s/o London tour - Londona pass and Paris pass?

[CSL]

After reading the thread on London attractions, I thought I should ask here too. I didn't want to hijack the original thread, so I'm starting a new one.

 

Our family of 4 is going to London, Paris and Barcelona in June, I'm doing my research right now. We bought our air tickets and booked our apartments through Airbnb already, now we have to decide what we want to do there. We will be in London for 6 nights, 5 nights in Paris, and 5 nights in Barcelona. This will be our first trip to Europe and we will be doing most of the tourisy things. Has anyone use the London Pass or Paris Pass before? www.londonpass.com. I'm looking at them and can't decide if we should get them. I think the biggest draw for me is that the passes allow you to skip the line at attractions. Has anyone gone to these places in mid-June before? Are the lines long? I read for some major attractions, the lineup to get the tickets can be up to 2 hours. Is that normal? If it is, I will definitely want to buy the passes.

 

Please share your experience, thanks! I would also appreciate any other tips regarding travelling in Europe. Thanks!

[Kerileanne99]

Weeellll worth it. You will spend a good deal of travel time waiting in lines to access things like museums. We went to Landin and Paris in Dec/Jan and had passes in both. Some places even have separate long lines where you stand in one for tickets and then wait again to gain entrance!

We were able to double the things we did and saw by saving time:)

Also, ours came with a red bus tour pass for a couple of days...even if you don't use them for sightseeing they are extremely useful for transportation purposes since you can hop on and off.

Take advantage of both the Tube and the Metro. It will also save you a lot of time, money, and walking!

 

One tip: I found a blog about what KIDS remember from their trips to Paris...and if wasn't the standard things:) I took their advice, and one day we completely skipped lunch. Instead we stopped at three different Patiserees and allowed everyone to select rediculous numbers of pastries and lovely sugary concoctions. We sat on benches near Notre Dame and binged, lol. My dd5 talks about it constantly, lol. Right there is a bridge where you attach a regular lock...couples carve their initials into them and swear their love. Our family did one and it is another of the high points for my dd. Take one with you, as they cost a fortune if you buy one in a tourist shop!

Sketchbooks for the museums were a massive hit as well:)

[Laura Corin]

Do be aware though that some things in London are free.  Most museums are - unless you go to special exhibitions.  The British Museum is free, but the Tower of London is not.

[hornblower]

We did one for Paris but not for London. In London we did book some things ahead of time & had some weird pass that gave us really cheap tube passes & discounts on the London Eye etc. It was a deal that was intended for Britons to encourage them to come to London but we got it on our first day & it was so worth it. 

I really recommend going on TripAdvisor and reading the latest forums. People there know the current best deals and what's worth it. We got so many great tips about attractions, ways to beat different lineups and behind the scenes tours just by reading those forums.

[Um_2_4]

One tip: I found a blog about what KIDS remember from their trips to Paris...and if wasn't the standard things:) I took their advice, and one day we completely skipped lunch. Instead we stopped at three different Patiserees and allowed everyone to select rediculous numbers of pastries and lovely sugary concoctions. We sat on benches near Notre Dame and binged, lol. My dd5 talks about it constantly, lol. Right there is a bridge where you attach a regular lock...couples carve their initials into them and swear their love. Our family did one and it is another of the high points for my dd. Take one with you, as they cost a fortune if you buy one in a tourist shop!

Sketchbooks for the museums were a massive hit as well:)

 

LOL! It's not just kids! :laugh:  The things I remember most are some of the little things. My 1st trip to europe was for a month when I was 18. I hit 15 countries in 30 days, but the picnic in Paris with cheese, fresh bread and some fruit, the pizza in Vienna sitting in the square people watching, the small used book store in London and the hole in the wall chinese restaurant next to it, walking around Monte Carlo at night, and the small cafe on a cliff over looking the sea on the Amalfi coast are some of my biggest memories. Sure I saw the crown jewels, Eiffel Tower, castles, etc, etc, but really exploring is a HUGE part of the experience. 

Look for little rest stops/out of the way things to do. It will give you a break from the lines/tourist crowd.

I wish I could find again this awesome fried chicken place in London  :lol: . Seriously best fried chicken sandwich I ever had. :drool:

[MeAndTheBoys]

Yeah on the little things--DH and I went to London and Paris pre-kids, 14 years ago.  And we got Rick Steves books and had a great time hitting the "popular places" but memories were made eating endless times at Pret A Manger (sandwiches! Weird sandwiches! and bags of crisps) and shopping in Boots for random things like toothpaste that looked different.

 

And playing the superfun game of getting off the tube a few stops early and wandering through areas downtown, shopping at random stores.

 

Catching a free concert at a church (St. Martins?)

