for 6, would like to purchase pass for entry into attractions. Would it be best to purchasegbheritage pass, scotland explorer pass, london pass, etc. for sightseeing history in the UK? I am thinking I want the London pass for sure, but unsure re gbheritage vs scotlandexplorer. Any help appreciated.

No one can possibly answer that without knowing what you would like to see.

Open a spreadsheet, insert the prices for the attractions that interest you, and add them up. (Optional - add some value for the ability to jump the queues to get in.)

If any pass costs less, buy it.

You may want to cross reference the various properties that are available with the Explorer pass and the London pass to the GBH pass. We will be in Scotland for 10 days and are only using the GBH pass. Most of the properties that we are interested in seeing are covered by the GBH pass. These same properties are available using the Explorer pass from Historic Scotland and the Discovery pass from the National Trust for Scotland, but we'll be saving money by only purchasing one pass.

Have fun on your trip!

Anyone have any idea how long it will take to ship GBH passes to the US once purchased online?

I did a recent analysis of costs of GBH passes in UK and those thru RailEurope - RE was actually cheaper on one version - the same on one and a few dollars more on another. But RE charges a $15 mailing fee i believe - i've bought GBH thru BETS (800-441-9413), a RE agent who doesn't charge some of RE's mailing fees. So thru BETS the price is about the same as in UK and you'll have your pass in a few days for sure.

Author: PalQ
Date: 08/07/2005, 10:25 pm
London Pass Data:
Things covered:
Tower of London (L13.50) L=pounds or about $24
St Paul's Cathedral (L7) ($12.50)
Shakespeare's Globe Exhibit & tour (L8.50) ($15)
Windsor Castle (L12) ($22)
Hampton Court (L11.80) $22
Kew Gardens (L8.50) $15
HMS Belfast (L7) $13
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum (L6) $11
Wimbledon Tour Experience (Lup to 13.25) (up to $$24)
Cutty Sark (L4.25) $7.50
Eton College - Windsor (L3.80) $7
Vinopolis-City of Wine L12.50 ('free admission to classic tour') $22.50
Kensington Palace and Orangery L10.80 $19
Royal Mews - buckingham pal (working stables with Queen's horses and royal carriages- L5.50 $9.50
Catamaran Cruises on Thames L4.50 to 9 ($7-16)
London Bicycle Tour L15 $27
Jason's Canal Boat Trip up to L7 $13
Queen's Gallery (Buckingham P - world class collection of Old Masters)- L7.50 $13.50
and many more lesser museums and sights
Free Mobile Phone for 5 days - you pay for calls
Plus discounts of about 15% on Original London Walks, restaurants, theatres, etc.
London Pass Prices (Raileurope)
3 cons days $85
6 cons days $120
child 5-15 $56 and $76; under 5 free
London Pass Prices in UK (free pickup at BTA on Regent or else mailing fee applies
1 day L32 ($58)
2 day ??
3 day L52 ($94) + $9 above RailEurope
6 day L72 ($130) + $10 higher than RE
1 and 2 day passes not available from RailEurope

Whether the pass is good for you or not depends of course on what you want to see - but with steep prices for Tower, Windsor, kensington, Globe theatre, etc. can quickly become viable and then you may see some things you wouldn't normally do, like the Royal Mews stables, Vinopolis, etc. If taking boat or bike tours even more viable.
London Passes can be bought same day it seems at BTA on Regent street
Passes bought thru RailEurope have to be picked up either at BTA or at Eurostar arrivals at Waterloo Station (longer hours than BTA and always open when trains arrive, even on Sunday, except Christmas Day
VS GREAT BRITISH HERITAGE PASS
things this pass covers in duplicate with London Pass
(see above list for entry prices in
Tower of London but only 50% discount
St Paul's Cathedral
Queen's Gallery
Royal Mews stables
Hampton Court
Windsor castle
Globe theatre tour and exhibit
Kensington Palace
no other things under London Pass above are covered by Heritage Pass, which, however, does cover hundreds of expensive entries throughout the UK - Edinburgh Castle, Stonehenge, Shakespeare Properties in Stratford, Warwick Castle and on and on
also special entry lines at Windsor and other mobbed places so you abort the ticket line
Heritage Pass Prices: (RailEurope)
4 days (consecutive) $50
7 days $75
15 days $95
1 month $130
Heritage Pass Prices in UK - pick up at BTA in London or hefty mailing fee applies:
4 day L28 ($50.40)
7 days L39 ($70)
15 days L52 ($94)
1 month L70 $127

Most London museums are free so not a factor with passes though LondonPass does cover entrance to some special exhibits at British Museum and National Gallery.
WHERE TO BUY
In UK BTA Regent st - limited hours may be closed Sundays
IN US RAIL EUROPE (prices about the same as UK but you need not track down the BTA to exchange your voucher, you get the pass which is activated at your first museum - I recommend using BETS (800-441-2387), a RailEurope agent for their competence and the fact that they don't charge some of RailEurope's mailing fees.
Note: I've had several Heritage passes from BETS and used them extensively - went into many more things that i would have if i was paying for each. On sale in UK is also English Trust Heritage passes but though these can be a great deal they do not cover nearly all the places the Great Britain Heritage Pass does - such as many castles and stately houses. If you google The London Pass you'll come up with the official London Pass web site that lists all the benefits and current prices (vs the $ depends of course on exchange rates - i used $1.80 to 1 pound - a favorable rate i think when all the charges are factored in.

PalQ:
Thank you for the info on BETS. Although they stil wanted to FedEx me the passes (for a 9.00 fee) it ended up being about the same rate had I purchased through the visitbritain.com site. I should have my passes by Friday. Appreciate it!
PS-I had already researched which of our intended properties were on the GBHP list -came to the conclusion that it was well worth the price of the pass.

Ani: i believe the GBHeritage Pass is one of the less publicized travel bargains around - of course not for every profile - but only takes a few visits to expensive UK properties to make it pay off. And to avoid ticket lines at places like Windsor Castle!

Perfect-since Windsor castle is our first stop after an overnight flight and car hire to our B&B