London - Tube vs HOHO bus

[whiteheather]

Hi folks, I'm from Scotland and while I am familiar with the UK transport systems I'm definately still a tourist when it comes to London. I have visited the city a few times over the years.

The last time I went with my husband and son who was seven. We used the underground to travel to our hotel, it was hot and crowded and on the way back the escalators were not working - that was along hard climb even with a cabin sized suitcase. We used the open topped Tour Bus and I can highly recommend it as a great way to get your bearings and see lots of sights in a relatively short time. We were there for four days and went to Windsor on one. We went by coach and on the way back on the motorway the traffic jams were horrendous - I wouldn't risk this method of travel. I know you intend to go by train, I think there are two stations you can go to in Windsor, it depends on which London mainline station you leave from.

A trip to Windsor will probably take up a whole morning and afternoon.

Have a wonderful trip.

[banditoo]

Hi Banditoo

We are staying at the Corus Hotel Hyde Park. We are planning on going either by train from Waterloo or coach from Victoria St Coach Station. Apparently you can book via megatrain.com and they have very cheap fares, but you can only book a max. of 45 days in advance. We are travelling with our 11 year old daughter, and the megatrain price was 20pounds for all three (vs 70 usually), and megacoach was 17pounds (vs 34.50 usually). We are planning on arriving in Southampton around midday, leaving London ~9-10am, but I don't really know what time you can embark - do you know this? I wonder if it is a standard time for all sailings? I would really like to see Windsor Castle but don't feel that we will have time. We will definitely go to Kensington as we can walk from where we are staying, and if we get the London Pass, would go to the Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. Definitely a river cruise, everyone says how great they are, and you can see so much (and better views) from the river. So much to see, so little time! Still we will be happy with whatever we can manage. No doubt we will see you on board. This sailing doesn't seem to be very booked out yet though.

 

Tintown

Usually check in prior to sailing is after 1pm with recommendation to check in after 2pm for faster service (this avoids the rush of the folk who have used ship transfers from the airports etc.) I think we will probably take the National Rail to Southamptom departing about 1100ish. The rail schedules are only posted 12 weeks ahead on the web so I can't get the specific timetable yet. The adult rate currently showing is 18.90 pound per adult on the National Rail website so I will definitely check out the megatrain site you have recommended. I still haven't booked accomodation but am lookiing at the Waterloo station area or Westminster area. Have you signed onto the August 30 roll call? I wish we had been able to take these trips when our children were young so that they could have the experience as well. They're now in their early 20s so we are taking the opportunity to travel while one is still living at home and can house and animal sit for us!

[agabbymama]

The tube might be fine for transportation, if you can figure it out, but you certainly aren't going to do much sightseeing from it. A lot of it is underground or sunken so the hillsides are higher than the track. You only catch glimpses of the town.

 

I did ride a red double decker bus from the hotel to Victoria Station and that was fun, then we walked to Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Big Ben, Trafalger Square, Picadilly Circus, etc back to Victoria Station. But I think I'd opt for the HO HO bus even if traffic is bad. I think you'll see a lot more.

[banditoo]

Tintown, I have looked over some of my cruise documents and check in is identified as between 1200 and 4:00 with recommendations for after 1 pm for a faster check in.

[SallyUK]

I live just outside London and visit the city both for work and sightseeing purposes. Would add the following:

 

* The bus tours are fun. I have taken them. If you go on them make sure you get the route with the live tour guide rather than the taped commentary (the taped commentary is great if you don't speak fluent english, but otherwise you miss out on the banter). Bear in mind we don't have commentary on our bus routes, so sometimes if you aren't local it can be hard to know what you're passing (even with help from a good guide book).

 

* A lot of the great double decker routes in London have been replaced by bendy single decker buses, so you can't see as much. Still, my favourite bus route for sightseeing is the number 73.

 

* Oyster cards cost £3 to buy, but at the end of its use you can get the £3 back, along with any money that you haven't spent.

