All Things London

[Colorado Babe]

Has anyone purchased the "London Explorer Pass"?  We will be spending two nights in London and are just beginning our quest to figure out the most economical way to see as much of London as we can possibly can.  Is it possible to do 7 attractions in one day?  Or is 5 more realistic?  Is there a cheaper pass out there or a different means to see as much as possible on a tight schedule? Our flight gets in at 11:30 a.m. on the first day, and we plan on going to Buckinham Palace area the first late afternoon but were thinking we could do hop on and hop off the second day while using the "London Explorer Pass".   

[Globaliser]

5 minutes ago, Colorado Babe said:

Is it possible to do 7 attractions in one day?

 

Yes, I think it is possible - assuming that your objective is simply to set foot in them without taking any time to look at anything. All you need to do is to travel to your first attraction, enter it, find the fastest way to the exit, and then travel to the next attraction. Each cycle will take you about an hour, so you could get all 7 done in a single day.

[kctwinmommy]

We bought the London Pass to use for our almost 4 days there. It was a good deal for us, the things we wanted to see were included and it wasn't so limited. At the time, it also included fast pass for some of the places we wanted to go, especially the Tower of London, which was totally worth it. I priced out the things we'd want to see, with the cost in the London Pass, and we save money for sure! And the options are open, it's not just a handful of things.

 

I'll be honest, we used the HOHO bus to get from one museum to St. Paul's and it would have been quicker to walk it! The traffic in London is so busy, that it goes really slow. We didn't really want to use it for the sightseeing aspect of it through. The only reason we used it was because we had a 24-hour pass for it with our London Pass.

 

You need to realistically look at the places you really want to go, since you do have limited time there and figure out how much you can reasonably do. It takes time to get to everything, it's a big city, so it's a lot to cover. Our first day we walked about 11-12 miles ourselves, leaving our hotel, walking to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, then the royal horse museum (sorry, forgetting the name right now - brain is frozen in our deep freeze here! LOL!), Downing Street (kind of a walk by obviously), Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, London Eye, and of course, lunch & dinner while out and about. I think that was everything for our first day, and it was like 12-14 hours!

 

 

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, Colorado Babe said:

Has anyone purchased the "London Explorer Pass"?  We will be spending two nights in London and are just beginning our quest to figure out the most economical way to see as much of London as we can possibly can.  Is it possible to do 7 attractions in one day?  Or is 5 more realistic?  Is there a cheaper pass out there or a different means to see as much as possible on a tight schedule? Our flight gets in at 11:30 a.m. on the first day, and we plan on going to Buckinham Palace area the first late afternoon but were thinking we could do hop on and hop off the second day while using the "London Explorer Pass".   

 

I had very mixed feelings reading your post, as London is one of the world's major and most wonderful cities, and clearly you are trying to cram in so much that I don't think you will have a chance to really appreciate what you see.  OTOH, I completely understand being someplace for the very first time, perhaps knowing you won't be able to return any time soon (maybe never?) and wanting to see as much as possible.  But please realize that London isn't Disneyland -- it's not about squeezing in as many "attractions" as possible in a day; the "attractions" at Disney are rides that are minutes long.  London isn't a theme park;  it takes a good amount of time to visit London's major "attractions."  And, as others have said, they are spread across a very large city.

 

I think a problem with getting something like the London Explorer Pass for as short a period of time as you'll be in London is that you may feel the need to cram a great deal in so you feel you got your money's worth.  And maybe you'll get to some place and just not want to do a speed visit.   Also, given traffic in London, I think you'd get around much more quickly on the Tube (and if you purchase an Oyster Card, it won't cost all that much).

 

I think you really need to determine what you'd like to see in London, whether you will be happy just checking things off a list, or whether you want to spend some quality time in at least some of those places.

 

[Thejuggler]

If you are only there for one full day don't try and do too much,  there is no way you can give anything justice.  Maybe buy a travel pass or HoHo ticket and just go around on the bus and tick things off.

 

It is quite possible to spend almost a full day in St Pauls or Westminster Abbey or the Tower.  You could possibly do 2 main sights in a day, to try and do 7 is impossible.

[orchestrapal]

1 hour ago, Thejuggler said:

If you are only there for one full day don't try and do too much,  there is no way you can give anything justice.  Maybe buy a travel pass or HoHo ticket and just go around on the bus and tick things off.

