London Pass or just the Hop On Hop Off Bus

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

 

Breakfast is buffet style - cereal, yogurt, fruit, bread, scrambled eggs, British (Proper) bacon, beans, mushrooms, sausage, juice, coffee/tea/milk, a normal British breakfast.

 

A small correction to Phabric's post 

 

7 minutes ago, cruisegal415 said:

Unless we book it for the time we know we would get there.  That's why I'm trying to figure out how much time to allow to leave the airport, get to our hotel on Buckingham Road, check in, drop bags, then get to the pickup location which is either the Tower of London or the London Eye

 

That's gonna be real difficult to figure - plane early or late, airport formalities 45 minutes or 90 minutes, travel time to hotel, a line at the hotel?, travel time to London Eye  (direct tube Victoria to Westminster then walk across Westminster Bridge.)

Might be as early as 10.30, might not be til gone 1pm.

 

Two suggestions.....

 

Book for 1pm or later. From your hotel take the tube to Westminster, then with any time in-hand check-out Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, mebbe 10 Downing Street, etc. Give yourselves 20 minutes to walk across Westminster Bridge to the pick-up point in Belvedere Road.

 

Or, because of the timing difficulty and the location of your hotel, choose instead to do the tour on one of the ho-ho buses. They're very frequent - about 10 minute intervals. And there's a stop on Birdcage Walk - lots of folk get off here to walk round the corner, where buses aren't permitted, to see Buckingham Palace so don't be dismayed if there's a line at the bus stop.

(in fact, when you get to the steps of the bus consider letting others go past you so that you're first-in-line for the best seats on the next bus )

No need to pre-book altho' that gets you a discount. And the booking isn't for a set time.

I'd be inclined to book with Original - not just because their buses are proper London red instead of muddy brown, but because the validity of the ticket kicks in for 24 hours from when you board, so still valid next morning. I think that Big Bus and Golden Tours ho-ho tickets are only valid until the end of the day.

 

JB 

[phabric]

16 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

A small correction to Phabric's post 

 

 

JB 

British (proper) bacon is like our Canadian Back bacon except our Canadian Back bacon has corn meal on the outside of the piece.  It can be bought as a whole piece or sliced in a package to be fried.  At fairs/outdoor events, Canadian Back bacon is bar-b-qued and put in a bun.

 

I prefer Canadian Back bacon/British (proper) as it is all meat.

[John Bull]

1 minute ago, phabric said:

British (proper) bacon is like our Canadian Back bacon except our Canadian Back bacon has corn meal on the outside of the piece.  It can be bought as a whole piece or sliced in a package to be fried.  At fairs/outdoor events, Canadian Back bacon is bar-b-qued and put in a bun.

 

I prefer Canadian Back bacon/British (proper) as it is all meat.

 

I'm comparing it to that frazzled & fractured burnt streaky bacon served in US hotels, motels & cruise ships.

My numerous pilgrimages to the US preaching the merits of proper bacon to motel-keepers seem to have had no effect, but I shall persevere with my missionary work  

 

JB 

[Ladybug18]

3 hours ago, megr1125 said:

I actually was going to do a HOHO bus but opted for the much cheaper, and still double decker, megabus tour.  It was really good, around 2 hours and you see a lot.   It's recorded narration but they use 2 different voices so I actually paid attention.

 

I will definitely look into the Megbus. thank you!

3 hours ago, megr1125 said:

Get the CITYMAPPER app.  It's FABULOUS and really makes getting around easy as it shows lots of ways to get from point A to point B.  It made London almost megr1125-proof! 😁

 

OYSTER cards are great or you can use contactless credit cards or smart phones with apple pay or google pay but each person needs a different one.  I got a regular oyster card at LHR as opposed to the visitor one, loaded around 30 GBP and ran all over for 3 days!  I think I wound up with a little bit left, but I just kept it on there instead of getting a refund.  I'll be back...(I'll leave the explanations of those cards/payments to the experts so I don't confuse anyone!)

 

I just downloaded the Citymapper app. thanks I'm excited to check it out.

 

I will look into the Oyster card. Might be good to use on the second day to get around.

[Ladybug18]

2 hours ago, Bob++ said:

A quick stroll down York Rd on Street View shows several small grocery shops including a Marks and Spencer.