 

* If you go to Transport for London's (TfL) website you can download maps showing tube and bus routes. They also have route planners showing approximate times and costs. London underground's tube map is iconic and frequently upheld as one of the best pieces of graphic design of the twentieth century. Download a copy, get to understand it, and you'll get to find your way round London easily. HOWEVER, bear in mind that it is not to scale, so tube stations that may appear close together aren't necessarily near if you decide to get off and walk.

 

* Oyster cards also offer reduced price deals at museums, restaurants, theatres etc. Deals change regularly but can be seen on the TfL website.

[Tintown]

Your information is really helpful.

Banditoo, thanks for info re checkin. We have booked via a TA (who isn't very helpful at all), so we have very little information at this stage. We also have a 26 year old son who isn't interested at all in the trip - can you believe it! Maybe at that age they have different interests??? We should organise a get together on the rollcall for our sailing. Perhaps everyone could meet up the pm that we sail, or even the next day which is a day at sea? Plenty of time, I might mention it on the rollcall, and see if anyone is interested.

[banditoo]

Tintown,

It would be great to organize a get together on the roll call! Not too many seem to be on there yet but we are 4 months away so hopefully more will sign on. My two kids would love to come, however the 24 year old is a teacher and will be just starting back with her students and the other is in his final term at university so neither can make it at this time of year. We tried to convince my mother to join us but she decided not to. I actually booked this whole trip without a TA; booked the cruise while on ship while on our recent Panama Canal trip, booked flights with our Visa points and have just now booked our hotels on expedia. I have found over the past few years that I do all the research and basically just end up telling the TA what to book so thought I might as well do it on my own anyway. Hopefully none of the arrangements backfire!

[pcur]

We've been to London twice for brief pre or post-cruise stays. With a short period of time available, and for a first-timer, I definitely recommend the HOHO bus to start. What is great about this is not only do you get the "look and feel" of London, but you also have the narrative, which we enjoyed on our first trip.

 

Then, the second day buy a day pass on the Tube to get to your sightseeing spots quickly.

 

We are thinking of going back next Spring 2009, and will take the Tube to the British Museum, and I will take the tube/bus to Windsor Castle.

[relaxatsea]

We just returned from London on April 29. We were there three days. We bought off peak tube travel passes for the first two days and thus were able to get two-for -one tickets on City Cruises for a wonderful 2 1/2 hour sightseeing cruise on the Thames which was one of the highlights of our trip.

We bought a zone 1-6 travel pass for our last day since we did some local sightseeing then took the tube to Heathrow.

We used the tube for all of our transportation and had no problems.

Have a great time! We loved London!

 

Wow, you are all amazing! Thanks so much for this very valuable information and links. I am so appreciative of all the expertise. Will absorb it and now be able to make an informed decision.

[DavidandPaula]

Thanks everyone for your input. We had been thinking of getting a London Pass, which covers all transport and entry to some of the sites around London. Also considering a one day HOHO pass as well, which also give us the river cruise. I know that's a lot of money, but it would cover all options I guess. London's a long way from NZ so we probably won't get back there for a loooong time!

 

We had 5 days in London prior to flying to Rome for our cruise last summer.

 

Flew into Heathrow at 5:30am. Months in advance I purchased the 6 day London Pass with travelcard starting the first day so we already had our travelcard to catch the tube from Heathrow to Bayswater. Also used it for the trip back to Heathrow on the day we left. Travelcard was great and we used it many times each day. It does not cover the HoHo bus or the docklands rail from memory.

 

The river cruise you can get with the London Pass is a great way to get down to Greenwich and back. Also there are a couple of sights that are technically outside of the Zone 6 that the travelcard is for but if you also have your London pass then it is okay.

 

Purchased tickets for the HoHo bus about 4pm and that gives you 24 hours of travel. I did one circuit and Paula also did a second circuit to get around on the next day while I headed out to the RAF Museum.

 

Tube is definitely not a sight seeing option unless you like to study human nature and you need a good map to associate the sights you are going to with the nearest station. Also a good bus map to fill in between the stations. We went down to the Chelsea Physic garden via the V&A and it took quite a bit of study to identify which bus to catch from near the V&A. We finished up taking 2 separate buses to get there and afterwards returned to Victoria where we purchased our HoHo tickets.

