If you’re planning to see a lot of major tourist attractions while you’re in London, then purchasing the London Pass may save you some money as well as a bit of time too. But for some people, it’s not worth getting, and in fact could end up costing more money than it’s worth.
Here’s how to figure out if the London Pass is worth it for you and your travel situation.
Prefer to watch instead of read? Watch the video below, otherwise keep scrolling…
Types of people that should get the London Pass
If you have a certain travel style and interests, the London Pass is worth it. You should get the London Pass if:
You love popular tourist attractions
The London Pass saves you the most money when you use it for entrance to some of London’s most popular attractions. That’s because these attractions usually have pretty steep ticket prices, so using the pass for entrance to expensive attractions means you’ll get your money’s worth more quickly and easily.
You don’t mind having little down time
If you’ve purchased a 1 day, 2 day, or 3 day pass, to make it worth the money you’ve spent, you usually will have to see at least three attractions a day. If you account for travel time plus meals, you won’t have much leisure time in between it all. There’s more wiggle room for this when you get the 6 day or 10 day pass because the per-day price decreases quite a bit. For example, the per-day cost of the 10 day pass is £17.90, which more than covers the ticket price for many attractions in London, so even if you only do one attraction each day, the pass will save you money.
You don’t want to deal with money and tickets
If you think you’ll pass on attractions because of the individual ticket costs, maybe the London Pass will make you feel like you can do it all because it’s technically “free” on the day. It can also be easier to have passes for you and your travel companions than to have to worry about converting currency, figuring out where to buy tickets, etc. It’s the convenience factor.
It’s important to note though that there are some attractions and tours that require advanced booking, like View from the Shard. You can see which ones do on this page.
You’re traveling as a family
Many families like the London Pass because not only does it save them money but it can also make visiting attractions much easier. Everyone gets and manages their own pass, and if family members want to split up, you don’t have to fuss with giving the kids enough money to purchase their own attraction tickets, as they’ll just flash their pass at the entrance.
Also, kids under 16 get a discount on their London Pass, which you can see on the Prices page. Families often find that the London Pass is worth it.
Who shouldn’t get the London Pass
If you fall into one of the follow categories, the London Pass probably isn’t worth your money.
You like to experience things at a leisurely pace
As mentioned before, if you’re getting a 1, 2, or 3 day pass, for the cost to be worth it, you need to be seeing 2-3 attractions a day. If that sounds like a lot for you, either go for a 6 or 10 day pass, or just don’t get the pass.
You’re not into the popular attractions
There are quite a few lesser-known attractions and tours that are included in the London Pass, but the real value usually comes from seeing the city’s most popular sights, like Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. If you’re not into that kind of stuff, the pass isn’t for you.
You want to have a local experience
The majority of the sights listed on the London Pass are super touristy. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to check them out but if you want to hang out with the locals and experience life like a Londoner, the pass isn’t going to help, in fact for the most part it will steer you in the opposite direction.
BTW if you want a ton of local, authentic things to do, see and eat, check out The Casual Tourist Guides in the Love and London shop.
Pros of using the London Pass
The positives you can expect when getting a London Pass include:
Saving money
You really can save yourself a lot of money on sightseeing in London with the pass if you plan well. For example, if in one day you see the Tower of London, View from the Shard, St. Pauls and get an Uber Boat one-day roamer ticket, you’ll pay £103 if you buy tickets on the day. On a one-day London Pass, you’ll save yourself about £32, and even more with the longer passes if you think about how much they cost per-day– you’d save much more.
The London Pass website has an itinerary page that will help you save money– check out their suggestions for the 3-day London Pass and see how much you’ll save.
Free hop on hop off tour
With your pass you get one free ticket for a day on a “hop on hop off” bus tour. This can be good to pair with your sightseeing and also adds to the savings of the pass since day-of tickets are a whopping £41 for adults.
You can see attractions you wouldn’t have normally chosen
There are lots of little lesser-known attractions involved with the London Pass that you might get to discover because it’s free, so why not? Explore things you wouldn’t have normally paid the entry fee for. Plus there are some interesting tours you can book onto for free with the London Pass.
Some interesting attractions and passes to consider:
- London Bike Tour
- Brit Music Tours
- Brit Movie Tours
- The Garden Museum
- Wembley Football Stadium Tour
- Jason’s Canal Boat Trip
Cons of using the London Pass
It’s important to consider that…
Not all attractions in London are included
If you have a specific list of attractions that you want to visit while in London, you’ll need to carefully check the list of included attractions with the pass. If many of them aren’t included with the pass, then you could end up spending a lot of extra money on attraction tickets for the things you really want to do.
Some of the included attractions aren’t centrally located
Examples are Kew Gardens, the Wimbledon Tennis Museum, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. You can still totally do them, but you’ll likely struggle to fit in one or two other attractions that day. Just keep that in mind, and if you’re keen to visit some of these farther-out attractions, only do so if you purchase the 6 or 10-day London Pass.
How to determine if you should get the London Pass
Use all of the information I’ve given you above, and then ask yourself…
Are the included attractions ones that I actually want to visit?
This is the most important thing to consider when thinking about getting the London Pass.
Tips for best utilising the London Pass
As mentioned before, the London Pass has great sample itinerary for the 3-day pass that covers attractions that are close to each other and also ensures you’re getting value with your pass.
Check opening and closing times for attractions when planning your days. Some attractions are closed certain days, and many close around 5pm, so you may have to start your day earlier than anticipated to make sure you have time for everything you want to do. This information is on the London Pass site and the app.
I personally recommend waiting until one of the last days of your pass to use the hop on hop off tour ticket. You will most likely be a little tired from all of your sightseeing and will appreciate an easy breezy bus ride past some of the city’s most famous sights and icons.
Should you get the Oyster Card add-on?
You don’t have to. The only benefit to having it is you will get it ahead of your trip. Otherwise you can pay for public transport with contactless debit or credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay, or pick up your own Oyster cards at the airport or train station on arrival.
How to buy a London Pass
Head to the London Pass website to purchase your pass. You can buy it up to a year in advance, and currently they have a 90-day refund policy.
The passes often go on sale, so keep an eye out. For example, as I update this post in July 2022, there’s a sale on until the end of the month so it’s a good time to buy.
I hope you’ve found this article helpful in determining if the London Pass is worth it for you to buy. In the end, everyone’s situation is different, so I’ve now given you the tools to figure out what works best for you.
You can help support all of the free information on Love and London by buying your London Pass after clicking one of the links in this article. I’ll get a very small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you SO much for your support, and for being a part of this crazy cool community of future London visitors!
If the London Pass isn’t for you, the London Explorer Pass may be a good alternative. Read more about it here.
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