London trip in 6 days! where to purchase rail card - two together

If you post exactly where you are traveling to, & the nearest station to where you're staying, it might help, I think there are a few different kinds of railways that could be involved.
How long are you staying, and what is the very most fun / high priority for you?
If you're getting overwhelmed, keep it simple as possible, and find what your MOST fun and your highest priorities. If you're staying in London for a week, choose like 5 or 6 high priorities, and start with that. After you know you're really centered on having fun, then other things can be added. :)
Looks like you'll be leaving soon, have you both ever been there before? Keep it low stress as possible, it'll be OK. :)
-Alison

Two together railcard.. Purchase at a manned ticket booth in a railway station. Print out application form before you leave and have it filled out. Passport sized photos are needed. Bring them with you. 30% off train tickets.

Thank you for your encouragemnet! I sure appreciate it.

Heathrow a.m. - tube to Honor Oak Park Station (near our airbnb)
5 days in London
Priorities: National Gallery, Hampton Court, Kew Gardens, Tower of London, St. Pauls, a couple markets, afternoon tea, Harrods, some good Indian food, St. Martins of the field (evensong and eating in the Crypt), certainly my son will go to the Harry Porter Warner Brother's park. I'd love to know if there is anything special (church, historical site,) to see near the Harry Potter place that I could go to while he's visiting Harry.
We'd love to see Les Mis!

Then via the train up to Lincoln for a night and Haworth for two (Bronte sisters) and up to Scotland for a 4 day stay in Edinburgh where we'll do the normal sights and probably a Rabbies tour to Glencoe. Train back to London for 2 nights and fly back home to Colorado.

We'd love to see Les Mis!

Any thoughts?

Turn up and pay on the day for long distance trains can be expensive. You can pre-book specific trains on the assumption that you already have the Railcard. (A 2 Together Railcard is not valid before 9.30am on weekdays). The cheapest deals can be found 11 weeks ahead - roughly. www.nationalrail.co.uk

Haworth is not on the National Rail network so, you would have to get to the nearest station = Keighley. For bus links > www.traveline.info

A railway run as a private operation runs on some days to Haworth =http://kwvr.co.uk/find-us/

Keighley is on a railway that runs from Leeds to Carlisle via Settle. It might be cheaper to go that way to Scotland? Please look at this map of the rail system:http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/images/structure/css/nationalrailnetworkmap.pdf

(Most tourists travelling from London (Kings Cross) to Edinburgh would use the main line and if they wanted to break the journey for a night or 2 would do that in York).https://www.visityork.org

Here is the site for the main direct train operator between London (Kings Cross) & Scotland via York (certain legs can also be made by other train companies):>https://www.lner.co.uk

You can buy the railcard online......https://secure.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/login-or-register......then all you have to do is take your passport size pictures up to the ticket booth and pick up your ticket. When you purchase it online it will give you a confirmation number that you will need to show when you pick up your railcard. It’s very simple and easy to do.

Thank you so much for all of your help! What a great forum with such kind people!

What are your 16 year old son's priorities?

He researched places he wanted go - London, Lincoln, Haworth and Edinburgh - all his idea - he's paid for his own ticket and will bring all of his own spending money - worked quite a while to earn this - I'm so proud of him :-) He really wants to see as many Harry Potter sights as possible - we'll do that in London and Edinburgh. He loves the countryside and wants to go to Glencoe in Scotland, the castle, the coast. He's excited about afternoon tea, LOVES tea! The markets are a priority along with castles and historic houses. I know this is a lot so we will really have to scale down. Probably take a hop on hop off bus our first day to get a sense of our surroundings. I'd love any suggestions. Thank you!

We will be in London in a week, when I read online about the 2 For 1 Railcard, it sounds like they have to mail it to you, which of course won't work in my case. Is this correct, or can we get it on the spot if we have the appication and our photos? Thanks. You have to have a PhD to figure out their transportation, so many options!

