Group day tickets

Q: Thank you for your site with friendly suggestions. As a teacher, I will visit London with a group of 30 students and I was surprised by the expensive tickets for tube.

We are staying 4 days. Can you tell me more about Group Day Tickets (for groups of 10 or more). Is it a good idea ? Can we buy in advance ?

Thanks

Location Belgique

A: Yes, group day tickets seem to be good value, especially if you intend travelling on the tube more than once a day.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/oneand3daytickets/2906.aspx

I'm not sure you can buy them in advance but you should at least be able to buy them once you get to London, from any tube station.

Oyster cards from overseas

Q: The Oyster pass for the trains/buses. Can you buy one in London or can you only buy online? Online is hard for me as they want a UK address and I don't have one.

Location New Zealand

A: You can buy an oyster card for immediate use from any tube station when you arrive in London.

Getting into London for the bus tour

Q: Hello... First off, I VERY much enjoy and appreciate your excellent web site. Not so the sites for National Express bus or British Rail. On 10 March I would like to come to London from the vicinity of Fordingbridge, Hampshire, and spend a day taking your wonderful bus tour. To take the bus would occupy half the day getting there and returning. Apparently there are not really any express busses. I can get nothing but errors from the British Rail web site. Any advice? Which station should I aim for, in London, by train or bus, to be closest to a stop on your tour? Waterloo, perhaps? What would you do about this situation? Thank you VERY much for any help with vexing problem. I have been to England several times but have not visited London before.

Location USA

A: I'm not very familiar with the area where you will be staying but from google maps, it appears you might be near Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst.

If so, then I believe you could get a train into Waterloo, which would be fine for joining the bus tour.

From Waterloo, you could actually walk to the London Eye - and begin the bus tour by joining the number 12 at Westminster.

the RV1

Q: Hello and thank you for designing a low cost bus route. I do have a shortened time frame and wondered if the bus RV1 operated in both directions. In other words, can I board RV1 at Covert Garden and take it to Tower of London? Or does it only operate the other way? Thank you very much!

Location USA

A: Yes, it does. You will usually find the bus stops for each direction more or less opposite each other (unless they go down one way streets.)

This map shows the route of the RV1 bus.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/toweroflondon-2261.pdf

The London Pass

Q: I've read about the London Pass, online. It's 117 euros with travel (tube regions 1-6)for 6 days. Would this be somehthing worth purchasing? I don't know how much a tube trip costs... so.. :-) Thanks! Location missouri, usa

A: Understanding London's public transport fare structure would probably be considered a degree level course in some countries. There are loads of different types of tickets, different zones, different times of travel and so on.

The easiest thing to do is to consider where you are likely to travel to, what time of day and how many trips you are going to do per day. If you are only going to be seeing London's central tourist sights and not using the underground to travel out to heathrow (zone 6) then its likely you would only be travelling within zones 1 and 2.

And if you are happy not to travel on the underground before 9.30 am on weekdays (a wise decision in my view, unless you want to be crushed by commuters!) then you could use an offpeak ticket.

Putting that together, you could buy a one day travelcard each day for unlimited travel in zones 1 - 2 after 9.30 am (to midnight). This would cost you £5.30 per day, or £31.80 for 6 days' worth.

Not sure of the currency exchange but I suspect this is much less than 117 euros

London Pass v Oyster Card

Q: When comparing the London Pass + travel to the Oyster card - which repreesents the best value for money? We are a family of 5 (youngest is 12)

A: You don’t say how long you are going to be in London for so let’s assume you’re here for 3 days for price comparison purposes.

You can currently buy a 3 day adult London Pass including travel for £73. Given the London Pass without travel is £54, you are basically paying £19 for a 3 day travelcard for one adult. (Or £6.33 per day.)

Compare that against using an Oyster card. You have to pay £3 per card, and then you put credit on it. Once done, you can use it as a one day travelcard for only £4.60 a day for within zones 1 and 2 (per adult.)

However, the London Pass also includes the train journey to Windsor, as well as all Underground zones within the price. To use the Oyster Card for zones 3 – 6 the price is slightly higher than £4.60.

All in all, I guess it depends on where you intend to travel to and what you plan on seeing. If you don’t intend visiting many sights and you’re sticking to central London (zones 1 and 2), an Oyster card for each of you is probably my recommendation. But if you do intend seeing lots of tourist attractions, maybe going on a trip to Windsor and so on, probably buying the combined London Pass with Travel is a better deal.

A bus trip for a 5 year old

Q: I am taking my 5 year old granddaughter to London for the first time in October. We only have about 2 hours for sightseeing before going to the theatre. She would love to ride on a bus. Any suggestions for a bus tour.