 

 

Awesome, thanks making note of that on my London info sheet

[Ladybug18]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

I'd be inclined to book with Original - not just because their buses are proper London red instead of muddy brown, but because the validity of the ticket kicks in for 24 hours from when you board, so still valid next morning. I think that Big Bus and Golden Tours ho-ho tickets are only valid until the end of the day.

 

JB 

This is great info! Definitely the way to go is the Original HOHO bus company. We are in the same boat as we don't know what time we get to the hotel to drop our bags off after arriving on a redeye at LHR. Say we don't get on the bus until 1pm Friday we have until 1pm on Sat to use the bus which is great. 

[Ladybug18]

Since so many of you are so knowledgeable about London I figure I miles well ask this question....

 

What are the must do things in London with a short one and a half two day stay with a boy who is going to be 8 Years old other than his must do items of riding a double deck bus, taking a ride on the London Eye, seeing Big Ben, The Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace?  I want to make this trip as much fun for him as seeing London has been on his bucket list for years.

 

Thanks!

[markeb]

You have a fairly short period of time in London. You have the advantage of longer summer days, so you can do more in the evening. But you also need to pace yourself. For instance, do you want to do the (paid) Tower Bridge Experience, or see the Tower Bridge?  If you want to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, that's a chunk of time in the middle of the day. The Tower of London itself, crown jewels, and White Tower are probably "must sees"; just make an early start and try to beat as many tour busses as possible.

 

I believe JB mentioned walking along Whitehall. I'd second that. Go to Horse Guards Parade, especially with an 8 year old. There will be fully outfitted guards, along the entrance (you can go through) and if you're lucky they may be exercising horses. Go to Trafalgar Square and consider wandering to Piccadilly Circus, although it's something of a tourist zoo (Leicester Square, with the TKTS booth, is just up from Trafalgar Square). Westminster Abbey is definitely worth the tour (paid ticket again). When you walk out from County Hall along the south bank, you'll have an amazing view of the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben is the largest bell inside; you can't see it) and Westminster Palace, so you'll be in a great location.

 

You probably don't have time for the British Museum, but you might check out the highlights online and make a judgement call on a detour. It's one of the world's best museums, with mummies (8 year old boy..), but it is kind of off by itself, and can be an all day affair.

 

I'd personally pick a couple of things you really want to see during business hours, then plan on wandering around exteriors, parks, etc., a little into the evening. You'll get a flavor of London, but it's a big place with a lot to see and a lot of history.

 

That's a first cut off the top of my head, and not too taxing.

[Ladybug18]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

You have a fairly short period of time in London. You have the advantage of longer summer days, so you can do more in the evening. But you also need to pace yourself. For instance, do you want to do the (paid) Tower Bridge Experience, or see the Tower Bridge?  If you want to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, that's a chunk of time in the middle of the day. The Tower of London itself, crown jewels, and White Tower are probably "must sees"; just make an early start and try to beat as many tour busses as possible.

 

I believe JB mentioned walking along Whitehall. I'd second that. Go to Horse Guards Parade, especially with an 8 year old. There will be fully outfitted guards, along the entrance (you can go through) and if you're lucky they may be exercising horses. Go to Trafalgar Square and consider wandering to Piccadilly Circus, although it's something of a tourist zoo (Leicester Square, with the TKTS booth, is just up from Trafalgar Square). Westminster Abbey is definitely worth the tour (paid ticket again). When you walk out from County Hall along the south bank, you'll have an amazing view of the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben is the largest bell inside; you can't see it) and Westminster Palace, so you'll be in a great location.

 

You probably don't have time for the British Museum, but you might check out the highlights online and make a judgement call on a detour. It's one of the world's best museums, with mummies (8 year old boy..), but it is kind of off by itself, and can be an all day affair.

 

I'd personally pick a couple of things you really want to see during business hours, then plan on wandering around exteriors, parks, etc., a little into the evening. You'll get a flavor of London, but it's a big place with a lot to see and a lot of history.

 

That's a first cut off the top of my head, and not too taxing.

wow, thank you so much for this...Great suggestions. I had never heard of the Horse Guard Parade so I'm definitely going to put this on the list. Yes, the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels is something we also want to see and maybe do a river cruise on the Thames.

