Just need to work out whether we can fit in a London Eye experience while we're there. I don't know how far it is from Euston.
It's near Waterloo, which is perhaps 15 minutes from Euston by underground. Follow signs for the South Bank when you get to Waterloo, then when you exit the station take a right and walk along the road for a short distance, after which you will see the London Eye on your right.
Buy your London Eye tickets online in advance at
www.londoneye.com to save some time queueing up. Bear in mind that security searches are in operation on entry to the London Eye and most of the things you can't take on planes are prohibited (although bottled drinks are allowed).
The tickets read From Liverpool Stns to UI London. Presumably the UI is the Underground bit?
It's U1 rather than UI, but yes.
Does that give unlimited use of the Underground all day?
No. You can make one journey from Euston to anywhere in zone 1 on the outbound ticket, and one journey from anywhere in zone 1 to Euston on the return ticket. Those tickets often don't work the Underground ticket barrier, but just show it to the attendant and you will be let through.
There's no mention of St Pancras on the tickets so presumably we could go anywhere?
Yes, anywhere in zone 1, but only one journey on each ticket.
Oh and I was wondering whether someone could kindly explain Oyster cards to me.
OK, I'll have a go.
Can you get one for one day only?
Sort of. Oyster cards are valid indefinitely. When you buy one you pay a £5 deposit and put at least £5 of pre-pay credit (or a weekly or longer Travelcard, but that won't be you) on it. Having bought one you can keep it and use it next time you get to London, and add more credit from time to time as and when you need it. But if you don't want to keep the card, you can get a refund from any London Underground ticket office as long as you have £5 or less credit on it. If you have over £5 credit you can still get a refund, although it's a bit of a faff and they might post you out a cheque rather than giving you the refund on the spot.
Where do you get them from?
Any London Underground ticket office, London Travel Information office, convenience stores where you see the Oyster sign, selected National Rail ticket offices (including Euston London Midland office), online at
www.tfl.gov.uk (allow around a week for delivery), at London City Airport DLR station, and probably a few other places.
Is it true that buses don't accept cash now so you have to have an Oyster to use them?
No. Most buses accept cash payments (and from some time next year they all will), although the fare is quite a bit higher (£2.30 going up to £2.40 on Wednesday for cash as opposed to £1.35 going up to £1.40 for Oyster). You can use a contactless credit or debit card to pay on buses now as well, at the Oyster rate. In central London you currently cannot pay cash on certain bus routes (where the route number is displayed on a yellow background at the stop), and must pay using a ticket machine next to the stop instead. These machines don't give change and are being phased out soon.
You can also purchase a Travelcard if you like, which will give unlimited use of all London buses, plus trains, underground, and DLR within the chosen zones, and trams unless you choose only zones 1-2, for one day. You can buy this at any staffed station nationwide, at most ticket vending machines in the London zones, or from your train manager on your train into London. The cost varies depending on the zones you choose and whether you want peak-time validity (i.e. before 0930).