QUEUES - AND HOW TO DO THEM
Even if you plan to loaf around London,
deciding what to do at the last moment you
will have to plan. Ticket queues are
notoriously long and a wait of up to 2 hours
is not uncommon at peak times in high season.
Pre-booking, even the day before, or buying a
combined travel/admission ticket (at tube
stations) is advisable. Our advice is to visit
major attractions as soon as they open to
avoid the crowds - get obsessive in the
mornings and loaf in the afternoons. Remember
a lot of London is free. See also our planning
pages..
Pre-booking tickets is the best advice we can
give you. The alternative (buying a tourist
pass) is best if you're traveling alone or as
a couple, and plan to cram a lot of
sightseeing into a few days or if money is no
object - there are often better deals to be
had with 'family admission' tickets at
attractions and two for one offers with
Oystercard (see transport pages). A bus pass
for the whole of London costs £3, and is
a pleasant way to travel, as long as you avoid
the rush hour
Here's our advice:
SINGLES OR COUPLES: - Stay in zone 1 or
2. If you're on your own, team up with someone
to enjoy 2 for 1 admission - see the
Oystercard offers on our transport page. Hey,
you might just get lucky... try to get tickets
in advance to everything as there's nothing
more boring than being on your own in a long
queue.
If you want to be a bit more leisurely we'd
advise doing the sights in the mornings and
spending the afternoons wandering or exploring
the museums and galleries - which are mostly
free (nearly ALL museums, the National
Gallery, Tate Galleries are free, only special
exhibitions - including the Royal Academy -
are not.)
If you can, pre-book tickets for the big
attractions, and go for the first available
admission time. Otherwise buy a combined
admission/travel ticket at any Underground
station (ask about this - or get the leaflet
from tube station as the exact details are
subject to occasional change).
FAMILIES: it's usually cheaper to buy a
family admission ticket - and for many
attractions kids will be half price or even
free. Use 2 for 1 offers where you can find
them - see TIME OUT or the free newspapers
(handed out outside tube stations).
We think that you'll only want to visit a
maximum of four high-priced attractions while
you're here: Madame Tussauds, London Dungeon,
The Tower, Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace,
the Zoo are the favourites. Do your sums
before you part with any money, however unless
you like standing under a hot sun (or more
likely in the rain) outside a ticket office
for long periods prebook all tickets. We can't
say this often enough.
Remember that in the UK queues are orderly and
polite, there is no pushing-in and people will
hold your place in the queue if you ask them
nicely, and reciprocate the favour. This
applies to bus stops, queues outside
attractions and everywhere else.
Search this site:
>
|