My family and I are visiting London for the first time. My husband and I are going with our 4 year old and one year old. I've been doing extensive research to prepare ourselves. We're staying at LeMeridien on Picadilly. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on some of the questions I have. Should I purchase any tickets for some of the popular attractions in advance (before we get to London)? My family's interested in going to the London Eye, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and all the other usual tourists spots. We'll be there for five days, but I anticipate spending only 3 of those days sightseeing because the rest of the two days will be spent dealing with arriving and departing hassles to and from London. Should I purchase a travel card in advance or should I just purchase them at the airport? Lastly, when I purchase a paper travelcard at a railway station some say that I can take advantage of 2-1 deals. Is the London Eye one of them? Thanks!

For places that accept 2-for-1, you can search here:
http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/attrac...or1london.aspx
I'm pretty sure Tower of London is one of them, so you don't want to pre-purchase because there's no 2-for-1 discount for advance ticket sales.

When are you going? The interior (State Rooms) of Buckingham Palace is open for visit during summer only: 26 July - 30 September 2009

All of the 2 for 1 attractions are listed on the website

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

The list is in alphabetical order - unfortunately all sites w/ "The" in their names are listed under 'T' so you really have to go through all the many pages. You cannot pre-buy tix for any attractions where you plan on using 2for1.

BTW - you definitely don't want to pre-book the Eye since it is very weather-dependent. You don't want to buy tix until you know if you'll be able to see anything.

And -- IF you do want to use 2for1's, you can't pre-purchase your travel card since you'd need to buy them at a London train station.

Oh - yk posted while I was checking out the days out lists . . .

Foodmaniac - advertising isn't allowed here (and the site you linked to is pathetic anyway)

The Tower is available for the 2for1 deals, so is the Cabinet War Rooms exhibit. The Eye is not.

And hitting "all" the usual tourist spots in London in three days = not gonna happen. It really can't be done by backpacking twentysomethings, it's completely impossible for a mom and dad with two miniatures.