London Holiday Advice or Hints/Tips

xfive71

I've not actually stayed there so can't comment. A quick search shows that the ones at Beit Hall in South Kensington had good reviews, whilst the ones at Notting Hill/Pembridge Gardens are grotty.

The museums are quite well served by transport links. You could book a room at the Travelodge at Covent Garden (about £87 per night) and it is a quick train trip of a couple of stops to the museums.

At Covent Garden itself, there are plenty to do. There are buskers galore, shops and markets to potter through and a lovely London Transport Museum (£10 entry adult! free for kid) which has just been renovated. Plenty of vouchers to eat out around Covent Garden too.

minerva_windsong

The last time I went to London as a tourist we stayed at the Premier Inn County Hall (near the London Eye). There are loads of them in London, nice and clean, fairly basic but not hideously expensive, and you can do a search by attraction on their website if you want to get closer to the museums.

Public transport in London is so good though that it isn't really necessary to stay too close to one attraction, especially as an awful lot of places in Central London are walkable from the main stations.

mutley74

xfive71 wrote: »

I've not actually stayed there so can't comment. A quick search shows that the ones at Beit Hall in South Kensington had good reviews,

Yeah they are offering rooms at about £47 per room ( 2 people) inc breakfast!! Okay no TV, simple room with ensuite but walking distance to museums which make it easier to get there early or stay late!

DoctorOcta

mutley74 wrote: »

hey great tips in here. i may consider a a few days in the city now!
Just some Qs....
1. where does one pick up an Oyster card? As i had been told before its a min £10 top up for these cards..can they be used on buses as well as teh Tube?
2. what is the name of the area near the museums, in order one can get a central hotel? or can anyone recommend some hotels/B&Bs near shops and resturants, that are family friendly?

Get them from Tube stations or from local newspaper shops.
£3 deposit for the card. I would register them aswell if I were you. Means that if you lost them then they are protected and you can get your money back.
Registration can be done at the stations and takes a few seconds (a form per card - very simple to fill out) and doesn't cost anything.
Your child COULD get free travel
Look on the TfL website (w w w dot T FL dot Gov dot uk - I can't post links on this site as yet!!) and you can apply for a child rate ZiP Oyster card. This can be ordered and picked up from a Travel Information Centre in London. Then your child will pay £0 on the buses and about £1 max on Tubes per day.

mutley74

DoctorOcta wrote: »

Get them from Tube stations or from local newspaper shops.
£3 deposit for the card. I would register them aswell if I were you. Means that if you lost them then they are protected and you can get your money back.
Registration can be done at the stations and takes a few seconds (a form per card - very simple to fill out) and doesn't cost anything.
Your child COULD get free travel
Look on the TfL website (w w w dot T FL dot Gov dot uk - I can't post links on this site as yet!!) and you can apply for a child rate ZiP Oyster card. This can be ordered and picked up from a Travel Information Centre in London. Then your child will pay £0 on the buses and about £1 max on Tubes per day.

hi just another quick question on Oyster card.....
when i finish short break and return to Kings Cross for train home, is there a ticket desk there that i can return my Oyster card to and receive my unused credit back?

And has anyone else stayed at the Imperial College rooms...any views welcome on this?

applemango

Just wanted to say a big thanks to all who gave advice on visiting London.
I decided to take my three kids for the day using the SW trains offer.
It cost just £20 to get there (under5 was free) and armed with printouts from this thread we managed to see most of the main tourist sights.
We had a great day it was exhausting as we gave the tube a miss and walked everywhere.
I was a little nervous at the thought of going but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the school holidays and I would certainly have no qualms about going again.
The information given gave me the confidence to give it a try so thanks to you all.

mcphail

I have really enjoyed reading this thread, and others about London - been taking loads of notes - my head is spinning now!

We are off to London in October - 2 adults, 14 & 11 year old. Arriving Terminal 5 Heathrow, and can get return Heathrow Express for us all for total of £54 - using family railcard - this takes us into Paddington Hoping to stay Central, but not booked yet. Do you think this is the best way, or is there another way to get from Heathrow to Central London any cheaper? I'm also confused about the Oyster card versus travelcard - We are staying for 4 nights, so will probably be on the tube/busses quite a lot - any advice on the best one for our family.

