London is one of the best destinations in Europe and hosts the main attractions of Great Britain: theWestminster Abbey Tower of London, the Royal Observatory of Greenwich… just to name a few. Fortunately, some attractions are free, but many other major attractions are not. Indeed they are quite expensive, and if you want to visit some of these monuments without spending too much, you will need the London Pass.
What is the London Pass?
The London Pass is a magnetic card that grants its holders free entry to London's top attractions. There are several options to choose from based on the length of use (1, 2, 3, 6 and 10 days) and pass holders can access all the tourist attractions included in the pass they wish to visit, without paying.
The London Pass is the first e London's premier tourist pass and in our opinion the most complete to visit the city. Here's what you need to know to fully understand how this pass works and if it's worth it.
The London Pass and its options
Whichever London Pass option you choose, you get the same benefits, only the validity period of the pass changes. You can buy the pass online by choosing the duration: 1, 2, 3, 6 or 10 days. The longer the duration, the more the price increases.
In addition to the different duration, you can choose to combine the London Pass with the Oyster Travelcard, an electronic card that can be used on the entire London public transport network: on the underground, bus, DLR (Dockland Light Rail) and surface trains.
Then you can choose to buy the pass:
- with Oyster Travelcard option
- without Oyster Travelcard option
The first use of the Oyster Travelcard does not activate the London Pass. The Oyster Travelcard can be used throughout London (zones 1 - 9), so travel to and from Heathrow Airport and London City Airport is also included. Transfers to and from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted airports are not included.
Benefits of the London Pass
As for the benefits of using the London Pass:
- access (at no additional cost) to over 80 tourist sites in London
- skip the line at selected attractions: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Castello di Windsor, Zoo di Londra, The View from the Shard …
- a 160-page London travel guide
- 1 day hop-on hop-off bus tour
- the Oyster card for public transport, if you choose this option
- additional benefits / discounts at selected bars, restaurants or shops in London
How much does the London Pass cost
As for the price of the London Pass, at first glance it seems expensive, especially compared to other cities where the passes cost an average of 30 to 70 euros.
The price of the pass starts at around 86 euros. This price increases based on the number of days and if you add the electronic card for transport.
However, looking at the price of London's top attractions, you quickly realize that it is not the London Pass that is expensive, but the overall cost of living in London ... Don't make the mistake of believing that this pass is too expensive. , you risk repenting on the spot if you start paying for visits separately.
To better understand its convenience, here are some examples of London attraction prices:
Tower Bridge: circa 12 euro
Tower of London: around 27 euros
Westminster Abbey: around 23 euros
The Shard (seen from the high European building): around 29 euros
London Eye: da 26 euro
...
Once you have seen the prices of the main attractions, you realize the advantage of using the London Pass.
Purchase your London Pass hereLondon Pass and all other London Passes
There aren't many cities in the world that offer such a variety of passes as London. In fact, there are at least 4 different passes to visit the city.
The London Pass was the first pass for London and is the main pass for city tours. Later the list was enriched by the following passes:
- London Explorer Pass
- the London City Pass
- the iVenture Card in London
All passes to visit London can be purchased online.
Comparison of London Passes
To visit London, you can choose between different passes and for each of them there are different options:
- based on duration: 1, 2, 3, 6 or 10 days
- for the number of sites to visit: 3, 5, 7 or 10 visits
- with or without the Oyster Card option to travel by public transport in London
Making a comparative table of passes to visit London would be really difficult. For the London Pass alone, taking into account the duration and the Oyster Card option, there are more than 12 different fares.
Finally, each pass offers different benefits, so it wouldn't be fair to just rely on price.
What other London passes offer
As we said earlier in this post, there are several passes to visit the attractions of the city.
London Explorer Pass
The London Explorer Pass is available in different packages, with 3, 4, 5 or 7 visits included. Additional visits to the chosen formula are not free.
The validity period of the pass is 30 days. While this may sound advantageous, there is little chance that you will stay 30 days in London.
This London pass cannot be combined with the Oyster Travelcard which you will need to purchase separately when you arrive in London.
As for the other passes, here too the prices vary according to the chosen formula. The price of the London Explorer Pass starts at around 70 euros for 3 visits included. While the pass for 7 attractions costs around 125 euros. The London Explorer Pass is a good choice.
London City Pass
The London City Pass has a different logic than the 2 previous passes. It is available in 3 different formulas:
- Starter
- Classic
- Best
On every London City Pass ticket you can add the Oyster Card option. An advantage over the London Explorer Pass.
The different formulas include certain visits and, in some cases, it is necessary to choose between 2 attractions. For example, the STARTER and CLASSIC passes allow you to choose whether to visit the Tower of London or Kesington Palace. If you want to visit both you will have to pay one of the 2 ...
The BEST is a little more complete, but its price (around 160 euros without the Oyster Travelcard) is not cheap compared to the London Pass.
Finally, there are major London landmarks that they are not included in the various forms of the London City Pass such as Westminster Abbey or Tower Bridge. Or some of the included tours are not of interest to everyone like the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum or Madame Tussaud ...
IVenture Card London
The iVenture Card London, the ultimate London tourist pass, is similar to the London Explorer Pass. You can opt for a package of 3, 5, 7 or 10 visits included.
The advantage over the London Explorer Pass is that we can add the Oyster Travelcard option as for the London Pass.
However, the fares are higher than the London Explorer Pass. However, it remains a good pass to visit London.
Is London Pass the best pass to visit London?
In our opinion yes, the London Pass is the best pass to visit London. In fact, this pass is truly comprehensive and includes a large number of attractions.
In addition, one of its main advantages is its modularity: you can adapt the length of the London Pass to the length of your stay or to the number of visits you want to make in London.
In addition, the ability to connect the Oyster Travelcard is an advantage because this transport card is essential for a tourist stay in London.
Attractions not to be missed!
The London Pass is truly a comprehensive city pass that covers the vast majority of London's attractions. And above all, this pass covers essential visits, the ones not to be missed on a first trip to this city.
Here, according to us, visits to do absolutely on your first trip to London.
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
The Shard
In addition to these there are many other activities or visits that you can do that are covered by the pass, such as la London Eye, Windsor Castle or London Zoo.
I London Pass e l’Harry Potter Studios Tour
Unfortunately, no London pass allows access to Harry Potter Studios Tour. In fact, visiting the Harry Potter studios is often among the top things to do on a first trip to London.
The visit to Harry Potter Studios costs almost 100 euros with the transfer from London. Quite expensive, as is often the case in London, which is why the tour is not included in the city pass. In fact, it would significantly increase the price of the London Pass or other sightseeing passes making them much less affordable.
If you plan to purchase a city pass and wish to visit Harry Potter Studios, you will need to purchase the ticket in addition.
Buy your ticket for Harry Potter Studios here
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