Planning 3 Days in London

London St. Pancras Eurostar station is centrally located and served by Tube, so your Oyster Card will get you there, or a few people with luggage may prefer to take a taxi, or you may even choose a hotel that's a walkable distance away.

Because all of central London is so well served by Tube and bus, we recommend choosing a hotel that is convenient to a couple of Tube lines, as much as any other amenity. Rick Steves' London guidebook recommends hotels in several handy neighborhoods, including near Victoria station, South Kensington, north of Kensington Gardens, and North London (near St. Pancras station, the British Library, and the British Museum).

Please see these recent London sightseeing discussions that somewhat duplicate the issue of where to base versus what to see:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/london-sightseeing-strategy

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/free-time-in-london

Oyster card You can buy cards (one per person) at the tube station in the airport. The card calculates the minimum fare - you don't have to worry about zones. The card is also good on the London buses. There is a daily maximum fare. Once you've reached this maximum, you won't pay for additional rides on that day - the card figures it out. You should estimate what you'll need and then ask that that amount be put on the card when you buy it.

Refunds This is important. You pay £5 per card in addition to the amount you put on the card. If you aren't planning to return to London in the near future, you can return your cards at most tube stations and get a full refund of the £5 deposit plus whatever balance remains on the card - provided that [1] if you added money to the card (topped it up) you used the same payment method and [2] the balance is less than £10. "Same payment method" means either cash or a single credit card. If you paid cash, the refund is cash. If cc, then a credit to the cc. If these conditions aren't met, then you'll get a refund in the mail - a check in sterling - which will probably cost you more to cash than the amount of the check. Presumably you can get the refund at the St. Pancras tube station when you leave. If you are taking a taxi to the train, get the refund at the nearest tube station to your hotel before you leave.

HOHO buses are often good for an overview of a city, but they may not be a good way to get around. London traffic is often very congested and buses are only able to move very slowly. The tube can be a lot more efficient. It depends on which sights you want to spend time at and where your hotel is.

Sightseeing tours in London are mostly a waste of money. You can see all the major sites much more cheaply on normal double-decker buses, paid for using an Oyster card. A route which covers many of people's top target attractions is to take the 15 from the Tower of London to Trafalgar Square (passing on the way St Paul's Cathedral, Fleet Street and the Strand, and then the 11 on down Whitehall to Westminster Abbey and Parliament.

Welcome to the RS Helpline where fellow travelers offer advice.

Please take to the time to do the following. Using your computer's search engine type in Heathrow to London. When the available links appear click on tfl.gov.uk.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/stop/940GZZLUHRC/heathrow-terminals-1-2-3-underground-station?lineId=piccadilly.

At the top of the page click on MAPS. From options on the left side of the screen click on TUBE. Then depending on the size of your computer screen and eye sight either click on STANDARD TUBE or LARGE PRINT TUBE MAP. When you've accomplished this you'll be able to see that Heathrow is Zone 5, (located on the bottom left of the map.) Zones 1 and 2 are basically central London and the area where the majority of the "must see" sites first time visitors clamor to view. The Oyster Card will cover the nearly 50 minute tube ride from Heathrow into London.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/transport-and-directions/underground

You'll need to know where your hotel is located and the closest tube stop. Will it necessitate taking the Piccadilly line from Heathrow and then having to switch over to another tube line at Green Park to get to your final destination? That takes time as well. Will you be able to walk to your hotel or still need to take a taxi once you exit the Underground?

Yes, the Oyster Card can be used to get you to the Eurostar station.

Given your statement you dislike the idea of sending more money on travel in a city than the deal you got on your Eurostar tickets you'll probably disregard the following.

After a long flight from the West Coast of the States I don't wish to dawdle. So after a Passport Control welcome I prefer to get into London the quickest way possible. Thus I budget for a more costly mode of transport. The Heathrow Connect or Heathrow Express. Use a CC at a ticket kiosk and enjoy a quiet and comfortable 15 minute train ride into Paddington station. I'm then out the door, walking to my hotel. Solely my preference. Countless other posters wouldn't choose to spend the money but for me it's worth every penny. London is my favorite city on the planet and I spend as much time enjoying it as I can. Since the mode of transport to and from Heathrow has already been budgeted I don't give it another thought.

