Easiest cheapest way to travel around London

[lul1]

2 nights in august.
2 adults a teen and tween.
We are staying near the excel for an event.

I'm autistic it didn't cross my mind how far we would be from the centre.

I won't be going to the event as I hate crowds but I will have to go to the other places.

Daughter wants afternoon tea and to see the sites.

Is a tour bus with afternoon tea best or separate.

I've seen offers or Wowcher but they are only up to July.

Is the underground the easiest way? How much is it?

Talk to me like I'm 12 please.

Thank you.

I'd recommend that you wear earphones or ear plugs on the tube if you are easily overwhelmed. Some lines are very loud (not the Elizabeth or jubilee, they're fine).

Don't wear them when moving about the station, you'll need your peripheral hearing.

@lul1 unless you are planning to regularly visit London don't get the Zip Cards. They cost £20 and you still have to add money on to pay for the tube/DLR journeys.
They are really aimed at London residents.
You could just buy paper day tickets for the children. You buy them from the machine at any station - staff are always there to help.
In simple terms for the children the choices are....
1 - Purchase 2 Oyster cards (£7 each). Ask for them to be put as Young Visitor cards. Put money on the cards which you use as Pay As You Go and once you reach the daily price cap you don't get charged anymore. The daily price cap for Young Visitor is around £5 a day.
2 - the children use their own contactless debit cards or a spare card for your bank accounts but will be charged adult fares - price cap just under £10 a day.
3 - paper daily tickets for the children which is around £8 each (child fare).
How many days are you there for?
(I am assuming you and your husband have contactless debit cards you will use)

Greenwich is nice (observatory, planetarium, market) and close to the Excel I think? Maybe then take a riverboat down the river and you could see Tower Bridge, Houses of Parliament/London eye from the river. Get off at Westminster pier and you’re near St James Park (pelicans), Piccadilly (Fortnums) and the West end. It’ll be great OP, London has so much to see. Buses generally are slow and the tube/underground is fast.

Have you ever been on the tube before? I ask because one of my teen DC is autistic and finds it overwhelming, smelly, noisy, hot. We always use buses and walk in London as a result. The apple maps app is really good for public transport live information.

Tbh OP if you don't like crowds then London in August is not for you. I would try and see the sights by boat if possible. Stick to things in open spaces, the parks etc. Avoid anything that is very kid friendly as that will be very busy. Try and do things that sells tickets and cap visitor numbers at a reasonable level. Things like the free museums are horrendous.

This. I missed the bit about you going in August. I stay well away from the touristy bits of Central London like Oxford St & the South Bank during the summer holidays unless I have a specific reason to be there, and I would guess a lot of other Londoners feel the same way. Parks will be busy but probably more bearable.

Use the dlr to bank or Tower Hill. Plenty of afternoon tea options at more affordable prices. Look on group on though check terms very carefully as this is high season you are talking about.

The royal horse guards hotel regularly has special offers on group on eg currently it's £117 for 4 people. Too early for the summer deals.

I was in London with ASD DD last year. She really dislikes crowds. I bought us day passes for the London Double Decker bus tour and we had a fabulous day travelling around London listening to the history on the provided ear plug system. We sat on the top deck and saw everything! Buckingham Palace, St Paul's, Big Ben, etc. She loved it. So did I! It was soooo stress free. Would highly recommend it for ND travellers who get anxious and overwhelmed when around lots of people.

This is a great idea.

Remember it can be very slow. I got tickets for my sister and her husband. They crawled from Marble Arch to regent st and bil gut off and refused to get back on!

If you haven’t already, download Citymaper app. I use it all over England, including London. Gives you all the various travel options including costs, when to leave etc. Also gIves you the walking routes between all the sites. Tube prices vary depending where you are travelling to/from however the daily costs for the bus/ tubes are capped.

Avoid travelling before 10 am and 5 - 7pm as buses/tubes can be rammed with commuters of the weekday.

If there’s places in particular you want to go, google beforehand to make sure there are no events as they will be busier more than usual.

Riverboat 💯

What hotel are you staying in. A uber river boat down the Thames is a great way to see the sights and there are loads of stop off points. You could also get the boat to greenwich, lovely weekend market, park, maritime museum. The city and east London are easy from Excel, spuralfields, Shoreditch, barbican, St Paul's, tate gallery and plenty of great places for food.

Groupon and wowcher have deals for bus tours, afternoon tea and restaurants. Have you made a list of what you'd all like to see.

OP, there's a good guide to using the tube on the Ambitious About Autism website:

https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/sites/default/files/blog-article/uploads/using-the-london-underground.pdf

Don't try and get the bus in from Excel, it's a terrible bus journey! The Elizabeth line is great, fast and clean. TFL staff are always happy to help if you get stuck. As are most Londoners despite what you might have heard (every Londoner's favourite conversation is the best route somewhere).

This is a picture of a tube barrier, if you use that. A paper ticket (ie for the kids) you slide in at the front, it gets sucked in and pops up - when you take it out the barrier opens. So like train barriers. Your contactless cards you just tap on the yellow reader to open the barrier. If the barriers are ever already open, still tap it on the reader to ensure you don't get overcharged.

I won't give you yet more travel advice!

But for afternoon tea, try the afternoon tea bus. Not overwhelming and you'll get sightseeing as well.

https://b-bakery.com/london/bus-tours/afternoon-tea-bus-london