London at the end of Jan 2018

How long will you be in London? An Oyster Card is worthwhile for most people, whether you use the pay-as-you go function (with daily caps to the amount you have to spend) or load on a 7-day Travel Card. Otherwise, single-ticket fares are relatively expensive.

What sightseeing have you planned that is actually covered by the London Pass? Are they your top-choice sites, or place that you "might" get to. Many major museums are already free, in which case the London Pass might kick in to cover a special exhibit *(or might not).

Yes, get an Oyster card (one per person). Depending on which airport you arrive at, either buy at the airport station, or when you arrive in London. Fill each card up with £20 credit, and go from there. then hop a tube or a bus whenever you like.

Day trips:
1) Hampton Court. Train Waterloo to Hampton Court station (use Oyster card).
2) ½ day trip to Greenwich, climb the hill to the observatory.
If you have time, the following are further from London and outside the range of the Oyster card, so you need to buy tickets:
3) Windsor castle
4) Canterbury (cathedral, walled city, old streets).

We need for someone to explain the 2-for-1 deal to you. I'm not the one to do it.

Do look very carefully at what the pass covers vs. the top-class museums that are free (donation requested). A great deal depends on what type of sights you prefer. Several of London's museums are monstrously large. If one or more really appeal to you, the free-with-donations could take up a great deal of your time, making a dent in the list of other sights you would get to (and making the Pass less likely to pay off).

2 for 1's:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g186338-c195600/London:United-Kingdom:2.4.1.Travelcards.Step.By.Step.html

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g186338-c133479/London:United-Kingdom:Paper.And.Oyster.Travelcards.2.4.1.Offers.html

Look at the London Walks website. They have a varied selection to choose from including day trips. They get constantly excellent reviews - I've taken several city walks and they were all great. The common day trips are Oxford, Cambridge, Hampton Court Palace, Windsor, Greenwich. There's also Bletchley Park for WWII "fans." They are all better in good weather. I haven't been to Greenwich for many years, but my sense is that in inclement weather it would still be a good day, as would Bletchley Park. . . . maybe Hampton Court, though in winter the gardens probably won't be much to see even if the day is sunny.

You can take a boat to and/or from Greenwich. I don't recomment the HOHO bus tours because the buses get bogged down in traffic.

If you are over 60 you can get a 'concession' Oyster card which will save you money (must check up on mine!). The trend though by TfL is to go contactless, i.e. use your bank debit card, providing it has the 'contactless logo' on it. The same software that caps daily Oyster card charges, does the same for your card. My wife has ditched her Oyster card and just uses her debit card now, and one could suppose that in years to come Oyster card usage will be much reduced if not actively discouraged. For the time being though, they are in my booklet, A Good Thing!

Remember when planning excursions that the weather can be cold, windy and wet, or alternatively bright and clear and cold, and/or all variations and combinations in between, possibly in the course of a single day, so dress accordingly! It will certainly get dark early too, around 4.30 pm, so if wanting to view the sights early is better than late (it will get properly light by around 8.00 am).

I echo the suggestion of checking out London Walks, lots to choose from so something in there for all interests you'd think but I would definitely check out the opening hours of the main attractions. Some properties, i.e. National Trust, close October through until March as a general rule. I'm pretty sure that the Historic Palaces of London are all open, but may be operating on a scaled back opening schedule (perhaps a London dweller on here can advise, but the websites for each attraction will tell you).

We enjoyed a couple of things when visiting London early in the year. Try go and see Westminster Abbey on it's late opening evening (Wednesdays?) - much less crowded and wonderfully atmospheric in the dark and the docents have more time to chat to you too. The crypt restaurant there is good too, economically priced and decent food, worthy of investigation.

We also booked tickets for the Sam Wanamaker Theatre which is open through the winter and attached to Shakespeare's Globe on the south bank - it is lit by candles for the performances and again wonderfully atmospheric. It is tiny too, seating only a couple of hundred so don't leave it to the last minute to book. We went to see a play called, if I recall, something like 'All The Angels' which was about the writing of Handel's 'Messiah' and it was fantastic. A play about a German composer in a reproduction of a Jacobean theatre, built by the efforts largely, of an American. And with a pub attached (the Rose) - what could be better! The Globe website will tell you what's on while you are there - the main Globe theatre is closed until March, it being open to the elements, but there are productions on at the Wanamaker throughout the winter. We took a gamble on the play we went to see and it rewarded us magnificently!

It may be a bit late for your trip, but it is also worth trying to get tickets (they have to be advance purchased) for the the Ceremony of the Keys which is the official locking up of the Tower of London on a nightly basis. The Beefeaters politely (but firmly!) turf you out at the end! It's not a long ceremony, but an ancient curiosity and the dark adds another dimension to it all, the Tower and environs being dimly lit as you might expect.

Hope you have a fantastic trip!

Ian

It be helpful to know how long you plan to be in London and what your interests are (history, shopping, culture, etc.).

Oyster Card - Basically a necessity if you plan on using public transportation.

