London Transportation

The 7 day Travelcard is for 7 consecutive calendar days. Heathrow is in zone 6, all the hotels and sights are in zones 1 & 2. Its not worth buying a Travelcard for zones 1-6 just for the Heathrow transfers on the Underground just get 1-2 zone coverage and get an extention fare. The 7 day Travelcard you buy in London comes on an Oyster card and you can use it for Pay As You Go on the 3 days you are'n't covered by Travelcard and any journeys outside zone1/2
If you buy the Travelcard outside London you don't get this functionality. Best option is to buy your 7 day Travelcard from a mainline railway station in Central London. It doesn't come on an Oyster Card but gives you access to the railways 2 for 1 promotion which can save you much more money than the transport involved. (2 for 1 gives you 2 for 1 admission to places like Tower of london, St Paul's etc)

Thanks for the tip, Bob. It sounds like the paper Travelcard is a better deal even if I can't use it for Pay As You Go on the remaining 3 days.

Buy Oyster cards at Heathrow, load them with some pay-as-you-go pounds, and use them to get from the airport to your hotel and for any other rides you take that first day. Buy seven-day, zone 1-2 paper travelcards at a National Rail station and visit places that honor the 2-for-1 offers during whatever seven-day period you choose. Use your Oyster cards for all other days. Top up the cards as necessary. You can get a refund of any unspent money, including the deposit. Go to www.daysoutguide.co.uk to see a list of the 2-for-1 offers and to print vouchers for the ones that interest you.

Thanks for the suggestions. It sounds like the 7 day paper Travelcard is the way to go; it will save money on the London sights. A Pay-as-you-go Oyster card might be the best bet for the remaining days.

We've just returned from 2 weeks in London and I ditto everything Bob said..(after all, he does live there and his postings are always spot on). Cheers.