 

The only downside we found to the London Pass was that as we purchased early for arrival in London on July 6th the booklets that were sent were the ones for the previous year and we did find a few places where the offer had expired. We later found out the books were printed and being sent out only a week or so after ours were sent. Also read the fine print carefully as some of the offers only apply at certain times.

 

David

[banditoo]

David,

I think we will be doing something similar to what you describe though in a more condensed three day version, arriving by Eurostar to London before we sail from Southampton. I wasn't aware the one day HoHo actually covers 24 hours. That is useful to know as we could purchase one about midday when we arrive on the Eurostar and then still use it the next morning as well, if I understand your message correctly. Then we could either do the 2 day travel card or London pass which I'm still deciding on depending on what sites we may wish to still take in after the Ho Ho.

[DrFUN]

When I checked the Oyster Card site a few days ago, the purchase page said only UK residents could purchase it -- so we Yanks were out of luck. Am I correct that some of you non-UK residents were able to purchase it?

 

Also, what's the difference between the travel card and London pass?

 

(In our past trips to London, we've always cabbed it for the most part and just bought occasional individual public transit tickets -- but with the rotten exchange rate, we'll be using public transport nearly exclusively on our next visit -- 3 weeks in January 2009.)

 

THANKS to all -- and thanks to WHOGO for the truly super listing of admission prices!

 

Mary-Lou

[pcur]

We just bought a one-day travel card at the kiosk in front of the Tube station. As long as you use the train after rush hour (9 AM, I think) it's fine. That was on our second visit when we didn't use the HOHO.

[Globaliser]

When I checked the Oyster Card site a few days ago, the purchase page said only UK residents could purchase it -- so we Yanks were out of luck. Am I correct that some of you non-UK residents were able to purchase it?

If you're looking to buy a pre-paid Oyster, there is really no need to buy it in advance. You can buy it at any Tube station ticket office, and it takes about 2 minutes. You can also buy one at other outlets selling TfL tickets - typically newsagents and the like.

We just bought a one-day travel card at the kiosk in front of the Tube station. As long as you use the train after rush hour (9 AM, I think) it's fine.

The off-peak one-day Travelcard is valid for journeys starting from 0930 on weekdays (all day on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays).

 

Using a pre-paid Oyster card is guaranteed to be at least 50p cheaper than using a one-day Travelcard, plus you get the advantage that if you end up not using as much public transport as you'd originally planned, you only pay for what you use, at the discounted Oyster fares. However, the Oyster requires a £3 deposit, which you would have to find time to reclaim together with any unused credit; whereas you can just throw a dead Travelcard in the bin.

[xpcdoojk]

When I checked the Oyster Card site a few days ago, the purchase page said only UK residents could purchase it -- so we Yanks were out of luck. Am I correct that some of you non-UK residents were able to purchase it?

 

Also, what's the difference between the travel card and London pass?

 

(In our past trips to London, we've always cabbed it for the most part and just bought occasional individual public transit tickets -- but with the rotten exchange rate, we'll be using public transport nearly exclusively on our next visit -- 3 weeks in January 2009.)

 

THANKS to all -- and thanks to WHOGO for the truly super listing of admission prices!

 

Mary-Lou

 

I am from the USA and I have an Oyster Card. It made travel simple and easy. I think I paid a small premium to buy it here, but it was nice having it preloaded, and when we caught the tube from Heathrow to the Marble Arch it paid for itself plus some over our taking a cab. We each had a single rolling suitcase less than 50 pounds and a medium backpack. I love the tube because it is fast and efficient. Plus it is fun like trying to figure out a puzzle. The tube became invalueable as I made a horrible tactical error last November. We had purchased tickets for Wicked months in advance and it was at the Victoria theatre being a silly American I assumed that all of the big productions were on Shaftsbury avenue in the theatre district and that there was only one Victoria theatre. So, we left our room at the Marriott Park Lane at the Marble Arch and strolled thru the wonderful shopping districts and Soho on our way to the play. We popped into a bad but packed Italian eatery, and had a barely tolerable meal, and then with 20ish minutes to spare popped out to watch the play. As we walk to the Victoria Theatre, I see that it is Glengarry Glen Ross playing at the Victoria starring Jonathon Pryce. O, crapola! I have my wife ask the usher where Wicked is, and it turns out there is another Victoria theatre across the street from Victoria Station. I am trying to get my GPS fired up and I am frantically looking at my London map. The usher recommends a cab and I look at the non moving traffic on Shaftsbury and tell my wife, "Let's run to Picadilly and catch the tube". Fortunately her heels were not tall, and we flew down to catch the subway. We arrived with 10 minutes to spare, enough time for me to buy us a pair of champagnes and for her to go to the powder room. Our tickets were in the middle of the second row, and we had seen the production in New York on Broadway two years before. It was the best play production that I have ever seen, and we attend the theatre regularly.

