London Pass

What you need to do is figure out the math, and none of us can do that for you, because you're the only one who knows what sites you want to see.

Ticket prices for each site are on the individual websites. So if you want to see the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey or whatever, look for their prices online, and then start adding them up to see if getting the Pass is worth it. I would suggest making a spreadsheet or a list of places, listing each price and then adding up the total.

According to their website, you do not need to book ahead but just show up (however, if it were me, I would definitely be checking each site to find out for sure). Using the above examples again, both the Tower and WA highly recommend booking ahead. You do not need to, and when you show up, you will get in the line of people who already have tickets. However, you don't get to skip that line. And they say if some places are busy, you may be asked to wait until they get the time-reserved people in first. That said, I did find a page on their website that lists the reservation requirements (if any) for their sites: https://londonpass.com/en/reservations

With regards to the prices, I don't know this for sure, but I did read that each attraction visit deducts the equivalent of the standard gate price from your credit balance.

Maybe you've already seen this article from March 2025, but it might be helpful.

https://londonmymind.com/london-pass-review/

You need to bear in mind that most museums and galleries in London are free to enter for their permanent collections. So, if you wanted to visit places like the British Museum, the V&A, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern - all world class - then it would be very difficult to make the London Pass work financially.

Most comments I have read about the pass point out that it tends to drive users to either rush round sites or visit lesser places which are on the pass rather than the likes of the above. In particular any HOHO service should be avoided in London. And you will always have to pass through any security queues whatever access you have.

Ditto what Mardee said.
Make a list of things you want to see.
Go to the websites--For Westminster Abbey, go to their website and look at prices.
It will cost you £30 (adult admission).
If you are over age 65, or are a student, it will cost you £27.

https://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/prices-entry-times?_gl=1*z60v70*_up*MQ..*_ga*MjA2NjkxNTk5My4xNzQ0NjgzMTcw*_ga_DH
MS4WRT6Q*MTc0NDY4MzE2OS4xLjEuMTc0NDY4MzI2My4wLjAuMA..

Likewise, go to the Tower of London website to check admission prices and buy your ticket.

Once you make a list of things you wish to see, it will be easy for you to see if you want (or need) that pass.

One quick shortcut for you would be to buy the Rick Steves London guidebook; the pocket size one. It has all the information on London attractions (prices, opening hours), transportation, hotels, and a lot more including a map.
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/pocket-london

Back to your question....add all the costs on your list of places you want to go. See if the pass makes sense. If not, just book your own tickets through the official website of each place.
Most museums are free in London, as has been mentioned by John.

You really don't need the pass if you only want to see Westminster Abbey, the British Museum and several other museums. Your cost would be zero for the museums.

Where did you hear about this pass?

We were in London at this time last year for more than ten days, and got ten-day Go City London Passes, which more than paid for themselves. With three days or less, having a higher rate for the Pass for fewer days, you’d have to cram in a LOT more sights to make them break even, although it could be done. You pay a fixed price for the Pass, and see as many sights as you have time for, but get only one entry for each sight. There’s nothing deducted from the Pass, and no balance gets used up. The more you see, the better value the fixed price for the Pass becomes. We tended to stay longer at sights, seeing 2 or at most 3 in a day, so we didn’t do a blitz that would fit in 5 or 7 or more sights for maximum value. Ten days gave us lots of time to see things more leisurely, and still get our money’s worth, and then some.

For Westminster Abbey, you get sent to the regular outside line, which for us one morning was 45 minutes long, with occasional drizzling rain. The difference for us, compared to others in line, was that our entry was 100% covered by having the Pass, where others had to pay at the ticket window at the head of the line. They also took much longer at the window to pay, compared to us just having our Pass QR codes on our smartphones getting scanned, and I suspect that’s what helped make the entry line take so long.

For St. Paul’s Cathedral, we did get a dedicated line for the London Pass, inside, and got in in about 40 seconds. Same with the view from The Shard, with express entry for Passholders. Expensive sights, like The Shard, London Eye, Tower of London, London Zoo, and soccer stadiums if you’re into those, make the Pass a better value, compared to wonderful but relatively cheaper places like the Florence Nightingale Museum, the Garden Museum, and the Ben Franklin House. Those last three are places I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t seen them on the London Pass list of covered places, and I’m glad I went, but the expensive sights are what justifies getting a Pass at the outset, for just a few days.