 

It is quite possible to spend almost a full day in St Pauls or Westminster Abbey or the Tower.  You could possibly do 2 main sights in a day, to try and do 7 is impossible.

 

Well said!

aSide from all that has been said the traffic in London is often impossible much of the time as there is a great deal of construction. Take the HOHO bus ( bus lanes) All the way around and hope that some time you will return to London for several weeks to see some of what’s on your list.

 

 

[Cindy]

London is one of my favorite cities in the world...I lived there as a teenager and have been back several times as an adult, but there’s always something new to see and do.

 

i think you would be better off choosing two or three “big” attractions and spending some time at each. Trying to run to as many sites as possible is just going to leave you frustrated and exhausted. Fill in the rest of the time by wandering and people watching to get a feel for London. Don’t try to use a HOHO bus as transportation. You’ll be sitting in gridlocked traffic for much of your time! Travel by Tube is much faster, and it’s easy too!

 

If I had to choose just a handful of major attractions to spend time at, you would find me at the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum. You can see the main part of the Abbey or St. Paul’s for free by attending Evensong services (check their websites for times), but both are worth the price of admission. Take time to sit in an old pub and have a pint — walk the cobbled streets — people watch in Soho — smell the (gorgeous) flowers. Please, don’t rush from place to place just to tick a box...you’ll wind up forgetting most of what you saw because it will all be a blur.

[markeb]

I hate to pile on, but I think you really need to consider what you most want to see and do, and adapt accordingly.

 

London is one of my favorite cities. There's too much to see and do, and there's even more to experience. Traffic is at least as bad as Manhattan, and while a HOHO may be a good way to get an overview (if you don't actually plan on getting off), it's going to be very inefficient for transportation. The Tube will generally be much quicker, and walking will frequently be even better. Walking lets you wander through the Burlington Arcade, for instance. Or find a pub near Leicester Square. Or just stand in Trafalgar Square and take it in. 

 

What 5 or 7 attractions were you wanting to see? That would help with advice on what seems doable. As others have said, it's a fairly large city!

[wheezedr]

I’ve been to London on extended vacations on multiple occasions and there are still many things I am waiting to see.  I would agree on picking maybe 3 places to focus for a still very busy day.   Use the tube for transport to facitltate movement.   My suggestions even though they will force you to move around a bit would include the Tower, Westminster and the British Museum.   We also found the Churchill War rooms fascinating. Also try to take in at least one show during your evening there.

[Colorado Babe]

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I had very mixed feelings reading your post, as London is one of the world's major and most wonderful cities, and clearly you are trying to cram in so much that I don't think you will have a chance to really appreciate what you see.  OTOH, I completely understand being someplace for the very first time, perhaps knowing you won't be able to return any time soon (maybe never?) and wanting to see as much as possible.  But please realize that London isn't Disneyland -- it's not about squeezing in as many "attractions" as possible in a day; the "attractions" at Disney are rides that are minutes long.  London isn't a theme park;  it takes a good amount of time to visit London's major "attractions."  And, as others have said, they are spread across a very large city.

 

I think a problem with getting something like the London Explorer Pass for as short a period of time as you'll be in London is that you may feel the need to cram a great deal in so you feel you got your money's worth.  And maybe you'll get to some place and just not want to do a speed visit.   Also, given traffic in London, I think you'd get around much more quickly on the Tube (and if you purchase an Oyster Card, it won't cost all that much).

 

I think you really need to determine what you'd like to see in London, whether you will be happy just checking things off a list, or whether you want to spend some quality time in at least some of those places.

 

Thankfully, we will be back in London Next year as well and will be spending another two nights.  Since we are staying about 1/2 mile from Buckingham Palace, we will focus on that area and perhaps still get the Explorer card to see three attractions. I think that is still doable.  We can get in a few sites on the first and second day and perhaps a short tour the morning we are due to depart for our cruise.  Thanks you. 

Edited February 1, 2019 by Colorado Babe

[geoherb]

I'd always recommend spending more time in London if possible. There's so much to see that two days is not enough time. We spent four nights there a couple of years ago and upped it to six nights this past fall. 

 

I lived in London for seven months a few decades ago. DH had been with a neighbor before we met, staying with her sister. He had done a few of the highlights.