[PurpleTraveller]

I have replied to your other thread about Premier Inn County Hall and Waterloo (have stayed at both and both in great locations and also twice been in a family room at County Hall which were comfortable) and breakfast ( pastries and juice from M & S a few minutes walk away).

 

My eight year old son loved the British Museum (he really wanted to see the Rosetta Stone), going to Hamleys on Regent Street (wonderful multi-floored toy store), the Tower of London and watching the changing of the Horse Guards at Horse Guards Parade. 

 

Hope you have a great trip. 😊

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

I believe JB mentioned walking along Whitehall. I'd second that. Go to Horse Guards Parade, especially with an 8 year old. There will be fully outfitted guards, along the entrance (you can go through) and if you're lucky they may be exercising horses.

 

With an 8-year-old boy, that's the first thing that came into my head.

Ho-ho route goes along Whitehall so you'll see the lie of the land, but as per my post, you'll want to walk that area too.

 

Ho-ho ticket includes a short river cruise between Westminster Bridge (on either side of the river) and the Tower of London.

As per Markeb's post, for a visit to the Tower of London you 're best to get there early, so perhaps tube to the Tower (direct tube train from Victoria) and afterwards cruise back to Westminster Bridge.Then those sights around Whitehall.

 

Churchill's War Rooms are conveniently located off Whitehall................................

 but the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth would be much more interesting to junior. Aircraft, vehicles, tanks, boats etc etc ad infinitum.

Like many of London's museums, admission is free.

Nothing else of interest nearby but it's under 10 minutes walk from Lambeth North tube station.

 

The building in which the Imp. War Museum is housed is historic in its own right. Built as a lunatic asylum called Bedlam Hospital, it's the origin of the word bedlam.

 

JB 

Edited January 30, 2020 by John Bull

[PurpleTraveller]

I'd forgotten about the Imperial War Museum. My eight year old son also really enjoyed going there and it is an easy 15 minute walk from both the County Hall and Waterloo Premier Inns. 

[Bob++]

If you want something more exciting that a load of old buildings, try https://www.thamesrockets.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp9TypLOs5wIVmKztCh36xg_8EAAYASAAEgKkBvD_BwE

[John Bull]

8 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Or, because of the timing difficulty and the location of your hotel, choose instead to do the tour on one of the ho-ho buses. They're very frequent - about 10 minute intervals. And there's a stop on Birdcage Walk - (should read Buckingham Gate) - lots of folk get off here to walk round the corner, where buses aren't permitted, to see Buckingham Palace so don't be dismayed if there's a line at the bus stop.

(in fact, when you get to the steps of the bus consider letting others go past you so that you're first-in-line for the best seats on the next bus )

 

 

Apologies

Brain in neutral.

Stop is on Buckingham Gate,  just around the corner from Birdcage Walk.

https://goo.gl/maps/xTNHpT1YeXfpms7E8

 

JB 

[Globaliser]

21 hours ago, cruisegal415 said:

Unless we book it for the time we know we would get there.  That's why I'm trying to figure out how much time to allow to leave the airport, get to our hotel on Buckingham Road, check in, drop bags, then get to the pickup location which is either the Tower of London or the London Eye

 

And what will you do if your flight is an hour late? Two hours late? Three hours late? Delays of this order don't happen frequently, but they are not uncommon.

[Globaliser]

19 hours ago, Ladybug18 said:

What are the must do things in London with a short one and a half two day stay with a boy who is going to be 8 Years old other than his must do items of riding a double deck bus, taking a ride on the London Eye, seeing Big Ben, The Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace?  I want to make this trip as much fun for him as seeing London has been on his bucket list for years.

 

If he might be interested in what's shown there, the Natural History Museum and/or the Science Museum. Not every child will be, but they're pretty good for the ones who are.

 

Nearest Tube: South Kensington.

[emrmom]

Hi Jenn,

The first time we went to London, our youngest was 9. Her older siblings were well-versed in what they wanted to see, so the tricky part was keeping her entertained while giving everybody else what they needed.

 

I give a huge thumbs up to the HOHO bus. In this case, for a kid, the journey IS the destination ;). It's fun, it's something he's never done before, he's gonna be tired from traveling, if something catches his eye you can jump off and (when we were there) the narrators were always different and entertaining (oh, I hope they aren't using recordings!). Yes traffic is awful, but you just gotta relax and enjoy!

