London Underground

Read the answers to the 3 Day Travelcard post.

Using a pass is a good way to go - I beleive it will be more cost effective than the oyster card. Also, since your time frame is fairly short you may be better off with a one day pass - for Monday since Sunday is part day as is Tuesday. Perhaps the hop on hop off bus tours on one day and walking the other day will get you the most for your money. I was there recently and for me it was cost effective to get passes by the day - since I did a lot of walking areound - many sights you want to see are close by and walking is something we like to do.

I always think the answer is always situational.

Let's say the traveler was arriving at LGW, LUT or STN, then an Oyster wouldn't always be the best choice if heading straight to the hotel and maybe a little walking around the neighborhood.

From LHR or City well, Oysters make good sense as travel to and from the airport in incorporated making it more worth while.

If you are just planning to use the Underground I would strongly recommend getting an Oyster card.
You just top it up with pay as you go credit and it will automatically calculate the best fare - as long as you always touch in and out.
You can buy them in advance (although it will be too late for you if arriving on Sunday). Otherwise just get one at most Underground stations.
If travelling Off-Peak (weekends and after 09:30 weekdays) in central London (Zones 1 and 2) the most you will pay in a day will be £4.80 with Oyster (as daily travel is capped). So you could, for example, add £15 to your cards on the Sunday and it should last you the 3 days (if travelling Off-Peak in Zones 1 and 2).
For more info, go to www.tfl.gov.uk/fares

Forgot to say, if you don't use all the credit on your card, you can get a refund (and the £3 card deposit) when you've finished with it, or keep it for another trip. The credit never expires.

And don't forget, "Mind the gap."

http://www.emmaclarke.com/fun/mind-the-gap/spoof-london-underground-announcements

RE: Oystercard
The credit never expires, but after 2 years it does become inactive, so you have to have it activated again when you top up :)

You have a fairly short stay, but plenty of time to see a lot. Remember that is can be somewhat time consuming to walk to the tube station, get where you're going, then find your way around once you emerge on the surface.

For three people, I might think about taking taxis. They are easy to hail -- just wave to one with it's top light on. You also have the advantage to seeing the areas you are passing and being let off just by where you are headed. The drivers are all friendly and willing to answer questions. For three people, the cost is reasonable and you can save time.

Just a thought.

Do "Mind the Gap"...........and if you end up not getting an Oyster Card..........don't worry.......

I just did what was working for the given trip....I was getting a headache on figuring it out..........but the folks at the underground stations are very helpful................

I'm with the taxi idea and walking. The tube was under repair many times in July and a ten minute walk turned into an hour and a half tube ride more than once. Three people is 6 pounds on the tube without the oyster. Taxis are 5-9 pounds across the city. Also consider the bus.

We were there in May and decided to go with the Oyster card after much reading. Once there, I thought it was a no brainer because it always gave us the best price. One day we went on the tube one time and it charged a £1.50 for that trip, that left £18.50 on our card. We ended up spending our last day in London taking the underground, which was not part of our plan, but because we used only £1.50 on the first day, we had plenty left on our card for that unexpected last day in England, which our days fare max'd out at £4.80 for all our tube rides that last day. If we did the 3 day travel card, we would have wasted the first day by only using the tube one time as we did walk a lot, and we would have had to purchase a one day for the last unexpected day in London. You can turn in your card at the end, redeem your balance and your deposit. We are hopeful to go back next year, so we decided to keep our oyster cards.

It was our first trip there and we found the tube intuitive and very easy to find our way around. We did many trains, and train switches and found it very easy. Our first day there we asked for help about picking up student travel cards we had applied for ahead of time and we found the person who helped us very helpful with our questions. Have fun!