In over 12 visits to London I've never taken the hop on hop off bus. Very walkable city. Parliament, Westminster Abbey, The London Eye, Churchill War Rooms, Horse Guards, St James Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery and St. Martin's of The Field are all within walking distance of each other. Coupled with the ease of the tube and frequency of busses extremely easy city to explore. Buy the Oyster Card. Off you go.

Inexpensive is a relative term but for a safe, comfortable place to stay without costing an arm and a leg try the Vancouver Studio Apartments in the vibrant Bayswater neighborhood. Two tube stations, major bus routes along Bayswater Road. Can walk to it from Paddington Station. Easy walking distance from it into Kensington Gardens and over to Hyde Park. Well reviewed on Trip Advisor. Have stayed here more than once. Never dissatisfied.

Enjoy you trip to London.

The hop on/hop off tour is not used as regular transportation around London. It is mainly for visitors who want to get a quick overview of the city highlights. (You've indicated that is what you want to do.) Some then stay on the bus and use it to link one tourist attraction (hop off, see it, hop back on the next hop on bus that comes by) to another tourist highlight.

As Claudia has said, many people who visit London do not use it. The London tube and bus systems are the way to go for regular transportation. Easy to use. Many tourist attractions are walking distance from one another, as Claudia said.

Study the tube map Claudia has provided. Also get a good map of London and study that. It helps to learn the neighborhoods of London and where the tourist attractions are located before you get to London.

Pick up a bus map when you get to London. Some of the bus lines link the tourist sights. For example, the number 15 bus will take you from Charing Cross Station/Trafalgar Square to Covent Garden, then on to St. Paul's Cathedral, then on to the Tower of London. Study the bus map and you will find this is also a good way to get around.

jwskms,

in my opinion and experience anyplace you want to stay should be okay. However, if any of you have mobility issues, maybe someplace closer to more private transportation access would be better.

the London tube is really nice and quick. I was using it without any issues on my first day and I've never used a subway before that. The best part its in English and so its easier to find your way around.

many of the attractions are spread out over London but the majority of them are on the north side of the Themes River.

just so you know, if i remember correctly, the Hop On Hop Off tours have 2 separate lines, so you will have to either do both or choose one. I didnt think they would be of any help to me since i took to the Tube so quick.

happy trails.

Consider choosing a hotel within walking distance of at least 2 Tube lines. When I was in London 2 years ago, several stations and even entire lines of the Tube closed regularly for "planned engineering" (maintenance). I stayed at Vancouver Studios in Bayswater which I thought was a good location. I was a 5 to 10-minute walk from the Bayswater station on the District and Circle lines, and from the Queensway stop on the Central line. Every morning while you're in London, before you leave your hotel, check the tfl.gov.uk site for construction so you can plan your transportation most effectively.

As far as hotels, I recommend Vancouver Studios. I stayed in a single room for 75 pounds per night which had a kitchenette. The location was great and the staff was very helpful.

And, Saturdays and Sundays can be major construction days on tube lines to avoid fouling up the weekday commutes. But, there are so many options, you'll be fine. They also post closure on large whiteboards on the walls in the tube station entries.

When you do your sightseeing plans, consider keeping it geographically contiguous to save time. London is such an easy walking city; you can cover a lot of ground pretty easily.

We got a good rate booking online with Premier Inn County Hall last year.

We tried the hop-on/hop-off buses once and found ourselves sitting at bus stops for much of the time. It was okay, but not our favorite experience. We had the most fun using Rick's London guidebook and following his walking tours. They've never let us down.

Ditto for his hotel recommendations. The one we like in London is Luna Simone in the Victoria area. This year we're headed to Italy with two nights in London on the way (and another two nights on the way back). We'll add a few pounds to our Oyster cards at Heathrow and then take the Piccadilly tube line into London with a switch to the Victoria line which will take us to the hotel near the Pimlico stop. Once there, we'll use the #24 bus which goes to some of the best Tourist sights and keeps us above ground where we can see the city. We'll use the Oyster card for everything.