My family will be in London soon, and after much analysis we plan to buy a 7 day travelcard from a rail station in order to take advantage of the many 2 for 1 offers. Oystercard won't really work for us because of our two boys. My question is that I'd like to book ahead as many things as possible in order to avoid lines, but it looks to me like the only way to get the 2 for 1 discount is to show up a site's ticket window in hand with the paper travelcard and wait in the regular line. Is there anyway around this? Thank you.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, United States
96 posts
Thanks Steve. Trying not to over think, but I am sitting in a Holiday Inn in Minneapolis with my family where we were forced to spend the night last night because our Delta flight to Heathrow was cancelled. Cancelled not because they didn't have a plane, but because they didn't have a flight crew. We're adjusting to the fact that we'll have an entire day less in London than planned. SO -- if anyone out there is about to book a flight on Delta -- my advice is don't do it!!
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, United States
96 posts
Well, i guess it's really the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms, Tower of London and Imperial War Museum (my boys will be into that, me not so much). Per Rick's book, looks like we can avoid the Tower lines by buying tickets in a "secret" gift shop. So maybe the question is what kind of ticket lines will be facing at the Churchill and Imperial War museums if we don't buy those ahead? Anyone know?
Posted by
San Francisco
14980 posts
Hi Lynne,
There is no line to deal with when you go to the Imperial War Museum, went there twice in my 2009 trip and once on this past trip from May-June 2010. Never encountered a line, and admittance is free. The Museum closes at 5PM, which I think is a bit of a drawback, but so does the military/army museum in Vienna...also closes at 5PM. Never a line there either, but it does charge admittance. The two times I visited the Imperial War Museum in 2009 was in the summer.
Posted by
Tipton, Iowa
332 posts
Lynne, admission to the Imperial War Museum is free with no lines. Days Out has a 2 for 1 offer on the IWM Horrible Histories Exhibition which they particularly recommend for children 8-12. http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conEvent.2377 .
A few Days Out offers require you to book ahead, the rest are only good on the day at the attraction. The Tower of London Days Out 2 for 1 discount is only available at the ticket booth, not at the secret gift shop or elsewhere. If the line is unmanageable, buy at the gift shop, if not, take the discount. For a savings of £19 I would tolerate a bit of a wait.