Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, at no additional cost to you.
If you're thinking about visiting London, you may be wondering whether the London Pass is worth it. In this blog post, we'll take a look at the pros and cons of the London Pass to help you decide whether or not it's right for you.
What is the London Pass?
Visiting London can be expensive, but the London Pass is meant to alleviate some of that cost. The pass is a sightseeing city card that gives free access to more than 80 of the top attractions in the capital for one fixed price.
It includes major must-see spots such as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, London Zoo, Winsor Castle, and Madame Tussauds along with numerous other places steeped in history and culture. Whether or not buying the pass is worth it depends on how much you plan on seeing while visiting London — I'll explain that a bit more in the section below.
Also, keep in mind that this is a review for the London Sightseeing Pass by Go City and not the London Explorer Pass. This pass gives you access to any of their included attractions throughout the specific number of days that you purchased it for (1-day pass, 2-day pass, etc.). Meanwhile, the London Explorer Pass only gives you a choice of visiting anywhere from 2-7 top attractions for a fixed price, any time during a 60 day window,
How Much Does the London Pass Cost?
If you’ve been thinking about getting the London Sightseeing Pass, but aren’t sure whether or not it’s worth the money, let's talk about the costs! The London Pass comes with 2 different types of packages - a 1-day pass and a multi-day pass.
Prices for both kinds of passes are based on how many days you plan to sightsee in London; 1-day pass prices range from £89 for adults and £47 for children and a 5-day London Pass will cost you about £169 for adults and £109 for children.
So whether you have one day or six days to explore the city, consider which option would be best for you. If you're still asking yourself, "is the London Pass worth it for the price?" Below is the full list of London pass pricing options according to the company's official website:
1 Day pass [£89 - Adult; £47 - Child]
2 Day pass [£115 - Adult; £75 - Child]
3 Day pass [£135 - Adult; £89 - Child]
4 Day pass [£155 - Adult; £99 - Child]
5 Day pass [£169 - Adult; £109 - Child]
6 Day pass [£179 - Adult; £115 - Child]
7 Day pass [£185 - Adult; £120 - Child]
10 Day pass [£199 - Adult; £129 - Child]
Top paid attractions included with the London Pass
If you're planning a trip to London and want to hit up some of the most famous attractions in the city, then purchasing a London Pass might be the smart choice for you. This pass grants you access to some of the finest sites within England's capital, including the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Thames river boat cruises, Tower Bridge and more.
Now, let's go over the top-tier attractions that you will have access to if you get a London Pass, along with some extra information that I learned from personal experience about each one.
Tower of London
Entry ticket with optional tours included
Not a skip-the-line ticket
10% discount at food outlets and gift shops inside the complex
Tower Bridge
Entry ticket with access to the Glass Floors and Engine Rooms
10% discount at the gift shop
Closed between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM on the third Saturday of every month
Westminster Abbey
Entry ticket with free multi-media guide
Will be closed for ceremonial and royal events
St. Paul's Cathedral
Access to the Nave, the Dome, High Altar, Grand Organ and Crypt
Free audio tour included with pass
10% discount on purchases of £5 or more in the gift shop
Will be closed for ceremonial & royal events
1-Day Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
Your choice of Big Bus or Golden Tours; you can only pick one
Great way to explore London
Will save you a day's worth of transportation costs
Multiple routes give you access to all of central London
The View from The Shard
Pre-booking is required on their website
Access to the indoor viewing gallery and open-air skydeck
You must show your ID at the door
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Tour
This is a pass just to tour the globe theatre - tickets to watch a play must be purchased separately
They only offer tours between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM from Monday-Saturday and 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM on Sundays.
Modeled after the original globe, it's not a very accessible place
Tours last for about an hour
Uber Boat by Thames Clippers - 1-Day River Roamer
Thames river boat cruise
23 stops to get on and off the boat throughout the city
Valid for the whole day
Passes need to be scanned at one of these piers: Westminster, Embarkment, London Bridge, Tower Bridge
Along with all of the attractions mentioned above, the London Pass includes entry to other popular tourist spots like Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, London Zoo, and the London Bridge Experience.
You'll also have access to multiple walking tours around the city. The complete list of attractions that are included with the pass can be found on the London Pass website.