A: This will depend a bit on which part of London the theatre is in but I'd suggest she might like to ride on one of the few remaining routemasters. The famous double decker buses still run on these routes:

Heritage Route 15 Trafalgar Square - Strand - Fleet Street - Ludgate Hill - Cannon Street - Eastcheap - Tower Hilll (Operator - Stagecoach)

Bus Route 9: Royal Albert Hall - Kensington Road - Knightsbridge - Piccadilly - Trafalgar Square - Strand - Aldwych (Operator - First)

Perhaps the number 15 from Trafalgar Square to Ludgate Hill and back might be a nice trip to do. As far as fares go, these are normal London bus routes so you can travel on them using a London transport travelcard, oystercard or buying a ticket at some of the stops.

Buying London Transport Visitor tickets online

Q:Would you please tell me where the shops are to purchase bus saver tickets? Am I able to purchase them online? We arrive late on a Saturday so won't be able to buy them until the Sunday. This is such a great site and has been so helpful for planning our short 3 day stay. Thankyou.

A:Yes, you can buy London Transport tickets online from some countries. I suggest you have a look at this web page for Transport for London. It provides information on the various types of visitor tickets available.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1067.aspx

Judging by your email address, I am guessing that you are in Australia. Here is the link to how to buy tickets online for Aussies.

http://www.ticket-on-line.com/cgi-bin/web_finder.exe

You can also buy tickets when you arrive, from most newsagents and from any tube station. I think you could even buy them from the airport when you arrive. Or simply go to the nearest tube station on the Sunday morning before you start your sightseeing.

Shortened "free" bus tour

Q: I am absolutely thrilled by your bus tour of london as I have been looking for something like this. One thing I want to ask. I want to take my elderly mum on the tour next Tuesday and she can't walk far. I don't know these places and I wanted to ask if the walks in between bus stops are long...she can walk 5-8 minutes in between rests. also, any idea how long the whole tour would take? I look forward to hearing from you.

A: The entire journey - if you do it all - would probably take around 3 - 4 hours, largely dependent on traffic and on waiting times between buses. Tuesday there is likely to be more traffic, though buses should be more frequent than over the Xmas period.

If your mum isn't up to doing the whole tour, can I suggest you do the following shortened version, cutting out the parts that go west to Kensington and north of Piccadilly.

The shortened tour would be as follows (starting and finishing at Trafalgar Square):

Bus 15 from Trafalgar Square to Tower of London

Change at Tower of London for bus RV1 (you may need to walk around the corner and join it at the top of Tower Bridge)

Bus RV1 from Tower of London to London Eye

Walk along the river front to the end of Westminster Bridge, cross the road and wait outside St Thomas hospital for bus number 12

Bus number 12 from London Eye to Trafalgar Square

That tour would probably take around 2 hours, I guess - again, depending on traffic and waiting times.

The distances between stops at all changing points on the whole tour have been deliberately selected to be as close as possible together, so you shouldn't need to walk more than a few minutes to get from one stop to another at each point.

Supermarkets, travelcards and routemasters

Q: Hello: I am going to London next 26th December and I have some doubts: - Is easy to find supermarkets in the center of London? To buy bread, water... - Is necessary a photograph to get a travel card for 3 or 7 days? - Where can I take the remaining Routemaster? I think I have read somewhere it only goes in a line, but I wanted to know the place to take it.

A:
1 - Supermarkets: yes, there are a number of "metro" type supermarkets in central London these days and they are usually easy to find. Your hotel can also probably tell you where your closest one is. They aren't as big as the "weekly shop" type supermarkets but they have a good selection of the sort of stuff you might need when here as a visitor for a short time. e.g. you can buy bread, water, fruit, toiletries, wine, beer, etc etc.

Look out for stores such as Sainsbury's, Tesco Metro and (if you can't find either of those), Costcutter. They also tend to be open late and seven days a week, even over xmas.

2 - Travelcards: As far as I know, you don't need a photograph in order to get a one, three or seven day travelcard. See this site for more information.


3 - Routemasters: I believe the remaining routemaster buses run on routes 9 and 15 through central London. You can use them for the same price as normal buses. To read more, see here.

Cheapest way from Gatwick to central London

Q: Are you able to tell me the cheapest way to come from Gatwich to Holborn station. We are 8 persons.

A: I assume you mean by train. The cheapest way to get from Gatwick airport to central London is probably via any train except the Gatwick Express. Though the Gatwick Express is probably the fastest, its also the most expensive.

When you arrive at Gatwick airport, head for "Trains". Once there, go to the ticket office and tell them you want a normal ticket (ie. not Gatwick Express) to either London Bridge or Victoria. They might even sell you an all inclusive ticket - for both travel to central London and also travel on the London Underground. Otherwise, just buy your underground ticket once you get into central London.

When you arrive at your central London station, catch the underground / tube to Holborn station.

What to see on a 3 day visit to London

Q: I am visiting London with my kids for three days. I was wondering if you could tell me an efficient way to cover major attractions on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 between 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We would like to see The Natural History Museum, Wax museum, London Tower, Big Ben, London Eye, Change of guards, Parliament etc. I need help in where to start from and what to see on Day 1,Day 2 and Day 3.