 

Buying chocolate bars out of the machine at the tube station.

 

And yes, we got a Paris Pass and it was worth it for us--

 

B

[Penguin]

We used the Paris Pass in June.  It saved a ton of waiting time.

 

As for Barcelona, the wait times for the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell can be insane.  I highly recommend booking your tickets online. We did not, but our hotel booked them for us when we arrived.  I think it was a two-day wait to get a time slot at the Sagrade Familia in July. I don't know if there is a pass for Barcelona - I didn't check into that.

 

We really enjoyed Barcelona.  The Magic Fountains are fun and free.

 

 

[Matryoshka]

When we were in London last summer, we took advantage of a deal through British Rail - if you buy a train ticket OR if you buy your Underground pass at a Train station (but NOT at an underground station or online), then you can get 2-for1 deals on almost every attraction in London.  There's a website where you can see the current deals - they rotate through.  The London Eye wasn't on the list when we went, but it had been on recently.  For the Eye, we chose an off-peak time and a time window rather than a specific time, and that saved a whole bunch of $$ on the Eye.

 

Here's a link to the 2for1 website, listing all the attractions.  I think it was a much better deal than the LondonPass.  And ooo, look!  The Eye is back on the 2-for-1 deal!!

 

Remember, you have to buy a TRAIN ticket (not tube/underground), OR an tube/underground pass at a TRAIN station to qualify. 

 

ETA: You also have to print out coupons from that website for the attractions you want to see before you leave home (unless you'll have access to a printer in London - I actually did print one out from a public library).  The coupons are good for a few month window, but only good on the day or date range you have your train ticket or tube pass for.

[hornblower]

Yes! Now I remember - the British Rail thing is what we did! It was 3 yrs ago. Now I wanna go again... I'm still subbed to the discount airline emails and they keep taunting me .... :0

[mumto2]

We normally have a Royal Palaces family pass. That plus the free museums keep us plenty busy on our trips to London.http://www.hrp.org.uk/supportus/membership/Youskip some of the queues with this pass also, huge deal when we went to see the Poppies at the Tower last fall.

 

The pass works for the Tower, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Banqueting Hall, and King Georges Palace at Kew Gardens. For Kew you still need to buy admission to the garden to get in but I really enjoyed seeing the palace where he lived in exile. It was different and seemed more intimate than most.

[CSL]

Thank you all for your help, I appreciate everyone single suggestion.

 

After reading all the replies, I think we will skp the London Pass and get the 2for1 book at the railway station as suggested by Matryoshka. We will definitely do a few walking tours and the Thames cruise. I am also thinking of seeing "As You Like It" at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, doing some Harry Potter stuff, some Doctor Who stuff, some Sherlock stuff, the Magna Carter exhibit at the British library. There are so many things to do in London, i am so excited!

 

Has anyone got the Travelcard/Osyter card for their teenage children before? I know you can get one for teens 11-15 at certain stations, but one website suggests that maybe you can get one for 16-17 year old as well. Has anyone done it before? I have a 16 year old and a 13 year old. The teen tickets are half the price.

[Matryoshka]

Thank you all for your help, I appreciate everyone single suggestion.

 

After reading all the replies, I think we will skp the London Pass and get the 2for1 book at the railway station as suggested by Matryoshka. We will definitely do a few walking tours and the Thames cruise. I am also thinking of seeing "As You Like It" at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre, doing some Harry Potter stuff, some Doctor Who stuff, some Sherlock stuff, the Magna Carter exhibit at the British library. There are so many things to do in London, i am so excited!

 

Has anyone got the Travelcard/Osyter card for their teenage children before? I know you can get one for teens 11-15 at certain stations, but one website suggests that maybe you can get one for 16-17 year old as well. Has anyone done it before? I have a 16 year old and a 13 year old. The teen tickets are half the price.

 

Ooo- careful, careful - the 2for1 is NOT a booklet!  You have to print the coupons in advance from the website, or you don't have them, and you can't use them.

 

What you have to get from the train station is the Travelcard (or Oyster Card - I think it depends how long you'll be there which is the better deal?)  I also can't remember if the Oyster Card works with the 2-for-1 or just the Travelcard - we got the latter.

 

My kids were 16 and 13 when we went.  The 16yos had to get adult cards, I think?  There was some weird thing where you could send in proof of age and a photo ahead of time (like a month or more) and get a special Travelcard for 16/17-yos, but then you couldn't use the 2-for-1 for that kid, as their TravelCard would not be from the rail station.  You have to buy the TravelCard at the TRAIN station (online doesn't count, nor does it if you buy it at a Tube station), and it has to have the British Rail logo on it, in order for it to work with the 2-for-1.  It is sooooo complicated, especially for the 16yos.

