Transportation passes for London & Edinburgh

For London I suggest you get a 7-day Travelcard from a National Rail station (not to be confused with the 7-day Travelcard that can be loaded onto an Oyster). You can use this on the bus, tube, and rails. It also allows you to take advantage of 2 for 1 offers, which allow 2 people into many tourist attractions for the price of 1. If you are not familar with this offer, please see http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london Print out vouchers for all the tourist sights you plan to visit in London, and present them along with your Travelcards at the attractions. (You can often find blanks at the rail stations in London, but I would do it beforehand). Here's a link to the National Rail stations that sell the Travelcard: http://goo.gl/9vghc

Margaret, I'm another person who is planning a trip to England/Scotland this summer. Does that 7-Day TravelCard cover everything that the Oyster 7-Day card does? Because looking over that website, there is NO information on the actual TravelCard itself, just the 2for1 discounts!

Yes, it does. For info re the National Rail Travelcard: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/travelcards_oyster.html http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm http://goo.gl/9vghc Clicking underneath the station names in the last link will give you info re the station layout, and info about the rail station. This includes the hours of the manned ticket offices where you purchase the Travelcards. Clicking ''more'' in the white pop-up info box will lead you to Google Streetview for many of the stations. (You may have to rotate it to see the station). Hope this helps!

Kathy from the windy city - The Travelcards and Oyster Cards both provide transportation but they approach it from opposite directions. Pay-as-you-go Oyster is a smart card which stores credit which you buy at the beginning and top up as you need it.
You pay a deposit for the card, and at the end you either keep the card for use the next time you are in London or return it and get back unused credit and the deposit. There has been one report here of a person having difficulty getting back credit and deposit because of using a credit card. That was the only report of that so far. When you use the bus, tram, trains within the Oyster area which is basically greater London including Heathrow but not Gatwick, Underground, Overground or DLR (Dockland Light Railway), you tap the Oyster card on the big yellow reader and it starts your journey. Except on a bus you also tap out on the yellow reader at your destination, which ends the journey and the system works out instantly how much to take out of your credit. If you reach the amount of the appropriate Travelcard (peak hour or off peak - it only takes one peak journey to give you a peak cap) your usage is capped and you can hop on and off the transport all day and night for effectively free that day. If there is a day you walk and only, say, ride one bus all day you will only pay the Oyster rate for that one bus ride and no more that day. So it has stored value, is extremely flexible, you are not limited by zones, and you never spend more than you use. The only 2 downsides are: it takes a bit of time to redeem at the end, and it does not entitle you to the 2 for 1 deals offered by the train companies. ... to be continued

... more ... The Travelcard is available for multiple days or for one day. It is available in a variety of travel zone combinations. Heathrow is in Zone 6, most tourist attractions are ine zone 1, a few in zone 2. Gatwick is in rural Sussex and is not covered by a Travelcard. A zone 1-6 card is way more expensive than a zone 1&2 card. Once you have bought it you have unlimited travel on all the same networks as with the Oyster Card, but only in the zones you have bought. The exception is local buses - with a Travelcard valid in any zone you can ride any local bus in any zone. You could - nobody would but you could - have a zone 1&2 card on your last day and ride a combination of local buses all the way out to Heathrow (it would take absolutely hours) in zone 6 with the same travelcard. Once you have the card it is use it or lose it. Depending on when you travel you will have an All Day Travelcard or Off Peak Travelcard. There are no refunds. If you want to exceed the validity you need to buy a ticket, too. If you get a multi day Travelcard the days of use are consecutive. Have a bad tummy one day and don't use it? That day's purchase is lost. You show it to bus drivers as you get on, put it through the automatic barriers on any other valid transportation and >>remember to take your card from the other bit of the gate<< (many cards are "lost" by not collecting them as you go through) and be ready to show it to train and DLR inspectors. The travelcards are available in 2 flavours. If you get them for corner shops or Underground stations they will be branded with the TfL Roundel. They are not accepted for the 2 for 1 deals. If you get them from a mainline Rail station they come branded with the rail double arrows icon. to be continued again ...

... more summore ... The rail branded travelcards can be used to qualify for the 2 for 1 Days Out promotion offered by the train companies. So, in summary, I see no advantage to TfL branded Travelcards, and disadvantages that you need to be zone aware, use it or lose it, and they are easy to lose. If you want to make good use of the 2 for 1s (no discounts for one visiting alone, must be 2, and both need valid tickets) the National Rail branded Travelcard can be good, but it has the same disadvantages as the TfL one. If you are traveling alone, or don't care about the 2 for 1s, say for example you want to mostly visit the dozens of completely FREE museums, the Oyster Card has it hands down. I hope this somewhat long lecture (Sophomore College Credit at least - London Tickets 201) is helpful and now clarifies your question. If not, shout..

Linda, I can't tell from your posting, are you flying into London and out of Edinburgh? That will make a difference in recommendations regarding your rail travel. Also, I assume you want to rely on public transportation throughout your trip, since you didn't mention renting a car. (I'm not brave enough to try to drive on the left, and don't want to put everyone else in danger!) My husband and I have done London and Edinburgh in the same trip a number of times, and found something different to do each time. On our trip last fall we did two separate day trips from Edinburgh through Highland Experience Tours. Check out their website to see what interests you, then email them and ask if you can wait to purchase tickets for a particular tour once you arrive in order to allow flexibility. We were able to get our tickets the day before the tours in order to take advantage of weather conditions, but some tours may sell out way in advance. In 2008, we used Highland Explorer Tours and were pleased with them also. Send me a private message if you want any recommendations regarding restaurants, etc. Mary

In Edinburgh itself you can get a day pass that is very economical. The catch is that you have to catch is that you have to buy it after 9 AM, but to be honest that was never a problem for me. I guess when i'm on vacation I'm not an early riser. ; ) I can't remember the exact cost, but if you are doing three bus trips in the day you've covered it. Pam