Finally for my three day stay, which kind of travel card is economical?. I read kids travel free after 9.30 am. Thanks so much for your time.

A:

Hi there,

Ok, here's how I'd tackle seeing the places you listed over 3 days. As for transport, I suggest you get an oyster card with pay as you go, but London Transport are always changing their fare offers so it might be best to ask them this question on your first day before getting on the train.

Day 1:

- start from Westminster station. Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, changing of the guard, across the river to London Eye. On to Waterloo station or back across to westminster station.

Day 2:

start from south kensington station. Natural History museum, also (if you want) Science museum (good for kids), back on train to Baker Street. Wax museum. back to Baker street station.

Day 3:

Start from Tower Hill station. Tower of London, Tower bridge, walk across bridge along south bank to Tate Modern museum, Shakespeares Globe and the London Dungeon. On train at London Bridge station.

Getting to Stonehenge from London

Question: How do I get from London to StoneHenge & back, is it better to take a tour?

Answer: I think it depends on how confident you would feel using public transport. I suggest it is perfectly safe to use but you may find it easier to take a tour, especially one that collects you from your hotel and drops you back. (Tours are likely to be more expensive though.)

If you wish to use public transport, you can take a train from London Waterloo to Salisbury station. The train journey takes around 90 minutes, and trains run every hour. From Salisbury, you then need to get the number 3 bus, which leaves from near the station hourly and takes 40 minutes.

Parking in London

Q: I have to come to London by car. Each country has different parking rules. Could you please explain me how to park a car in London? Is it a web site with London's parkings?

A: it depends where exactly you will be wanting to park a car. In central London areas (zone 1) there are parking restrictions, which usually mean red lines (where you can never park), and yellow lines (where you can only park on Saturday afternoons and Sundays for free - otherwise, you need to use a meter or buy a "pay and display" ticket).

Also, London has congestion charging which means you will be charged £5 to drive into central London each day during week days. However, London does have a lot of parking stations around the place, though they tend to be expensive - I think if you search for NCP Parking you should

find out more about where they are.

To Paris from London

Q: I would like to know how to travel from London to Paris what is the cheapest companies (bus, railway).

A: going to Paris by coach and booking it in advance is probably the cheapest - see this link.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/p.cfm?n=gel&agentid=elhm

Eurostar is quicker but also usually more expensive (train from Waterloo).

Paddington not using Heathrow Express

Q: Is there an underground train or tube that I can take to Paddington? The Heathrow Express is quite expensive. Do you know how long it would take to get from Heathrow to Paddington by train? And if I get a travelcard...would that cover both busses and tubes/underground train? Actually, I 'm not sure if the underground train is the same as the tube?

A: You can take the normal underground / tube (same thing) from Heathrow to central London. It is the Piccadilly Line, but it doesn't go to Paddington directly (you would need to change lines.) It also would probably take around an hour at least to get from Heathrow to central London (e.g. Piccadilly Circus) using it.

A one day travelcard would cover tube and buses, or you could buy simply a bus travelcard (cheaper).

Travel Cards

Q: How much does the tube pass cost? For how much time is it valid upto? We would like to have the tube pass valid for 10 days.

A: there are lots of different types of fares - have a look at this site.

http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/tickets/quickFares_2004.asp

Travelcards

Q:

What kind of travel card would you recommend for the underground tube if we will be there for 3 days? Or do you have any suggestion for us to move around besides using the bus. Anyway thanks a lot for the bus info.

A: suggest you buy one day travelcards for each day that can be used after 9.30 on either the underground or buses. I believe they cost 4.10 (or so) each.

London at Christmas - 2

Q:

I would like to visit London between 26.12-3.01.05.

I am asking you if and which museums are opened in that period? I really hope that I can visit anything without being afraid that because holiday they'll be closed.

What about stores? Are they opened?

I also like to visit London's surrowndings. Are the buses traveling?

A: most London museums and stores are open during that time, apart from on christmas day.

And yes, the buses will be running - even on christmas day, though probably with a reduced service on that day.

One day in London

Q: My sister-in-law, my daughter and I want to visit London for 1 day. Could you tell us what ticket for bus, tube, etc. we need to get everywhere and the whole day long? We have never been in London and want to see all typical tourist attractions. Ok, we know that one day is really a joke for that, but our budget is absolutely limited.
We will arrive in London Stansted Airport at 7am, so the first thing to do will be to take breakfast. Could you suggest us cheap bars, restaurants... also for lunch?

A: the first thing to do will be to get to central London from Stansted. I think there are buses but to be honest, the cheapest option will probably also be the slowest for you. I would suggest you get the train into central London, I think it comes into Liverpool Street station.

Once you get into central London, buy one day travel cards from any underground station. I think they cost around £4.50 per person.

As for cheap places to eat, there are a chain of stores called Benjy's, which are probably the cheapest places to buy food and drinks. However, you often can't sit in them, so will need to find a nearby park to sit in, etc.