Another question, is the Two for One Railcard 30 pounds per person, or 30 pounds TOTAL for 2 people? Trying to figure out if we should get this or the Weekly Season Ticket. We'll take the train from Woking into London about 4 times round trip.

£30 total. Only valid from 0930 Monday to Friday. Buy from National Rail station. It is Two Together not Two for One (which might imply a 50% discount when in reality it is 34%).

Thanks Marco. I need to keep that in mind to make sure the "after 9:30" Mon - Fri will work. May shoot for the weekly season ticket instead, what do you think of that? Is it restricted too? If we take 4 round trips into London from Woking, it's around $26.50 per person US. ($106 total US per pass, dividing by 4 trips).

There is also a question from the OP regarding the 2-4-1 offer on sightseeing attractions when you,travel by National Rail. You can read more about them here:

https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

For these, you can either use a National Rail ticket into London on the day you visit the attraction, or you can get a Travelcard for one day or 7 days from National Rail. Both people must have the rail ticket or Travelcard. The Travelcard will cover all your transport in London by Tube or bus as well as give access to the 2-4-1 offers.

Note in particular:

The ticket must be for a National Rail train, not the Tube or London Overground. The Travelcard must be a paper Travelcard purchased from a National Rail station, not a Tube station.

You must print out the voucher for each attraction from the Days Out website, or find them in booklets at some rail stations. Waterloo had them the last time we were there.

Thanks Lola!!!!

Lola, is the 7 day Travelcard the same thing as the Weekly seasonal pass?

Re Harry Potter. A couple of things. Its not clear if you have bought your tickets already. If, as seems to be the case, you are travelling quite soon and have not bought the tickets yet, buying direct from the studio probably wont be possible as they will be sold out. I think your only option would be to book via Golden Tours, if they still have spaces. Others on the forum will know the pros and cons of this better then me and could advise you if this is the case. Would also suggest that it would be a mistake for you not to go to HP with your son - I understand that, even for non-HP fans, its a great experience and would be fun to enjoy together.

Additionally, for another Harry Potter experience, look at London walks. www.walks.com They have lots of walking tours, including three Harry Potter themed walks. I notice you plan to go to the Crypt at Trafalgar Square and you can pick up the leaflets about their walking tours from the info desk there.

I am not familiar with a weekly seasonal pass, only the 7-Day Travelcard.

You can see more information about using it for the 2-4-1 offers here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186338-c195600/London:United-Kingdom:2.4.1.Travelcards.Step.By.Step.html.

However, I am seeing new information online, stating that the paper Travelcard can only be purchased in advance from VisitBritain.

https://www.visitbritainshop.com/usa/london-travelcard/

Apparently if you buy it in London, it can only be loaded onto an Oyster Card, and thus will not be valid for the 2-4-1 offers. This is news to me, but our last visit to London was in May 2016, We bought our 7-day Travelcard at the Waterloo train station then.

Hopefully someone familiar with the new purchase procedure can confirm.

"However, I am seeing new information online, stating that the paper Travelcard can only be purchased in advance from VisitBritain."

Incorrect, the 2 for 1 eligable travelcards have to be bought from a National Rail station, it appears (from another travel site) that the ones that Visit Britain sell are TFL types and the info on their site is inaccurate (one suspects deliberately, so you buy what you don't want from them).

Thank you so much! I suspected that may be the case, as the only place I saw that (mis)information was on the Visit Britain website.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g186338-i17-k12011711-7_Day_Travelcard_paper_purchase_in_advance-London_England.html

C'est moi! Did you suspect that?

Kings Cross has a HP store with a place to take a photo of platform 91/2.
St Pauls has a circular stair case which was in several of the movies. But, you have to take a tour in order to see the staircase.
Do a google search to find more tips on HP public spaces.

BTW, hats off to to your son for earning the trip money!

Thank you, thank you!! Yes, I'm proud of him and feel so lucky to get to be a part of his dream trip!
You all have been so helpful!