London Pass Review: My Choices and Recommendations

The London Pass is a service where you can make a onetime purchase of a pass and then go to an unlimited amount of places that accept the pas. This includes museums, historical monuments, and more. I was given a special type of London Pass by my university which gave me five places I could go out of the list and I could do it anytime over the entire semester (as opposed to an unlimited number of places over a limited time frame). I spent a lot of time choosing where to go and scanning the list and so I want to give you my honest reviews of the places I went and my top options for someone buying the pass.

The places I went were:

Hampton court Palace: This was a very interesting palace to see, but it took a long time to get there since I used a bus and a transfer I would not recommend to tourists. If you want to see it I would recommend paying for the train. This will still take almost a whole day.

Windsor Castle: Once again, a really interesting castle and you can view the changing of the guards. This is very far out from central London though, and while the London Pass does provide free transportation here it will take almost a whole day. Not recommended if you are on a really brief visit unless its something you really want to do.

Kew Gardens: A beautiful (and huge) garden necessary for any plant lover. You can either stretch this to most of the day or only pop in to see some famous sights (like the palm conservatory). Will take you outside central London but easy to get to by the tube.

Beefeater Gin Distillery: A little weird to find but overall highly recommended if even slightly interested in gin! A great museum and gin tasting that will only take two hours out of your day.

Movie at Curzon Theatre: There are several Curzon theatres you can use you pass at and I recommend getting in a movie. This is great for the evenings after everything else is closed and great for when you just want to relax and sit down.

The other places I would definitely recommend are:

Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Kensington Palace, Churchill War Rooms, The Queen’s Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, The Banqueting House, and Apsley House

These are all in central London and so very easy to find and quick to get to. They are also the type of places you “have to see”, especially, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, and you can either spend an hour just popping in or spend a good chunk of your time depending on how interested you are.

The Hop on Hop off London bus tour is also free with the London Pass and a great way to see and travel through the city.

I also recommend while you are in the Victoria and Albert Museum (and you WILL go to the V&A) to get your free cream tea with the pass.

I also recommend you get the app where you can see quickly the different offers; not only getting in places for free, but also extra things and free attractions (like audio guides and guide books.)

Overall, I think if you want to get the most out of your stay in London, I would recommend getting the London pass.  I think the three day pass is probably the best offer because at 85 pounds (~$120) you will be able to see all the attractions you want plus have some free time. Even if you just want to do a few things (Like Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, London Zoo, and the Bus Tour) you’ve already made up the price of the pass!

A Trip to the Beefeater Gin Distillery

I'm a gin girl, there is no doubt. My go to drink is a gin and tonic or a gin fizz. I kept a liter of gin in my dorm room at university; I could go on and on. So, as soon as I saw my London Pass had an option for me to go on the Beefeater Gin Tour for free, I knew I had to go.

The gin tour takes place at the Beefeater Gin distillery at 20 Montford Place, SE11 5DE. To get there I took the Jubilee line to Westminster, took exit 5, turned out the exit to the right and took the 159 bus from stop G at Westminster to the stop Kennington Park Post Office. Then, I crossed the street (backtracking the way the bus went) until I reached a fork in the road and took the smaller left side that took me to a residential street. Once I turned the corner at the end, I could see the beefeater gin sign. It is a bit hard to get to, but since it is the actual distillery, it makes sense it wouldn't be in the center of London.
The tickets usually cost £12 and includes a free gin and tonic (which will set you back at last £5 in London). There is an option to buy tickets online (but you can't use your London pass, at least no so far as I can tell) but I just showed up and went on a tour with only four other people (the max is 15). What I would do is check online the day you want to go and see how many tickets are available. If there are a lot for two tours in a row (they go every 30 minutes) then I would just show up. For the tour, there is also an option to pay extra for an iPad to help guide you but you really don't need it.
The tour set up is as follows: 30 minutes self guided tour through their museum and then 30-40 minutes of a guided tour and then your gin and tonic.

The self guided museum exhibit was actually very nice, with the walls constructed to look like the time period it is walking about as it tells the history of London gin. There are also a lot f touch screens you can play short informative movies on. I walked through at a normal pace, reading all the signs and watching all the movies at it took my exactly 30 minutes. This is why I think the iPads are pointless to pay for; you don't have that much time to fill and there is plenty of information available.
The guided tour included a very nice and entertaining tour guide who discussed the botanicals of gin while giving them to us to smell. Then she talked about the distillation process. You can look up through the glass ceiling to see the actual stills that are being used! Then, she makes everyone a gin and tonic. Afterwards, she encouraged us to go downstairs and ask for “the secret stash” I don't know if this is only available to small groups or what, but they gave an extra small sample of beefeater gin 24 and beefeater London garden (a gin only available at their distillery!)

Overall I had a nice hour and a half at this distillery with a fantastic guide and a good Museum experience. The gin and tonic was nice too! I would really recommend this tour to anyone interested in learning about or drinking gin!