Top London attractions that are NOT included with the pass
While the London pass provides admission to numerous attractions, you unfortunately cannot use it for one of the most famous landmarks in all of London: The extraordinary Coca-Cola London Eye. Tickets alone are a steep $40 each - not cheap! Other major attractions not included with this pass include Madame Tussaud's museum, as well as Buckingham Palace tours.
Luckily for you, there is a wealth of exciting activities to do in London that involve no passes or fees whatsoever! The British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern and Hyde Park are all free museums open to the public at any time of year.
Is the London Pass worth the money based on what it includes?
Trying to figure out if the London Pass is worth the money? It definitely depends on what you plan to do while you're in London. The pass includes access to over 80 popular attractions including the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle, which could save you time queuing at all these different sites.
In some cases, it can even be beneficial as a package with discounts up to 10% on top attractions. Even then, you'll still have to add up the admission ticket prices if your plans involve visiting multiple points of interest vs. purchasing a day pass or London Pass combo. Let's do the math to get a better picture.
Say you are spending five days in London and plan on hitting as many tourist spots as you can. In those five days, your goal is to cross these items off your list: the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, The View From the Shard, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Shakespeare's Globe. Let's calculate how much it would cost If you were to pay separately for all of those attractions.
Attraction | Price |
Tower of London | £29.90 |
Tower Bridge | £11.40 |
The View From the Shard | £32.00 |
St. Paul's Cathedral | £21.00 |
Westminster Abbey | £27.00 |
Shakespeare's Globe | £17.00 |
Total Cost | £138.30 |
Cost of 1-day pass | £89 |
Cost of 2-day pass | £115 |
Cost of 3-day pass | £135 |
In this scenario, you could save money by purchasing a 1, 2 or 3-day pass instead of paying for each attraction individually. However, it is only financially beneficial if you intend to visit the attractions within those days that your pass is valid. For those staying in London for just a few days, I would advise not getting anything over a 3-day pass.
Before purchasing a pass, weigh the options and determine if it is truly worth your money. Keep in mind that you'll never have enough time to do all of the 80+ activities included with the London Pass during your stay. Most tourists stick to visiting the few major landmarks mentioned earlier anyways! In the next section, we'll guide you through how to decide which pass best suits your needs and suggest tips for getting maximum value out of it.
How to get the best out of your London Pass
The best way to get the most value out of your London Pass is to lay out your itinerary first. Whether you're visiting London for a weekend or a week, make a list of all the attractions you'd like to visit. If most of the attractions on your list are included with the London pass, then move on to the next step. If not, you're better off not buying one.
As you plan your activities, consider the cost of each attraction and how much time is typically spent exploring them. Time management is key when you have a jam-packed itinerary. For example, if you buy a one-day pass then it will be almost impossible to tour the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and Westminster Abbey all in 24 hours.
For starters, you can easily fill an entire day with a visit to the Tower of London. Nevertheless, keep in mind that each attraction has limited operating hours and these may clash with your plans. To ensure you have adequate time to explore multiple London Pass attractions during one day, take note of their respective opening and closing times before making concrete plans!
After organizing your itinerary and researching the pricing, calculate the total cost of visiting all attractions. Compare this to what you would pay for a London Pass; if it's lower, then you should go ahead with that option! The London Pass is an excellent way to save money - just make sure to budget your time wisely so that you get maximum value out of it.
My personal London Pass review
In the fall of 2022, my boyfriend and I took a long-awaited trip to London. We spent a total of 10 days there and since it was his first time visiting, we planned to hit as many tourist attractions as we could.
I got excited when I found out about the London pass and decided to buy a 5-day pass for each of us. I figured we could squeeze in all of our sightseeing in 5 days while having the rest of the time to explore some of the city's free attractions.
Like you, I also asked myself: is the London Pass worth it? After using it for the first time, here are the things that I liked and didn't like about the pass:
Pros
Easy to use; All tickets are accessed via a bar code on the London Pass app, so you don't have to worry about carrying or losing multiple-entry tickets.
