Earl's Court to Hampton Court

[Ramboni]

We've got a London trip coming up and will be staying near Earl's Court tube. We want to visit Hampton Court for the day and it looks like the simplest way is to take the District Line to Wimbledon and pick up a SWT service from there... But what ticket is the best bet for an off peak day trip for a family of four: two adults a 17yo and 14yo? Online sites all seem to want to route via Waterloo. Cheers.

 

[Snow1964]

Even though Hampton Court station is outside the London boroughs (it is Elmbridge), it is in London zone 6.

Earls Court is on zone 1-2 boundary so using District to Wimbledon should mean only paying for zones 2-6

Should be possible to use oyster or contactless, and daily capping will mean can make multiple other journeys same day within those zones if you want.

£4.60 single peak, £3.20 off peak with oyster/contactless for 1 adult

Bit more messy for the children, as London children can have 11-15 or 16+ Zip cards (effectively a personal oystercard with photo that allows child fares), a relevant National railcard might get fare down to £2.30 but won’t be able to use contactless for that as will assume you are adult

 

[MikeWh]

We've got a London trip coming up and will be staying near Earl's Court tube. We want to visit Hampton Court for the day and it looks like the simplest way is to take the District Line to Wimbledon and pick up a SWT service from there... But what ticket is the best bet for an off peak day trip for a family of four: two adults a 17yo and 14yo? Online sites all seem to want to route via Waterloo. Cheers.

The contactless PAYG fares for Earls Court to Hampton Court via Wimbledon are £3.20 off-peak or £4.60 peak (0630-0930 and 1600-1900). That's likely to be the best bet for the adults and the 17yo. For the 14yo it might depend on when you are going and how many more times they will visit London and use an Oyster card before 30th September after their 16th birthday. An 11-15 zip Oyster card costs £15 and means the holder pays child fares on rail and tube services. Off-peak that is a 75p flat fare single with a cap of £1.55. More details on https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/11-15-zip-oyster-photocard?intcmp=55575 including how to apply.

 

[30907]

The TfL fare finder (and journey planner - though that is quirky) will be better than any National Rail offer.
Hampton Court station is reasonably well sited, however you could consider bus from Richmond (District Line) changing at Kingston - more frequent and almost as quick. (There doesn't appear to be a direct bus Earl's Court to Kingston).
Googlemaps suggested walking to West Brompton and going via Clapham Jn as quickest - depends where you are staying!

 

[BrianW]

The TfL fare finder (and journey planner - though that is quirky) will be better than any National Rail offer.
Hampton Court station is reasonably well sited, however you could consider bus from Richmond (District Line) changing at Kingston - more frequent and almost as quick. (There doesn't appear to be a direct bus Earl's Court to Kingston).
Googlemaps suggested walking to West Brompton and going via Clapham Jn as quickest - depends where you are staying!

No experience, but -

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A 'rail buff' might find the West Brompton option a good one.
A river trip can be relaxing- another time- maybe not for your teens! https://www.thamesriverboats.co.uk/thames-boats/hampton-court.asp
Kew Palace and Gardens another option another time.

 

[Ramboni]

Even though Hampton Court station is outside the London boroughs (it is Elmbridge), it is in London zone 6.

Earls Court is on zone 1-2 boundary so using District to Wimbledon should mean only paying for zones 2-6

Should be possible to use oyster or contactless, and daily capping will mean can make multiple other journeys same day within those zones if you want.

£4.60 single peak, £3.20 off peak with oyster/contactless for 1 adult

Bit more messy for the children, as London children can have 11-15 or 16+ Zip cards (effectively a personal oystercard with photo that allows child fares), a relevant National railcard might get fare down to £2.30 but won’t be able to use contactless for that as will assume you are adult

Thanks for this... What I can't get my head around is that it doesn't look like there's a way of me just paying for the four of us to travel at these prices without us having a contactless card each and the kids having the Zip cards, or am I being dense? I have an Oyster card for when I visit London for work, but my wife and kids hardly ever do.

 

[Horizon22]

TfL don't have a "groupsave" type ticket do they unlike TOCs?

 

[Haywain]

Thanks for this... What I can't get my head around is that it doesn't look like there's a way of me just paying for the four of us to travel at these prices without us having a contactless card each and the kids having the Zip cards, or am I being dense? I have an Oyster card for when I visit London for work, but my wife and kids hardly ever do.

OK, so you have an Oyster card, which can actually be used by anyone. Do you and your wife have contactless debit/credit cards? Does your 17 year old (who is an adult in railway terms) have a contactless card? Even without contactless cards you can set up contactless payment if you have a smartphone with Apple Pay or Google Pay. The most difficult bit here is getting the discounts for your children.

 

[Ramboni]

So, the most workable answer was to get the kids an Oyster card each and register them to my TFL account so I could top them up alongside my own using the app. The 14yo can get a discount fare by getting a member of TFL staff (at Kings Cross in this case) to set the 11-15 visitor discount on his Oyster for the length of the stay.

 

[RJ]

TfL don't have a "groupsave" type ticket do they unlike TOCs?

There is a discount available for groups of 10+.