London Pass worth it for us?

If this is your first time to these places, I would recommend loosening up your itinerary and becoming as flexible as possible. Leave yourself time to really see what catches your eye and interest! And, give yourself the right to walk on past the sites which just turn out to be "not your cuppa tea." If you stick to your itinerary religiously, you will save a bit. But if you divert at all, you will lose money. My opinion is to skip the pass and fall towards the side of flexibility.

For instance, Westminster was unexpectedly closed during the morning we headed over to tour. Oops.. Plan B. Which then tumbled the rest of our plans... but we made it all work!

That's good advice Ann. Thanks. The only part of our time that won't be flexible will be the Harry Potter tour, because we'll have to book in advance. I'm perfectly ok with doing the other sites at flexible times...so long as I get to them! ;)

I'm not very knowledgeable - I am planning my first trip to London in July, but others have posted about 2 for 1 deals if you buy your train/tube tickets through the national rail. This is probably what I will do because a lot of the 2 for 1 deals are places I will go. You can check out the website at www.daysoutguide.co.uk or better yet, read some of the previous threads regarding oyster cards and travel cards. It's kind of confusing, but I think I have it figured out with the help of this forum.

Thanks Bonnie. The reason why I am reticent to do that is that I have also read that they are VERY particular about which passes "count" for 2 for 1. They have to be printed on National Rail paper, etc. That doesn't seem like its worth the hassle for me and I'm certain my wife won't tolerate me making trips in London just to find the 2-for-1 pass. Good suggestion though.

The reason why I am reticent to do that is that I have also read that they are VERY particular about which passes "count" for 2 for 1. They have to be printed on National Rail paper, etc. That doesn't seem like its worth the hassle for me and I'm certain my wife won't tolerate me making trips in London just to find the 2-for-1.
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You are making it sound much more difficult than it is. You simply buy your travelcard at a ticket office in one of the train stations (Victoria, Paddington, Kings Cross, Euston, Waterloo, etc.) rather than from a tube station. You print the vouchers off the 2 for 1 website for the sight you want to visit. Where are you staying? It might be easier than you think.
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Most people find the London Card is not worth the price.

We are staying at NH Harrington Hall near Cromwell Road and South Kensington Station. We'll be training into London from Edinburgh to whatever station near the city center that accepts trains from Edinburgh. I haven't reserved my train ticket yet so I'm not sure which one that is.

I only say that because someone here recommended a website that had just a WALL of text of dos and don'ts for the 2-for-1, made it sound like a huge pain, and that many people seemed to find it difficult to find the right ticket office that sells the correct 2-for-1. If you can make it easy for me, I'm all ears. ;)

Will you be leaving London by train? If so, your ticket to London from the land of the blue faced Picts and Celts and your ticket out of London will likely do the job with the Days Out promotion. The best place to get the rules and benefits of the promotion is at its official website http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/ticket-types.aspx

You will be arriving from the blue faced north at either Euston Station (Virgin Trains) or - much more likely - at Kings Cross (East Coast Trains). Both have ticket offices very close to where you get off the train who will be very happy to sell you national rail branded Travelcards if you let the ticket barrier munch your ticket from the land of what's under my kilt. If you want to save your ticket on arrival don't put it in the barrier machine - show it to a human.

It really isn't that hard....

I copied this from another forum. It simplifies it down quite a bit. Regarding the passport photos - someone else said they just have to be passport-sized. You can cut the head out of an existing picture that's about the right size. The passes work on tubes and buses as well I believe. It seemed like a lot of hassle to me at first, but this makes it sound simple and I think I'll save quite a bit.

(1) Go to www.daysoutguide.co.uk and print out every bloody voucher that's interesting.
(2) get passport photos of those who comprise your "we" and bring with you to the UK.
(3) purchase a 7-day paper travelcard for Zones 1 and 2 at a NATIONAL RAIL STATION (Victoria, Paddington, Marylebone, Euston, Kings X, St Pancras, Charing X, Waterloo, London Bridge, etc) from a manned national rail ticket booth (on the same level as the omnipresent Boots, M&S Simply Food, etc).
(4) present card and voucher at costly sites - Tower, Hampton Court, Cabinet War Rooms, etc., and save 50% off price of two.

Thanks for your responses. I will copy these instructions and be sure to bring the photos.

I went to the national rail website and found that we will be able to get incoming train tickets from EDB for about 26 pounds a person into King's Cross. We will be flying out of Heathrow at the end of our London time.

I assume that the Travelcards good for 2-for-1 cannot be bought from the States ahead of time, correct?

correct...

You'll be staying near the wonderful Bosphorus Kebabs on Old Brompton Road which is good spot for lunch after a visit to the VA or Natural History museum. Enjoy.

You can buy your travelcard at Kings Cross when you arrive. Just make sure to go to the ticket window in the train station and not the one in the tube station which is connected.