 

jc

[DrFUN]

If you're looking to buy a pre-paid Oyster, there is really no need to buy it in advance. You can buy it at any Tube station ticket office, and it takes about 2 minutes. You can also buy one at other outlets selling TfL tickets - typically newsagents and the like.

 

Thanks so much, dear Globaliser! You always have the best info. We'll get them on arrival. (Can my husband and I use ONE, or must we each have our own?)

 

And may I trouble you to also explain the following parts from the Oyster site that I've highlighted in red...? (I don't quite get the "plus" -- and I don't recall what "DLR" means.)

An Oyster card can store up to £90 of cash which can be used to pay as you go,

plus your Travelcard or Bus Pass.

It can be used on the Tube, trams, buses,

DLR

, London Overground and some National Rail services in London.

 

I am from the USA and I have an Oyster Card. It made travel simple and easy. I think I paid a small premium to buy it here, but it was nice having it preloaded, and when we caught the tube from Heathrow to the Marble Arch it paid for itself plus some over our taking a cab.

 

And thanks also, jc, for YOUR kind advice! Where did you purchase in advance?

 

Appreciatively,

Mary-Lou

:)

[DavidandPaula]

Also, what's the difference between the travel card and London pass?

Mary-Lou

 

The London Pass is a ticket which will give you a lot of cheaper (sometimes free) entry to venues where you are normally charged. Where there is not normally an entry charge you may get other benefits. They have a web site to investigate it further, just google for LondonPass

 

The travelcard is just a ticket for public transport (does not cover some transport however) and once again it is explained on the London Pass website.

 

As we were flying in so early we purchased our London Pass plus the travelcard so that we had our ticket for the tube and did not have to run around and exchange any currency before buying the ticket to get us to London. Other advantage of the early arrival is that the train as almost empty.

 

Another motive for buying the London Pass was that Paula always tries to get maximum value out of anything like that so we were running just about non stop while we were in London. Her travel pass started to give trouble but the station attendant organised its replacement in a few minutes.

 

Didn't get a chance to try a London Cab as we used tube and buses the whole time we were there.

 

I was also pleasantly suprised about the cost of meals. I had heard all the usual horror stories about steaks that cost equivalent to 90 AUD and how expensive it was to live in London. We only had one "fancy" meal while in London and it was a little pricey but most of the time we just ate at local resaurants and pubs and didn't eat a great deal of expensive cuts of meat.

 

David

[Globaliser]

An Oyster card can store up to £90 of cash which can be used to pay as you go, plus your Travelcard or Bus Pass.

Because the Oyster is a smart card, it can store other tickets besides pre-pay credit. So you can buy longer-period Travelcards and Bus Passes that are stored on an Oyster instead of being in paper form. But these are of less use to most visitors, as I think you can only do this with one-week Travelcards/Bus Passes or longer.

 

One of the clever features of Oyster, to which the "plus" refers, is that you can have period Travelcard and pre-pay credit on the same Oyster. The credit is only used if you travel beyond your Travelcard's validity. So, for example, if you have a Zones 1-2 Travelcard and you take the Tube from central London to Heathrow, you just touch in on the way in, and touch out on the way out. The machines automatically recognise that you have a Travelcard valid for Zones 1-2, and then they will deduct enough pre-pay credit to pay for the extra journey through Zones 3-6, without you having to do anything more.

It can be used on the Tube, trams, buses, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail services in London.

