London train/underground travel cards?
we are going to London in July for few days (2 adults and 2 children) we have to get train from LUTON AIRPORT to LONDON (1 way), LONDON to WINDSOR (return), and we will have to get a train from LONDON to LOWESTOFT (1 way) after the few days. we will also have a bit of underground use while moving around.
can anyone tell me is there any card/ticket i can get to help save on all these trips. and how do i purchase it if there is i have tried looking it up but dont know what im looking for so its hard to look it up..
please help if you can between flights trains and hotels its driving me mad
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For travel within the London Zones on all forms of transport a Visitor Travelcard or Oyster Card
are the best tickets www.tfl.gov.uk
Luton, Windsor and Lowestoft are outside the London travel zones. For those journeys you will need to buy separate tickets from the station ticket offices:-
Luton Airport Parkway Station to London St Pancras Trains every 15 minutes take 30 minutes
London Paddington to Windsor (change at Slough) Trains every few minutes Takes 40 minutes
London Waterloo to Windsor direct. Trains every 30 minutes. Takes 55 minutes
London Liverpool Street to Lowestoft Trains every 2 hours; most require a change at Ipswich. Journey takes 2 hours
For the London to Lowestoft journey only much cheaper tickets are available if you book in advance for specifically timed trains. Booking opens 12 weeks before your journey www.nationalrail.co.uk
You will need your booking reference number and the same credit card you used online to collect your tickets from Liverpool Street Station
You might also consider BRITRAIL PASSES which must be bought before arrival in the U.K.
www.britrail.com
For the adults, yes, a 7 day travelcard is best. A pre-pay (pay as you go) oyster is out of the question - way too complicated and expensive. One day travelcards are £5.30 for an off-peak ticket (after 9.30am mon-fri, and the peak cards are more expensive), so for 6 days this totals £31.80, whereas a 7 day card that allows you to travel at any time of day will cost you £24.20 each - way better. You don't need a photo. For the 14 year old, its a bit more complex. There are no 7 day travelcards for children at short notice. If you are planning to return to London later, you can apply for the oyster card and it will arrive in 4 weeks, but I wouldn't bother. If the child is travelling with an adult that has a travelcard (which they will be), then a one day off-peak travelcard is £1. A single before 9.30 (if you need to travel then) will be £2 - so for 6 days, it will cost you about £6 (the 7 day card would be £12.10 so you'd need to travel at least 3 times before 9.30 am for it to be worth getting a child oyster card). You can buy one day travelcards 4 days in advance, so you will only need to go to the ticket office twice during your stay. The adult fares I have quoted are for zones 1 and 2, which will cover you for central London - more than enough if you're just doing tourist type stuff (except, as previously mentioned, Hampton court and a few other places - but unless you're going out of central London EVERY day, its not worth getting anything more than zones 1 and 2).
For traveling around the tube/ buses/ docklands light railway in London you'll probably be better off getting an Oyster Card. If you check out their website you'll find all the info you need there.
As for the trains, well the earlier the book the more you'll save. You can try the National Rail Enquiries website or Trainline.com. Both sites let you book in advance - though I think 6 months ahead is as far as they go.
yes