London Pass

are you traveling alone or as a couple? What time of year is your journey?

By myself and in july of 2014

Very few people here have reported saving money using the London Pass without the transportation component. I don't remember any reporting having saved money with the London Pass including the transportation component.

You have to do the math to see if, realistically, it makes sense for you. You may move quicker than most folks and just want to poke your head in places and check a box off your list and move to the next - but your question doesn't look that way.

Unfortunately the transportation component of the London Pass includes all zones one to six, but everything you have listed is in zones 1 or 2. Therefore you are wasting 4 huge zones of unused tube and bus travel yet paying a premium to have them.

Beware that many of the attractions listed on the London Pass are in fact free to all, including most museums - but not those you noted.

Understood so far, but how about the ability to "move to the head of the line" ?

I am wondering this too. . . Is it worth paying extra for the privilege of skipping lines?

On the London Pass websites "Fast Track Entry" page, there is a list of attractions which allow card holders to "skip the lines."

Last June, I traveled to London and saw three of those sites. For the Tower, I followed Rick's advice and arrived earlier than opening, purchased a ticket at the gift shop, and queued right at the gate. For Windsor Castle, I caught the first earliest slightly cheaper train to Windsor. It seemed very crowded at the Castle, but as a single tourist, I was able to move thru the crowds at the ticketing area. Moving around the large, disorganized tour groups was the key! At the Abbey, the wait was maybe 20 minutes. It was crowded inside, but the beauty of this experience is that everyone is wearing earphones, listening to the guided tour. If you slip your headphones off, there is very little crowd noise. Cool!

Here is my short answer: Oyster Card (zones 1-2, with a bit extra for the tube to and from the airport)and pay-as-you-go for the attractions.

We had the London Pass (and it DID save us money). We got to Westminster Abbey 10 minutes before it opened and the line was already down the sidewalk and wrapped around the corner. I didn't remember whether there was Fast Track there or not. Right after the doors were opened, a Westminster employee started walking down the line advising London Pass holders to come in the Fast Track entrance. I was overjoyed. 20 minutes standing in a line wasn't appealing when there was so much I wanted to do in London! Anyway, I wouldn't have gotten the London Pass simply for Fast Track (we didn't wait in line at Tower of London anyway because we followed Rick's advice and went on Saturday morning). If you do the math, and it is close or saves you money, we rather enjoyed not having to buy tickets at the sights. Not to mention, if you like to buy souvenirs AT the sights, many of them offered a discount for London Pass holders. (And FYI, our trip was just two weeks ago.)

Oh, and one more thing. We did NOT get the travel part of the London Pass. We got the 7 day travelcard. Even though we were only in London for five nights, we more than got our money's worth out of it. Not to mention, we got 5.50 pounds back before we left the city when we turned our card in. (They must have increased the refund that you get back because everyone is saying it's a 5 pound refund.)