The London Pass: Worth it or Wasted?

A comprehensive review of The London Pass and whether or not it may be the best choice for your next trip to London.

This may not be your average review of a tourism pass for one of the largest cities in the world, but we assure you that all commentary on our experience with The London Pass is 100% unsponsored and entirely to our own discretion.

Caroline studied Anthropology in college, specifically focusing on tourism and how the industry differs around the world. We both hold strong opinions on what it means to get the most out of a trip abroad or to visit the local museum, so when we were gifted a 2-Day London Pass we were certain that we’d be able to bypass the usual grievances of being a tourist in London.

Although at the time we had only been living in London for three months, we hadn’t yet explored the go-to spots for photo-ops or learned the rich history of the city and its predecessor, Londonium.

Without spoiling the historical facts you’ll pick up along the way, let’s dive into what The London Pass is, how we used it, and our review of whether it’s worth it or wasted.

Caroline at the infamous Tower of London

What is it?

The London Pass offers you access into 80+ attractions (*with many fine print exceptions worth being aware of in advance) with the idea being that the more you can do in a short time frame, the bigger your discount and savings overall. You can purchase anywhere from 1-10 consecutive day passes, but we don’t see any reason to go above 5.

The London Pass has both its own app for iOS and Android and an easily navigable website. Once purchased, all that is needed is to click on the attraction you’re at and have the ticket clerk scan the QR code. Super easy! And a lot of attractions have separate fast pass lines. This alone will save you time.

Note: The London Pass is operated by Leisure Pass Group, who also make multi-day passes for 30+ cities around the world including Paris and New York.

Some of the helpful features in the mobile app include:

• Venue websites for any required reservations

• Updated opening/closing hours and contact information

• General overviews of each attraction included in the pass

• Filter by location, A-Z, child friendly, adult only, etc.

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Features not included in the mobile app:

• The availability of attractions that require pre-booking

• Any hidden/extra tax costs or changes in “usual admission” prices (we noticed a few discrepancies in the listed costs of regular admissions without the pass)

• Estimated duration to spend at each attraction (*and as we learned, many tour times vary based on the time of day/day of the week)

• The shortest route to get from one attraction to the other & transportation time

• Language accessibility information

Note: Pack a phone charger/portable power bank!

Generally, we found the London Pass to be easy-to-follow as an active young couple, however we did run into circumstances where accessibility issues were obvious at many attractions. This is more of a city planning pitfall, but please plan ahead accordingly if you have a big group/range of ages, etc.

The London Pass advertises that you can add a Visitor Oyster Card while visiting, and we believe while previously helpful, now that London is configured for Apple Pay/contactless payments on the Underground, Overground, buses and DLR, there is no reason to pay extra fees/print physical tickets for public transportation around the city.

Please see their website here for up to date pricing + further contact information.

Note: The website also advertises a 90-day money back guarantee if the pass has been inactive within 90 days of your purchase date.

For folks visiting from outside of the UK, always check each attraction’s website for contact information – most places have WhatsApp so you can avoid international calling/texting fees AND have the peace of mind that when you show up for a tour there’s availability and that the venue’s open that day.

Many of these attractions are spread out across London and require getting on and off public transport several times, which if not properly executed can negatively impact the number of activities you may be able to get to. Planning ahead is a MUST!

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Westminster Abbey courtyard

Let’s jump into how we took full advantage of our 2 Day pass and how we think it went.

We were analytical to our approach and decided to make a chart of the most regularly expensive attractions (no point is using the pass on ones that are free or less than £10).

Then, we took a look to see where each attraction was in the city and estimated roughly how much time we’d need to allocate to travel between each. We recommend using CityMapper in London as it is by far the most accurate map app!

We picked the shortest routes possible and had to make some sacrifices on activities (let’s be real though, when do you not when travelling) and made sure that any of the pre-bookings that were needed were scheduled accordingly.

Of the activities we planned for, we missed only two (St. Paul’s Cathedral and Fuller Brewery).

Note: A LOT of tourist attractions close early (between 3-4pm). Get an early start and plan to do the early closing activities first!

We split out our activities like so:

Day 1

1. Westminster Abbey

2. Attempted Chelsea stadium (*halfway there we saw people wearing jerseys and realized there was a match that day and thus lost day light + the opportunity to cross this one off of our list that day). LOL. It happens!

3. Lunch break (we usually go fast + cheap for weekend lunches particularly during winter time when daylight is limited)

4. Tower of London

5. Tower Bridge (commonly referred to as London Bridge in mainstream media but alas, the real London bridge is a LOT uglier and not as exciting)

6. The London Bridge Experience

Day 2

1. Chelsea Stadium Tour (second attempt, we were ultimately successful and the sun was out!)

2. View from The Shard

3. Shakespeare Globe Theatre

4. Swingers City Mini Golf (18+ only!)

Chelsea Stadium…WOW (*unedited image!)

REVIEW!

At the end of the weekend, we both felt like we got a LOT out of our 2 Day Pass (8 attractions in total!)

We did the math, and in total saved almost 50% on the cost of buying tickets to the attractions individually. And if you are not living full-time in London or have a family, this is a lot of money to be saved!

We 100% recommend the London Pass to anyone coming to London who is looking to learn about the history and see the tourist sights, especially if you are fast movers like us! Between commuting from place to place you are able to get a good sense of the city, see a number of neighborhoods, and experience the different vibes of each pocket of London.

So, would we do the 2 Day pass again? Absolutely. We think 3-4 days would be the perfect amount of time to get you to most of the main attractions without feeling overly rushed.

Be sure to check out our best photos and videos on our Instagram, after all, photos and videos can offer you the most realistic expectations for your time abroad!

Cheers for now,

Caroline and Joe :)