London Pass - My own opinion is that it isn't worth it, but I prefer to take my time and see attractions at my own pace. I believe you have to visit at least two sites on the pass per day to break even or 3 sites per day to save money. I would think that the line cutting perk wouldn't be as valuable at this time of year either. During peak tourist times I could see how that perk might make it worth the price for some people.

Day trips: I think that Hampton Court Palace would be a good day trip for this time of year. Since you basically get to tour two palaces in the same location. They often have a 2 for 1 deal going on as well if you travel there by train. Hampton Court Place is a 5 minute walk from the station.

People often suggest Windsor and York for day trips. I'm not sure about either at this time of year. We didn't make it to either place on our trip but plan to do so on our next trip.

We enjoyed a day trip to the coast but we went in mid-September. That might not be the best idea in January.

If you are over 60 you can get a 'concession' Oyster card which will save you money (must check up on mine!).

ianandjulie, I know if you are over 60 and live in London you can get a special Oyster card which lets you travel for free, but I was unaware of any concession for over 60's living outside London. I googled and didn't find anything. Can you elucidate?

If you are over 60 you can get a 'concession' Oyster card

Only if you actually live and can prove that you live in one of the London boroughs. Is there another one I don't know about? How do you qualify if you are in Yorkshire?

Chris -

Ha! I read you could get one on this somewhere on this very forum and thought "I must check that out, I'm sure mine is your bog-standard issue one", so maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick. Thinking about it, if TfL want everybody to go contactless eventually (a friend has just left a management role in TfL to return to his northern roots, but tells us that is the intent) then how would they go about establishing how old you are? Until I can investigate further I would advise extreme caution on my pronouncements!

If the 'senior concession' is for London residents only, then it is only going to add to my sense of discrimination against those who live north of the Severn - Wash divide!

Very few US credit or debit cards are contactless, so for most US visitors, there are only a few practical ways to pay for transport in London.

1) Apple Pay or Android Pay - but if your credit card has fees for foreign transactions, these will apply.
2) One Day or Seven Day Travelcards from National Rail, to qualify for the 2-4-1 offers from Daysout, as detailed above.
3) Oyster Card.

If you do want to see if your credit card is contactless, look on the back for the "waves" symbol (looks like the Wi-Fi symbol). If your card doesn't have it, it's not contactless. Interestingly, my Chase Bank debit card used to have it - but they removed it, five or more years ago.

You can get a concession rate on Oyster if you have a Senior Railcard and this may have been what had been referred to before. It wouldn't be worth the OP getting one of these though.

You can get a concession rate on Oyster if you have a Senior Railcard

Marco, how does that work in practice? when you tap in and out and the machine reads your Oyster card, how does it know you also have a (paper) railcard? Or do you need to get the railcard recorded on your Oyster card? But you would then need a special Oyster card with your photo, normal Oyster cards can be used by different people.

Can you provide a link?

On the subject of the Senior railcard, which I have incidentally, I too am puzzled about why there is not registration of the card. As it stands when ordering tickets online or buying from our local walk up machine (if and when it is working) all you have to do is press the 'add Senior Railcard' button and the tickets are discounted accordingly.

However you need to be carrying your Senior Railcard with you to justify the discount when the tickets are inspected and recently the penalties for travelling A) without a ticket and B) without relevant back up documentation, I.e. The Railcard, are being ruthlessly enforced, so maybe it's not worth the risk. This of course creates problems on local trains when your station, like ours, is unmanned and the ticket machine is out of action, as ours often is - we have taken to taking photos on our mobile phonesof the 'out of use' sign on the machine as proof, as there is no exit at the mainline station without ticket - 'tube' style barriers - as if you buy a ticket at the end of the line in order to leave the station they are now fining you (or attempting to) for boarding the train without a ticket, a draconian move which, they say is for 'the passengers benefit'. In theory you can buy tickets on board the train from the ticket inspector, but this is being discouraged by the rail companies in the drive towards 'driver only' trains. (See recent rail strike stories!).

The Senior Railcard is a good purchase if you plan to travel extensively by rail in the UK - mine is a three year one which cost £72 or thereabouts and although only renewed in June I reckon it's already paid for itself. You can buy annual cards for less, but as recently suggested on this forum the 'Two Travel Together' card might be more appropriate for visitors to the UK.

But the main upshot of the above posts means I can get my Oyster Card discounted next time I go to London!

We have Oyster cards we take to London every trip. Well worth the convenience and economical with the daily cap for zone 1 (and 2? I am never sure) travel. Do buy them on arrival.

I am a fan of the London Pass if you can buy one when they are 20% off (they run periodic specials) so much the better. But you do have to have a strategy to ensure you make the most of the passes. Block out the places you want to see and see if you can make it work for you financially.

2 for 1 sites require you to show train tickets or a Travel Card to get the discount. For example, if you are going to Hampton Court Palace, you would print out a 2 for 1 voucher, buy rail tickets, present both at the site and one entry would be gratis. Rail travel can be expensive so the 2 for 1 helps ameliorate the cost of the day trip.

Good day trip suggestions from others but if you do not have at least a week in London, not much sense leaving the city as there is more to see and do than you can possibly fit in in 10 weeks.