Spending 5 nights in London and 9 nights in paris (end of November first part of December)
What are your suggestions for going outside of London and Paris. In London Going to Bath, maybe York if we have time..In Paris going to Normandy and Versailles and maybe another ...take a bus tour or go by train and pickup a tour when we get there? Explain how an oyster card works alone and a oyster card and travel card together works....Thank You Renee
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8058 posts
With 5 nights, Bath is fine, maybe swing back through Stonehenge. If you are a Maritime History buff, Portsmouth or Greenwich are good spots and close. York may be a little far for your time frame.
For France, Normandy might best be done by tour, but Versailles can be done easily by local train.
To my recollection, an Oyster card is only good for transit within London and Environs, functioning as a multiday pass; if by Travel card you mean a Britpass, that would be separate.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
An Oyster card is a credit card which you can quickly use to scan yourself through entry and exit gates on the London Underground and pay for buses. You can either charge it with a value of money that you can use to pay for individual journeys or have it programmed as a "travelcard" that gives you unlimited journeys over a week, month or year. You can also get one day travelcards but those are still given as traditional paper tickets.
Note that if you use it as a cash equivalent you can only use it on Underground trains and buses. If you charge it as a travelcard it can also be used on suburban railway trains. But be careful, there are six fare zones in London and if you go too far out there is a heavy on the spot penalty. Most tourist attractions are in the two central zones so it will probably cheaper to get a two zone card, but be very careful to check where those zones end.
Posted by
Bromley, Kent,, UK
1829 posts
The Transport for London site explains the ins and out of the Oyster Card. Also useful for journey planning in the London area.