London Pass is similar to other passes offered by major tourist destination cities around the world, from Amsterdam to New York City. These passes allow you to save both money and time on sightseeing tours, entry to museums, and other attractions in what are often some of the most expensive cities in the world with some of the longest lines at key sites. It is primarily a London Sightseeing Pass with completely free admission to more than 50 attractions. Admission to all the sites included with the London City Pass adds up to more than $700. The pass also offers numerous other perks and discounts throughout the city.

The London City Pass can also give you discounts on public transportation when you’re ready to get out of the city and explore other areas. You can add the Travelcard to your London Museum Pass at a discounted rate, giving you unlimited journeys on the tube trains, buses, trams, and DLR (Docklands Light Rail). With it, children under age 11 traveling with you are free, making it very popular with anyone on a family holiday. The pass is such a popular and valuable item to have that you will often find it as one of the included features in vacation packages that contain leisure time in the city.

The London Pass lives up to its name when it allows you to “skip the queue” (meaning not to have to stand in line) at top attractions such as the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, and Windsor Castle, where the number of visitors allowed entry is regulated and lines can take a couple hours of your time. Additionally, you can read about the attraction you’re visiting in the free 128-page guidebook that the London Sightseeing Pass provides you.

London Map

The London Pass has a computer chip in it that activates the first time you use it. It is then valid for the full amount of time you have purchased. You can purchase one for a single day, two days, three days, or six days. If you use it for the first time late in the day, that counts as full day—so it pays to use it the first time early in the day. This is important to remember, because there are dining discounts as well. Should you use it for a dinner on your first evening, that counts as an entire day.

Some of the many restaurants that honor the London City Pass are actually tourist attractions in themselves. One of these is the Medieval Banquet at Ivory House in St Katherine’s Dock, the vibrant marina, shopping venue, and dining spot next to Tower Bridge. Here, you can enjoy a robust medieval banquet complete with costumed serving wenches and other period costumed performers who entertain you throughout the evening. Other dining spots with London Sightseeing Pass discounts include the cafés in places like the Tower of London, Southwark Cathedral, and Hampton Court Palace, all of which are traditionally high priced. Look also for discounts on West End show tickets, backstage theater tours, cinema tickets, bicycle tours, Thames River cruises, guided city walks, and even the London Zoo. You can even find discounts at world famous Harrods and commission-free currency exchange.