 

There was a website with an incredibly helpful British dude that explained all this.  You can ask questions, and I asked a ton, as it was very confusing.  I don't think I remember what the website was!  I will see if I bookmarked it...  Nope, I didn't, but I found it anyway!   It's The London Toolkit.  This guy knows everything.  The Oyster/Travelcard thing alone is a nightmare to figure out (good news, with the Travelcard you also get to ride all the buses for free, so you can ride on the top of the double-deckers as much as you want!)  You need to decide what zones you want covered for the Tube (but the buses are free for all zones, even if your Tube zone is just the center or 1-3 or something.  So we took a bus to Hampton Castle, for example).  You can scroll down to the bottom of any page on his blog and he'll answer your questions, usually within a day.

 

[mumto2]

We all have Oyster cards even though we don't live in London The 16yo needs a student one for discount. Both kids need a photo one. Adults are no photo. We get are through post for kids but we are British. I think some stations may do children's cards but no idea how but know you would need to bring the required documents to the station. They are really east to use.

[CSL]

Thanks Matryoshka and mumto2 for the clarification. I am reading from the London Toolkit website as well, but the Travelcard vs. Oyster card thing is so confusing, especially for the kids. I think we will go ahead and apply for the child's and 16+ Oyster card for the kids now and pick them up in London.

 

Matryoshka, did they look at all the Travelcards when you use the 2for1 coupons? I was thinking to get 2 adult 7 day Travelcards at the railroad station for hubby and me, and use the Osyter cards for the kids. Can we just use our Travelcards to buy tickets using the 2 for 1 coupons? Do they require all to have Travelcards from the railroad stations? If we can't use the coupons on the kids, then it might be cheaper to buy adult Travelcard for the 16 year old.

 

So much to read, but so exciting!

[Matryoshka]

We all have Oyster cards even though we don't live in London The 16yo needs a student one for discount. Both kids need a photo one. Adults are no photo. We get are through post for kids but we are British. I think some stations may do children's cards but no idea how but know you would need to bring the required documents to the station. They are really east to use.

If you get the Travelcard at the Railway to use with the 2for1, you will need photos for everyone, including the adults. The Travelcards they sell at the train station look totally different than the ones from the Tube stations though they work just the same, except they have the all important British Railway logo that allows them to be used with the 2for1 promo.

 

That blog I linked explains all that in great detail :)

[CSL]

Thanks so much, I will keep reading. Good that I'm starting to research now, I still have time to mail in/apply online for things.

[Matryoshka]

Thanks Matryoshka and mumto2 for the clarification. I am reading from the London Toolkit website as well, but the Travelcard vs. Oyster card thing is so confusing, especially for the kids. I think we will go ahead and apply for the child's and 16+ Oyster card for the kids now and pick them up in London.

 

Matryoshka, did they look at all the Travelcards when you use the 2for1 coupons? I was thinking to get 2 adult 7 day Travelcards at the railroad station for hubby and me, and use the Osyter cards for the kids. Can we just use our Travelcards to buy tickets using the 2 for 1 coupons? Do they require all to have Travelcards from the railroad stations? If we can't use the coupons on the kids, then it might be cheaper to buy adult Travelcard for the 16 year old.

 

So much to read, but so exciting!

If I remember correctly, the 2for1 is just for adult tickets? Both people who use a 2for1 need a Travel card with a logo. It may be worth it to get the reduced fare Travelcard for the 16yo, if the 13yo would get in free anyway? But if the 13yo would have to pay for most things but could get in free if the 16yo had an adult Travelcard from the railway, you might end up coming out ahead with the adult card. .. I'd ask the blog guy.

[lailasmum]

Where are you planning on staying in London? If outside then you can tack a travel card onto a train ticket and it's often better value than getting just a travel card.

[Laura Corin]

Remember that a lot of London's attractions are close to each other.  Looking at the stylised Tube map, it's easy to be deceived into thinking you need to take a the underground everywhere, but things are often closer than they seem and the Tube often makes for inconvenient journeys.  For example, St Paul's, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge and The Globe are all within easy walking distance - they all fall within/just outside the old walled City of London.  

 

The travel passes are a flat rate for the day but with the Oyster you pay for each journey, which can add up.  It's worth looking at Google maps, putting in all the places you want to go, and setting the transportation to 'walking' so that you can look at timings.

[mumto2]

Remember that a lot of London's attractions are close to each other. Looking at the stylised Tube map, it's easy to be deceived into thinking you need to take a the underground everywhere, but things are often closer than they seem and the Tube often makes for inconvenient journeys. For example, St Paul's, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge and The Globe are all within easy walking distance - they all fall within/just outside the old walled City of London.

