I can't figure out whether we should buy the Visitor Travelcard or London Pass. We are 3 adults and a 15 yr old in London for 8 days, thinking of doing day trips to Brighton, Bath and maybe Cambridge. Are these worth it? They seem very expensive.

You won't need the London Pass - it is an overpriced "pass" to many sites that most people avoide anyway. Almost all London Galleries and museums are free and in just a few days you won't waste time at many of the "created" venues (London Dungeon, Mme Tussauds, etc) to make it worthwhile.<BR><BR>Also, don't buy any travel cards before you leave home. The normal 7 day London Transport travelcards are cheaper in London and available at every tube station.<BR><BR>It is possible to squeeze in one or two day trips out of the city. Some of the best are Hampton Court Palace, Windsor, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Salisbury/Stonehenge, Canterbury or York.<BR><BR>All can easily be done independently by train from London - if you leave after 9:30 AM you can get much cheaper day-return (round trip) tickets.<BR><BR>Brighton is an easy day trip - but the main thing of interest is the Brighton Pavillion and the pier. Much of the rest of the town is best avoided. perhaps not the best use of your limited time in London.<BR><BR>You will prpbably find so much to do in London that you will likely only want to leave once or twice, if at all.

You might want to look into the Great British Heritage Pass...I ordered mine through www.raileurope.com. You must check the list of attractions to see what you are interested in and do a total of what the cost would be (for adults and students) to make sure it is worth it...I received mine in less that 24 hours by FEDEX...it covers some attractions that are pricey...ie Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Blenheim Castle, Warwick Castle...so it would be worth the effort to do the exercise They come in one week, 14 day and one month options. We found that we would save over $100 Can each adult buying the one month pass for our 3 week trip because of the particular attractions we were interested in. London pass was not worth it when I calculated out the costs...

Given the age of your child, you might be a little wary of buying your travelcard in London. I planned to do that when travelling with a 14 year old last year but when I checked the London Transport web site last year (http://www.londontransport.co.uk/tfl/)<BR>it said that a child 14-15 years old needed a photo card. From the web site:<BR><BR>How to get a Child Photocard <BR><BR>All you have to do to get a Child Photocard is fill out the application form in the 'Your guide to the Child Photocard' leaflet, available from Tube stations, London Travel Information Centres and local travel ticket outlets. If you do not have a passport or ID Card from a country within the European Economic Area the application form will need to be signed and stamped by a teacher, doctor or other responsible adult (family members excluded): they will also need to sign and stamp the reverse of your photograph. <BR>Then take it to any Tube station ticket office, London Travel Information Centre or local travel ticket outlet. <BR>What to bring <BR><BR>A recent passport sized photograph of yourself <BR>Proof of your age (birth certificate, passport, medical card or ID Card from a country within the European Economic Area) <BR>The completed application form <BR><BR>We were a little put off by this (who would we get to sign the form, etc), so we bought the visitor travelcard instead. The price difference was only about $5 on a 7 day adult zone 1 card.<BR>

Good heavens, what a hassle! Last year, when I took my kids age 13 and 15, we bought daily family travel cards because it worked out cheaper than the weekly cards (as I recall, zones 1 and 2 cost &pound;2.80 per adult and 80p per child, so for two adults and two kids the 7 daily cards came to about &pound;50 total). And no photos or IDs of any type were asked for.

The weekly travelcard that you buy in London at any Underground station is a good deal (I think that the adult card is 19 GBP and change now - you can check the web site), but everyone, adult and child needs a photo (they create a separate ID card, which you carry in a little folder along with your weekly pass.) It's very easy - there are photo booths in most major Underground stations, so for a couple of pounds, you can have a picture taken right there, or, if you have an extra passport photo, just bring it with you. (You don't need a photo for the daily cards.)<BR><BR>Suzy's prices for the daily zone 1 and 2 cards sound lower than what we paid (I think it was 4.10 GBP each for adults), so there might be a special "family" rate as well. (You can probably find all the details on the London Transport website.)<BR><BR>The ID card for the 14 and 15-year-olds is just to keep them from having to prove that they're not adults cheating on the fare, if they happen to be relatively mature-looking. I can't swear to it, but I would bet that the rules that Pat quotes are meant to be interpreted as needing either (1) a passport (from anywhere) or (2) an ID Card from a country within the European Economic Area, since it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't accept a passport as proof of age. (At worst, it means that you have to spend a couple of pounds more, if you have to buy an adult card - check the prices against the Visitor Travelcard, but I'll bet you still come out ahead this way!)

Gwen,<BR><BR>I agree that the London Pass is probably not worth the money<BR><BR>Regarding London Transport Cards...we just got back a couple of weeks ago with our 14 year old son. We purchased DAILY passes on days that we were using the Underground. Some details:<BR><BR>--Purchased only "central zone" passes because every place we were going was in zones 1 and 2. .<BR><BR>--No problems buying a family pass and no IDs were requested. Each family member gets his or her own fare card But IF your 15 year old wants to go off separately from the adults, he or she technically can't use a family pass fare card.<BR><BR>--Daily passes can be used from 9.30 a.m. on. <BR><BR>In my opinion, skip Brighton, if your time is limited. Bath is just over an hour by train from London and is very worthwhile. Cambridge involves a longer train trip. Have you thought about closer-in day trips such as Windsor, Greenwich, Hampton Court, etc.?<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip<BR><BR>David White<BR>http://www.KidsToLondon.com<BR>[email protected]

Gwen,<BR><BR>Here you will hear it straight from the horse's mouth.... do not buy the London Pass it really is not worth it. We purchased the London Pass and ended up not visiting most of the sites that accept it. On the plus side, it was nice to bypass the lines and go straight in to the attraction. We did purchase the Visitor's Travelcard for one week and it was totally worth it. By the end of the week our travelcards were well worn.

Faye, it is indeed "worth it" to have a one-week card to use on the tube and bus. But the visitors travelcard costs more than the 7-day cards that are available at every tube station.<BR><BR>An update/clarification to David's discussion: daily passes can be purchased before 9:30 AM, but they cost more and you can't get any discounts, such as family travelcards. For our group (2 adults, 2 kids) it was cheaper to buy daily family travelcards than 4 7-day cards.<BR>