Finally - I have a family railcard, but will that be enough to show when doing any of the 2 for 1 attractions, or will I have to buy a train ticket too - If I was to get the train from Heathrow, will that ticket be OK to show for the 2 for 1 for the 4 days were in London.

Thanks a lot to anyone who is kind enough to help.

susancs

mcphail wrote: »

I have really enjoyed reading this thread, and others about London - been taking loads of notes - my head is spinning now!

We are off to London in October - 2 adults, 14 & 11 year old. Arriving Terminal 5 Heathrow, and can get return Heathrow Express for us all for total of £54 - using family railcard - this takes us into Paddington Hoping to stay Central, but not booked yet. Do you think this is the best way, or is there another way to get from Heathrow to Central London any cheaper? I'm also confused about the Oyster card versus travelcard - We are staying for 4 nights, so will probably be on the tube/busses quite a lot - any advice on the best one for our family.

Finally - I have a family railcard, but will that be enough to show when doing any of the 2 for 1 attractions, or will I have to buy a train ticket too - If I was to get the train from Heathrow, will that ticket be OK to show for the 2 for 1 for the 4 days were in London.

Thanks a lot to anyone who is kind enough to help.

The cheapest way from Heathrow terminal 5 would be to use the tube to London (piccadilly line). It would be approx £4 cash or £2.20 using oyster off peak (aft 9.30am) for a single journey per adult and the children off peak would pay £1 from Terminal 5 to Paddington. The journey would take about 1 hour (you do one change at Earls Court onto the the district line) compared with about 30 mins on the express.

The cheapest way to travel in London is via Oyster, as it caps at usually 50p a day less than the Travelcard and as you can see from the above example gives you savings on single journeys. If you are using Oyster your children when travelling with you can get free travel on buses and pay £1 (they buy a travelcard at the station) for travel after 9.30am on the tubes all day. However if your children look older than 16 or want to travel before 9.30am (as with zip they travel on tubes for £1 all day not just off peak), they can get an 11-16 zip/oyster photo card, which you would order online in advance and collect, using id to prove age on arrival at Heathrow (Travel Centre). You have to pay £5 on each zip, which is then used for travel or refunded if not used. An Oyster for adults can be purchased at the tube station and requires a £3 refundable deposit-you just top up the card as needed, as it is reusable and you can get a refund of any money left if under £5 from the tube station ticket office, if you return it there or write away to get if
more.

Non residental child oyster application link
https://photocard.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gotoApply.do?type=under16&from=home&formType=1115

A daily travelcard for use on the LT buses and tubes, if purchased from a train station (not a tube only station) will have the crows foot BR logo on it as well as the London Transport logo so will be valid for the 2 for 1 offers. You need one per person with that days date on it to get the 2for 1s (i.e not 1 ticket between 2 people). A travel card purchased at a tube only station will only have the LT logo and not be valid for the offers and oyster is not valid. So for example Paddington is both a train and tube station, so purchase the travelcard from the train ticket office part of the station. You might want to consider using both oyster and travel card on different days e.g. if just doing a return journey to say South Kensington for Museums, it would be cheaper to use Oyster. However on days you want to use the 2for1 offers buy a TC.

mcphail

Thanks soooo much susancs - your post has been very helpful and explains things much clearer.

So, just to clarify things, when I get to terminal 5, can I buy the adult oyster cards there, pay my £3 deposit, and load it up with money for our stay? Is it easy to top up when we spend that money? Also, what about the children, you mentioned a travel card for £1 for them - can I get that at terminal 5 also?

Finally, my husband and i would have an oyster card, so no need to get one each day, but do the children need to get a travel card for each day?

thanks again - I didn't realise that travel in London could be so complicated.

ps - Children will be travelling with us, so no need for their own oyster cards. Also, going in 18th October for 4 nights, so hopefully before English half term (I think)

susancs

I would book a hotel ASAP as if you are going in the October half term, as a lot of the Family rooms in hotels,may be booked up already (especially if you want to be somewhere central).