PERHAPS YOU’RE back visiting family and friends this summer? Why not make the most of a day or two out with a difference?
One of London’s legendary landmarks and sites made famous by blockbuster British movies are among the new attractions waiting for visitors exploring the UK’s capital city with the London Pass.
The popular city sightseeing card, available at www.londonpass.com, provides entry to more than 70 attractions, tours and experiences across London. And attractions now include St Paul’s Cathedral, which has returned to the London Pass after a three-year break.
One of London’s most iconic and recognisable buildings, St Paul’s was designed by Britain’s leading architect Sir Christopher Wren as part of the major rebuilding of the city after the 1666 Great Fire of London. Among the city’s most popular places of interest, the stunning Cathedral famously played host to the 1981 Royal Wedding in which Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer.
Normally priced at £18 per adult and £8 per child, entry to St Paul’s Cathedral is now included with the London Pass. Guided tours and multimedia guides are included, and London Pass holders also enjoy line-skipping privileges, enabling them to avoid any delays during busy periods.
St Paul’s regularly featured in the top 10 London Pass attractions before 2014 and is certain to be just as popular this time around.
Also due to be introduced to the London Pass this month are themed walking tours which showcase the stand-out locations from some of Britain’s best-loved movies and TV shows. London Pass holders will be able to choose between four exciting options with Brit Movie Tours:
HARRY POTTER LONDON WALK
Explore a world of silver screen wizardry on this 2-hour tour! See the locations used for The Leaky Cauldron in The Sorcerer’s Stone, try your luck with the ticket barriers Arthur Weasley struggles to go through with Harry in The Order of the Phoenix, and sneak around the site where Harry, Ron and Hermione infiltrate the Ministry of Magic using polyjuice potion in The Deathly Hallows. Even muggles will love this look behind the scenes of this magical movie series.
JAMES BOND WALKING TOUR
London has always featured heavily in this famous spy film series, but in Bond’s most recent adventures it has assumed a starring role. This 2.5-hour tour visits more than 10 locations seen in films including For Your Eyes Only, Die Another Day and Skyfall; among the highlights are the secret offices of Bond’s London HQ ‘Universal Exports’ and the safe house from SPECTRE. As part of the tour, participants will get to learn about aspects of the British secret service and judge where fantasy meets reality.
SHERLOCK HOLMES WALKING TOUR
Grab a deerstalker hat and explore places featured in the original Sherlock Holmes novels, real sites that inspired author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and spots made famous in the many TV and film adaptations of the detective’s great adventures – including locations seen in the BBC’s global phenomenon Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
DOCTOR WHO WALKING TOUR
A British institution and popular with sci-fi fans the world over, this 2.5-hour tour follows in the footsteps of the ‘modern’ Doctors including David Tennant and Peter Capaldi. Visit the spot of Cybermen invasions and see where the Doctor rode an anti-gravity motorbike up London’s tallest building!
Visitors using the London Pass save money on the cost of paying individually at each attraction or tour. And at some of the most popular sites, including the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge Exhibition, Hampton Court Palace and now St Paul’s Cathedral, they also save time with fast-track entry.
A one-day London Pass costs £62 per adult and £42 per child, but two-, three-, six- and even 10-day passes are also available. On a one-day London Pass visitors can save money by using the pass just three times: the combined cost of independently visiting the Tower of London, London Bridge Experience and taking a hop-on/hop-off bus tour would be more than £13 more expensive than the pass.