A few sights on the Pass require reservations, but there’s no extra charge. Windsor Palace is afternoons only. Everything else is just show up, although not everything is open 7 days a week, so that requires some careful planning. One of the best uses of the London Pass is a daytrip to Greenwich, where your Pass gets you roundtrip Thames boat rides between downtown London and Greenwich, plus entry to the Cutty Sark, Maritime Museums, Royal Observatory, etc. All those could really add up if you were paying out of pocket, but are all covered on the London Pass from Go City. Again, the more you see, the better the value, but you could easily run out of time before you run out of sights.

Thank you, Cyn! This is exactly the kind of detail I was in need of! Now that you mention the quickness of the Shard, maybe I'll bet the Plus card. We'll be there for 6 days and many of the places you mention are also on our list.

Cyn, one last question: You said "we." Did you have both passes on the same phone or should we each put our pass on on own phone? Thanks.
Thanks also to Estimated Prophet. The article in your link was also very helpful.

gbscandone, my husband bought the two London Passes, a surprise Christmas present for our upcoming longish trip, so they were both on his phone. I don’t remember if he sent me an image of one of the QR codes to try and use; as I recall, he just showed the first one at a sight, then swiped left to expose the second one for scanning. If you wanted to ensure that one person could be visiting the Transport Museum while another was at the Charles Dickens house, then buy them separately, so you’re not joined at the hip by having them on just one phone. He went some places on his own after I started getting some sightseeing fatigue (it can happen!), but otherwise seeing places together worked while both passes were on one device. How many are in your “we?”

We were in the London area for longer than ten days, so we started our 10-day London Pass stretch after several days of going to “free” places (donations are always appreciated at those museums), then were committed to the 10 consecutive days using the Pass, then were back to sightseeing without the Pass afterwards. It seemed to me that after 7 days, the Pass price for Days 8 thru 10 were practically free, so 7 days were kind-of the real sweet spot, but for 5 or 6 days, it’s still cheaper per day than just having a 1 or 2 day Pass. But if you have a Pass, it’s harder to justify going to the free places while your Pass is in effect, so get what duration works for you.

The Shard does still take some time. There was a short queue - arrive a little before your reserved time to get in quicker, then they want to take a photo of you to try to sell as a souvenir later, then you’ve got two separate elevator rides to go way, way up. Once at the top, depending on whether you bought the drink package at the bar there, you can stick around for as long or short as you want, before heading back down. Frankly, I don’t think I’d have done the Shard if it wasn’t already paid for on the Pass. We didn’t ride the London Eye. The free cocktail at the Monopoly bar seemed silly, so we didn’t go in there, either, but passed in front of the place while in Fitzrovia.

HI, Cyn. We also are two. Generally, we are joined at the hip, so both on my phone should work. After looking at what we want to see and what is covered, I have pretty much decided on the one-day Pass for The City and Greenwich, The only site covered for the Rick Steves Westminster Walk is the Abbey, but not the Churchill War Rooms or the Banqueting House, so I'll just pay for Westminster. I'm still deciding about the Shard and the Eye!
Thanks very much again for the details!

Certainly. By the way, Go City is continually running sales on the London Pass, some offers a bit better than others. We’re still getting e-mails with the latest discount promotion. If you’re not in a hurry to get your passes, get on their e-mail list and see if they can save you a little extra over the next week or two.

Also, the Banqueting House is one of my favorite things in London, a treat we saw immediately before the Pandemic shut things down. Since then, I believe it’s only been open sporadically, and needed to be checked for when and if it would be accessible. Maybe that’s changed, but make sure it will be open, and if reservations are needed, too.

Banqueting House closure

Banqueting House is now closed for a period of essential re-servicing, conservation, and maintenance work.

It has been closed for ages and there is no indication of when it may open to the public again. I am a very active member of Historic Royal Palaces and I have heard nothing.

That’s too bad about the Banqueting House during your visit, but anything 400 years old might need some upkeep. It’s not quite the same, but another spectacular painted ceiling is at Greenwich, Thornhill’s Painted Hall, which is included in your London Pass.

If you can spare the time, a less-seen but very worthwhile sight just south of Westminster Abbey, and across from the Houses of Parliament, is the Jewel Tower, included in the Pass. Over 650 years old, it had a moat (now a dry trench), and initially held the king’s personal treasure. It later was storage for Parliamentary records, and at one time was where the official weights and measures for the UK were kept. It’s not huge, and its three floors can be seen pretty quickly if you’re in the area. Another thing that I would’ve missed if not for being on the London Pass list of sights, and the view, the construction, and the history were meaningful.

I noticed the Jewel Tower at some point in my reading up! Now I'll be sure to go in!