The DLR is the Docklands Light Railway, which runs from Bank and Tower Gateway (near Tower Hill) stations to the east, and down to Greenwich and Lewisham.

[DrFUN]

Thanks so much, David and Globaliser.

 

This clarifies everything. Love the SmartCard capability--as we'll be in London for 3 weeks and might indeed use those "PLUS" features.

 

Appreciatively,

Mary-Lou (& Dave)

 

P.S. to Globaliser:

Forgive me for asking an off-board question here, but I'd be grateful to know how you were able to quote (in your reply yesterday) both to me (DrFUN) AND to pcur within one post? I've been posting here for years and never saw that before. Is there a forum I should visit for tips? (My attempt below to replicate your expertise is makeshift -- copying and pasting, but the arrow by the OP's name for my second quote goes to the first quoted poster rather than to the second poster because the paste was really to the first quoted poster's reference number, for which I just changed the name....)

[Globaliser]

P.S. to Globaliser:

Forgive me for asking an off-board question here, but I'd be grateful to know how you were able to quote (in your reply yesterday) both to me (DrFUN) AND to pcur within one post? I've been posting here for years and never saw that before. Is there a forum I should visit for tips?

There is a Help forum, which is a good place to go for these questions.

 

But there's a quick answer to your question. In each post, immediately to the right of the "Quote" icon, there's another icon that looks like this:

 

If you click that, it will turn red. If you click that icon in more than one post, and then click "Post Reply" at the end of the thread, then you will find quotes from each of the posts in which you've clicked that multi-quote icon (up to a maximum of three per reply).

[DrFUN]

There is a Help forum, which is a good place to go for these questions. But there's a quick answer to your question.

 

That is super! You've made my day, dear Globaliser!

 

THANKS A MILLION -- and I will visit the forum you linked as well to avoid asking questions already answered elsewhere.

 

Gratefully,

Mary-Lou

:)

[alphakitty]

The hop on/hop off bus is an acceptable way to get an introduction to the city, but is an inefficient method of transportation between attractions. Waiting times can be long.

 

I totally agree with this. We used the 24 hour ticket on the hop on/hop off bus for our first day in London. It gave us a great overview and narrated tour. We got off a time or two to visit certain places. The whole loop will take about 2 1/2 - 3 hours without getting off. The next day we bought Tube tickets and used that as a fast, efficient way to get anywhere we wanted to see more of. We only got 2 zone tickets for the Tube as most of what we wanted to see was within these zones.

[xpcdoojk]

I bought my oyster card from http://www.visitbritaindirect.com/en-us/

 

If I was doing it for the first time, I would buy it at the airport when I got ready to board the tube. I had too much time on my hand, and too much need to have everything done in advance.

 

jc

[DrFUN]

I bought my oyster card from http://www.visitbritaindirect.com/en-us/

jc

 

Thanks for the link, jc! We'll probably wait and get it in London, as suggested -- but it's nice to have the option of pre-purchasing.

 

Best,

Mary-Lou

[LindaAndBillTravel]

Buy off peak (travel after 9.30am weekdays), zone 1 & 2 travel cards. These are paper cards that get inserted into the entry barriers, rather than the plastic "oyster" card that gets placed on top. Zones 1 & 2 cover travel to all the attractions within central London and you can use the cards on the tube, buses, trains and light rail. This costs £5.30, per person, per day. So £21.20 for two days travel.

 

Using these cards, you can get 2 for 1 entry to many London attractions, by printing out the vouchers from this website: http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

 

To use this website, you may need to register with a UK postcode - just use the one for your hotel.

 

You can't use these vouchers if you have a plastic oyster card, and topping the card up with cash using the "Pay as you go" system. This is because the Days Out Guide is for rail travel and you can't use the Oyster Pay as You Go system for most rail travel in London. Don't worry if you haven't travelled by rail - having the paper travel card just proves you could of. If someone asks, tell them you travelled from Greenwich.

Sailingkiwi - Thanks so much for the link to this site! That works out to be incredible savings. Do you know if these Days Out vouchers work with any travel card? Including a 1 day zone 1 & 2 card?

Thanks,

-Linda