 

We were there for a while, so we did all the museums and must-sees. Her favorites, by far, were the London Eye and the Imperial War Museum (which has a great children's section). She was sorta interested in the Tower but a lot of it, she wasn't ready for (as opposed to this summer when it is her #1 Must Do), though the places where she could try on armor, etc hit the mark,

 

The very best day we had was the entire day we spent in Kensington Garden, specifically the Diana Memorial Playground. It was hot when we were there and to just hang out with what felt like all the kids of London, all nationalities, all ages, and wade through the fountains and picnic and enjoy our vacation was the absolute best.

It's so hard to know you are gonna be there for such a short time and need to DO IT ALL. But make sure you take the time to just *be* there, too! (Especially since you still be jetlagged).

See you on the cruise!

CIndy

 

 

[cft8]

A fun alternative to the HOHO bus (if you don’t want to “hop” is Brigit’s Bakery’s Afternoon Tea Bus Tour https://b-bakery.com - you ride around London in a vintage double-decker bus, while being served a delicious afternoon tea. I admit the commentary is a little hard to hear at times, but it’s still a lot of fun. 
 

We looked at the London Pass and decided it wasn’t worth it for what we wanted to do. We did not want to rush from place to place and we did not want to do more than 2 “major” things per day. We added up the cost of admission to things we thought we’d realistically see and it came out cheaper to just do them individually. We did purchase a Historic Royal Palaces membership, because we were going to the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, and Hampton Court Palace. It did work out cheaper to get the membership than to pay individually for those places. 

[cruisegal415]

19 hours ago, cft8 said:

We looked at the London Pass and decided it wasn’t worth it for what we wanted to do. We did not want to rush from place to place and we did not want to do more than 2 “major” things per day. We added up the cost of admission to things we thought we’d realistically see and it came out cheaper to just do them individually. We did purchase a Historic Royal Palaces membership, because we were going to the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, and Hampton Court Palace. It did work out cheaper to get the membership than to pay individually for those places. 

That is an EXCELLENT suggestion, thank you! Those are the three places we are definitely going.  

[cft8]

8 hours ago, cruisegal415 said:

That is an EXCELLENT suggestion, thank you! Those are the three places we are definitely going.  

You’re welcome. You’ll also get a discount (I think it was 10%) in the shops and cafes. The day we went to Kensington Palace, we got there right before they opened and with the pass we did not have to wait in the ticket purchase line, so we were about the 10th people in the entry line. At the time, they had the exhibition of Diana’s dresses, and we had that practically to ourselves.

 

For the Tower of London, we got there mid-morning. It wasn’t clear where we needed to go, so we did go in to the building where you purchase the tickets, but there was no line. There’s no expedited entry line, so we did have to wait 20 minutes or so. I think someone previously mentioned to go straight to the Crown Jewels part, and I agree. I wish I’d known that. By the time we got over there it was like a 30-minute wait. It’s worth it of course! They said the wait was closer to 45 minutes or an hour, though, so it moved faster than estimated. 
 

At Hampton Court, I was taking a class at the Royal School of Needlework, which is located in the Palace, so we got in to the grounds for that and then just showed our pass at the Palace entrance so I don’t actually know how the entry process works normally!

 

I ordered the pass in advance and they mailed it to my US address. 

[geoherb]

My advice is to try to extend your stay. Two days is not long enough. The first afternoon is usually wasted after a red-eye flight. There are way too many things to see in London. 

 

As for the TKTS, you may get lucky and be able to get tickets for the shows you want. But if you have your heart set on them, go ahead and book them in advance. I usually prefer to go for the shows that we haven't had recently in our area. All of the Broadway touring shows come to one of our nearby theaters, so we've seen Mama Mia, Wicked, Book of Mormon, etc. A couple of years ago we loved Everybody's Talking about Jamie and Hamilton, purchasing the tickets in advance. Last year we saw Fame and The Play That Goes Wrong, purchasing the tickets at the TKTS booth. 

 

As for buses, I did not find them too daunting to use. When we stayed in Kensington a couple of years ago, they were more convenient than taking the Tube.