 

The travel passes are a flat rate for the day but with the Oyster you pay for each journey, which can add up. It's worth looking at Google maps, putting in all the places you want to go, and setting the transportation to 'walking' so that you can look at timings.

The Oyster card does cap out at an amount that should be cheaper than a daily travecardhttp://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/oyster-card.

 

I totally agree that we don't actually use it that much after we get into London because it is easier to walk. We don't normally hit the cap. We keep it for convenience.

[Laura Corin]

The Oyster card does cap out at an amount that should be cheaper than a daily travecardhttp://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/oyster-card.

 

I totally agree that we don't actually use it that much after we get into London because it is easier to walk. We don't normally hit the cap. We keep it for convenience.

 

That's good to know.  I feel as if the daily cap wasn't in place when the Oyster was introduced.  Or maybe I was just unaware.

[Matryoshka]

The Oyster card does cap out at an amount that should be cheaper than a daily travecardhttp://www.toptiplondon.com/transport/tickets/oyster-card.

 

I totally agree that we don't actually use it that much after we get into London because it is easier to walk. We don't normally hit the cap. We keep it for convenience.

 

I think it depends how many days you're there for which is cheaper.  We had a 7-day travelcard, and that was definitely cheaper than an Oyster - the daily rate goes way down when the Travelcard is for longer periods.  We were also staying a bit outside of town (in Wimbledon), so we did use the Tube.

 

[lailasmum]

That's good to know.  I feel as if the daily cap wasn't in place when the Oyster was introduced.  Or maybe I was just unaware.

 

We've had oyster screw up a few times and overcharge, you can get a refund easily but if you're only up there for a few days then you often can't pick the refund up as you have to go through to a nominated station to get it credited back. I've definitely lost a few pounds over a couple of years using oyster, I don't think it's an ideal option for those only there for a few days. I forgot my oyster last time I was there and just used travel cards, it did seem less hassle to be honest.

[CSL]

Wow, thank you everyone for sharing. I think I now have enough knowledge to make an informed decision.

 

Laura in CA, thanking for pointing out the closeness of the attractions, I knew they were close but did know they are within walking distance.

 

We are staying in central London, close to the London Bridge. I think we will just get the 7 day Travelcards for all of us at the Victoria train station (so we can use the 2for1 for all). The Travelcards will also allow us unlimited rides on buses, which we will enjoy very much. So no need to apply for Oyster cards for the kids ahead of time, just bring our passport size pictures to the train station and get our cards there. Since we only need a zone 1&2 pass, the price is quite reasonable.

 

I would be so lost without all the pointers I got from here. Thanks hive!

[Laura in CA]

Wow, thank you everyone for sharing. I think I now have enough knowledge to make an informed decision.

 

Laura in CA, thanking for pointing out the closeness of the attractions, I knew they were close but did know they are within walking distance.

 

We are staying in central London, close to the London Bridge. I think we will just get the 7 day Travelcards for all of us at the Victoria train station (so we can use the 2for1 for all). The Travelcards will also allow us unlimited rides on buses, which we will enjoy very much. So no need to apply for Oyster cards for the kids ahead of time, just bring our passport size pictures to the train station and get our cards there. Since we only need a zone 1&2 pass, the price is quite reasonable.

 

I would be so lost without all the pointers I got from here. Thanks hive!

 

That was Laura Corin who talked about walking, but I agree ;), and am glad she pointed that out. In fact, some of my best memories of London are of walking all over ... along the Thames from, say, Westminster to the HMS Belfast, enjoying all the unexpected sights in between; or from Dr Johnson's house to Fleet Street through the Inns of Court to the Thames, crossing a bridge (or two!), watching boats and people, wandering into enticing back alleys, finding quiet courtyards and gardens just a few feet from a bustling street; popping into cook shops or bookstores or chemist's ... As someone said, just shopping for toothpaste is fun!

 

hmmm ... I think it's time for me to go back to London. My husband is in Paris now (for work) ... sigh ... :)

[CSL]

That was Laura Corin who talked about walking, but I agree ;), and am glad she pointed that out. In fact, some of my best memories of London are of walking all over ... along the Thames from, say, Westminster to the HMS Belfast, enjoying all the unexpected sights in between; or from Dr Johnson's house to Fleet Street through the Inns of Court to the Thames, crossing a bridge (or two!), watching boats and people, wandering into enticing back alleys, finding quiet courtyards and gardens just a few feet from a bustling street; popping into cook shops or bookstores or chemist's ... As someone said, just shopping for toothpaste is fun!

 

hmmm ... I think it's time for me to go back to London. My husband is in Paris now (for work) ... sigh ... :)

Yes, my bad. It was Laura Corin. Thanks Laura in CA for sharing too.

 

I hope I am doing this quote thing right.