You do save money if you plan accordingly
You get discounts on gift shop purchases in some attractions
Their list of attractions is extensive and they do include free entry to major landmarks
The hop-on hop-off bus is a great experience and saves money on transportation
Cons
They don't warn you that many of the attractions close around 5 PM, which only gives you the mornings and early afternoon to get all your sight-seeing done
Some attractions can close unexpectedly due to ceremonial events
Although I adore the concept of the London Pass, researching before buying would have saved me a lot of trouble. We found it hard to squeeze in more than 2-3 attractions per day due to the major attractions' operating hours - most close by 5 PM! This left us with limited time for exploration, making me have to constantly rearrange our plans.
On our first day, we had initially decided to head out and explore The Tower of London and the nearby Tower Bridge since they were so close to our hotel. I hadn't done my homework properly so we arrived at Tower Bridge first - around noon. Thankfully, it was an enjoyable two-hour experience! Afterward, we set off for the Tower of London; which was way bigger than we had anticipated.
In a nutshell, we were unaware of how long it would take to venture through the attraction and ended up being asked to leave just as they closed at 5 PM. Had we gone there first when the Tower of London opened in the morning, we could have toured everything within their premises and still had enough time to explore Tower Bridge afterward!
The other thing that we didn't plan for was the death of Queen Elizabeth II - which pretty much shut down half the city. As the ceremonial events of the funeral were occurring, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral were both closed to tourists, while Buckingham Palace was overrun with crowds – making it impossible to appreciate.
As a result of this historical event we had unfortunately missed out on many attractions that should have been included in our visit; however, there was nothing anyone could do about it so we made the most out of what remained open for us to explore.
If I could go back in time and relive my London experience, the first thing I would do is research and plan out an itinerary that fits with each attraction's operating hours. Additionally, I'd check to see if any special events are occurring that could temporarily close down certain landmarks.
Lastly, I would've invested in a 3-day pass instead of a 5-day one; with thorough preparation, you can explore most major attractions included in the London Pass within just three days. So when you visit London, make sure you don't repeat my mistakes if you're thinking of buying the London Pass.
How to Get a London Pass?
Taking advantage of a London Pass has become easier than ever before. With the latest deals here, you can now get instant access to your passes online. You have two options: either download it to your smartphone or install the app on your phone.
Personally, I preferred having the app because I could find it more easily. They also have all of the included activities listed, so you'll be able to see just how many attractions are available to you.
The other perk of having the app on your phone is their 'discover' feature. This feature shows a map of London and the locations of each attraction, so you can easily find it around the city. No matter how you decide to utilize this pass, there's no wrong way - it'll be ready for when you need it most!
Transportation Options Included with the London Pass
When you buy the London Pass, they give you the option of adding an Oyster card to your purchase. An Oyster card acts as an unlimited travel card with access to all networks of transportation like the London Underground (Tube), buses, Docklands Light Rail, overground trains, River Boat, and the Elizabeth Line.
Without a London Pass, purchasing an Oyster card will cost you £5. Afterward, it can be topped up with any of the following pay-as-you-go credit options: £10, £15, £25, £40, or even as much as £50. Your card gets charged per trip that you take via any means of public transportation, so how much you spend will depend on how much you travel around the city.
If you're planning a visit to London, I would certainly suggest getting an Oyster card. This clever invention makes using the Underground so much easier—plus it saves time from having to purchase tickets every trip! And if your funds start running low during your stay, adding more credit is simple and fast. Each time we go to London, we take the tube more than once a day; as such, I believe that investing in an Oyster Card is well worth it!
If you're not ready to purchase an Oyster card, there are other transportation options included with the London Pass. You have access to a complimentary 1-day hop-on hop-off bus tour of London that serves over 100 stops throughout the town! You just need to show your pass at any stop before hopping on board.
In addition, you'll also have access to an all-day Thames River cruise with Uber Boat from Thames Clipper - which has 23 docks around the city. Just keep in mind that both of those options are only valid for one day once the ticket is redeemed. I would plan on using them on different days, so you can get the most value out of them and also save on transportation.
While the London Pass does offer a lot of value for the money, it ultimately depends on how long you're staying in London and what your interests are. If you're only planning on being in London for a few days and want to hit up all of the major tourist attractions, then buying a pass is definitely worth it.
However, if you're staying for an extended period of time or aren't particularly interested in touring around all of the popular sights, then you might be better off without one. What do you think? Is the London Pass worth it? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments