Travelling to London and are looking to take on some of the city’s most popular attractions? The London Pass helps you to explore many of our fair city’s iconic landmarks while also cutting down your costs. Is it worth it? Here’s what you need know.
Let’s be honest. London can be an incredibly expensive place to spend your time in – as one who was born living in London and has been based in the city for the past few years – we can definitely affirm that.
While some of the big places are free (mostly museums) However, most come with entrance fees that are eye-watering that add in the course of several days.
No need to cry into the cup of tea however, there are some canny methods to cut down on your expenses when you travel to London – the London Pass is one of the options.
What exactly is this thing called the London Pass?
It is a card which gives you access many of London’s top attractions for a period ranging between one and 10 days.
In addition to free entry to more than 80 locations and attractions, this London city pass also comes with added benefits like a complete guidebook as well as a hop-on and hop-off bus tour.
Overall, if you’re looking for London attractions tickets that combine attractions, the London Pass is a great alternative since it grants entry to many London attractions for a fixed cost.
How Much Does London Pass Cost?
The London Pass price depends on how long you’d like to use it for.
One of the great things concerning this London tour pass is that whether you’ve made one-stop stop in London or have an extended stay, there will be an option for you.
For a London one-day pass The cost is £75 per adult (£55 per child), however, the daily price is considerably cheaper when you purchase it.
What’s Included in the London Pass?
The pass covers more than London pass attractionsto visit, making it one of the largest London visitors passes.
We love that the pass has both well-known attractions like that of the Tower of London, as in addition to more unusual attractions to see in London such as Old Operating Theatre Museum. Old Operating Theatre Museum. As well as attractions in central London there are many more a bit further out – like Wimbledon and Windsor Castle.
There’s great variety so this is a great pass for lots of different individuals.
The London City Pass includes
The complete list of attractions that are free are:
The View from the Shard
Tower of London
Hop onto Hop off Bus Tour
Thames River Cruise
Windsor Castle
Westminster Abbey
London Bridge Experience and London Tombs
Tower Bridge Exhibition
London Zoo
Kensington Palace & The Orangery
Hampton Court Palace
ArcelorMittal Orbit
Arsenal FC Stadium (Emirates Stadium)
Apsley House
Banqueting House
Beefeater Gin Tour
Benjamin Franklin House
The best walk tour in the LDN around Royal London
Cartoon Museum
Chelsea Cinema
Chelsea FC Stadium Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
Chislehurst Caves
Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms
City Cruises
The Courtauld Gallery
Curzon Mayfair Cinema
Curzon Soho Cinema
Eltham Palace
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
Eton College
Fan Museum
Foundling Museum
Guards Museum
Handel House Museum
Household Cavalry Museum
HMS Belfast
The Imperial War Museum London (entry to one exhibit)
Jason’s Canal Boat Trip
Jewel Tower
Kew Gardens
KIA Oval
London Bicycle Tour Company
London Canal Museum
London Motor Museum
London Museum of Water and Steam
London Legends Walk
London Transport Museum
London Wetland Centre
Lord’s Cricket Ground
The Monument
Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising
Museum of London Docklands (with guidebook)
Museum of Rugby
National Gallery (entry to one exhibition)
National Theatre Backstage Tours
Old Operating Theatre Museum
Pollocks Toy Museum
Queen’s Gallery
Queen’s Ice & Bowl
Renoir Cinema
Royal Albert Hall
Royal Mews
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
The British Museum (entry to one exhibition)
The Postal Museum
Tour & Exhibition
Southwark Cathedral
Tate Britain (entry to one exhibition)
Tate Modern (entry to one exhibition)
Wellington Arch
Wembley Stadium Tours
Wernher Collection at Ranger’s House
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
Wimbledon Tour Experience
As you can see, there’s an abundance of options. There are a few important attractions that aren’t listed, however. For instance, if you want an entry-level London Pass for the London Eye you’ll be disappointed – however, that attraction is not included.
You also get a free shuttle bus trip that will take you via many of the locations on the list, and also an 175-page guidebook that is full of travel advice.
The London Pass does not come with free transport apart from the hop-on, hop off bus tour. However, there’s an option to obtain an Oyster (transport) cards which is loaded with credits for your entire trip.
It’s important to remember that traveling on the London Pass is not unlimited. While it’s great to get both the travel card as well in tandem but it’s not a significant cost savings to travel.
We aren’t convinced it’s worthwhile to get the Oyster option added to the London Pass unless you really need to in order to save time.
You can buy the Oyster card (get the standard one, not the visitor’s one) by making an £5 money deposit (which you receive back when you turn in your card at the end of your journey) from any underground station, including Heathrow Airport and just top your card with what you’ll require.
Furthermore The Oyster card comes with the daily cap fee, which varies depending on how many zones you travel to as well as whether you travel during high or off-peak periods. A daily maximum for zone 1 can be £7.40 or £35 for a week. This is a lot less expensive than the option provided with London Pass.
What’s the difference between the London Pass and the London Explorer Pass?
Another highly-rated London visitor’s pass is called that of London Explorer Pass. It is possible that you are trying to decide which is the most suitable alternative.
The two passes function different. While the London Pass is based on the number of days (with unlimited activities), the London Explorer Pass is based on the number of attractions available, however it is more generous in the time frame.
You can choose to purchase an 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7-attraction pass. There is no need to think about the attractions you’d like to explore ahead of time – just make use of the credits in the order you want.
There are over 20 attractions included with the pass. They include:
One-day Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus Tour
Arsenal Stadium Tour
Banqueting House
Body Worlds London
Chelsea FC Stadium Tour & Museum
Churchill War Rooms
Coca-Cola London Eye
Cutty Sark
Dreamworks Tours Shrek’s Adventure!
Hampton Court Palace
HMS Belfast
Kensington Palace
Madame Tussauds
Planet Hollywood
Royal Albert Hall
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Observatory Greenwich
SEA LIFE London Aquarium
Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition & Theatre Tour
St Paul’s Cathedral
Thames River Cruise 24 Hour Hop-on and off, and off Sightseeing Tour
The London Dungeon
Tower Bridge Exhibition
Wembley Stadium Tour
Westminster Abbey
Like you see a important difference between the London Pass and the London Explorer Pass is that the London Explorer Pass includes the London Eye.
A further difference in the 2 passes is that the time limit is much more flexible. You will have 30 days from the date initial activation of Your London Explorer pass to use all credits.
Then, is it worth the London Pass Worth Getting?
Definitely, if you are looking to tick off a number of the big items during your time in London.
We love this city but we must admit that London’s top attractions do not come cheap. That’s why London combo tickets are an attractive option.
Not only will they help you save a significant amount of dollars (more on that later) However, it’s nice to have prepaid for as many of the attractions possible to avoid having to fret about pricing for each attraction individually.
It’s not fun to decide which attractions are worth the price. But with this London Pass, you just pay once and then you are able to enjoy an array of fantastic things to do. In fact, it’s an excellent way to motivate yourself to go out and explore the most of the city as you can.
As a general rule you will find that the London Pass does offer great value in terms of value. If you can get entry into several of the most popular London attractions using a combination ticket, you’ll save money.
Even if you are only planning to visit a handful of London places of interest, the discounts are very worthwhile. For instance the View from the Shard alone is less than half the cost of the one day ticket, at £32.