London Tourist Passes Compared: London Pass vs Go City Explorer vs Merlin (2026)

If you’re planning to visit London, the London tourist passes are worth knowing about before you book a single ticket. One of them may well save you time and money. The question is which one, and that depends on how you like to travel. 

This guide takes you through each London attraction pass and what it offers, so you can decide which pass, if any, fits your plans. 

Why buy a pass rather than separate tickets? Because it saves the time you would spend buying tickets one by one, and, if you plan to see several of the big attractions, it can leave more money in your pocket in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

The main things to weigh up are how long each pass lasts, how many attractions it covers, and the price. Planning ahead helps, because it means you can buy the pass that covers what you actually want to do rather than paying for what you will not use. 

With 110+ attractions on the biggest pass, we cannot list them all here. To see what each pass currently covers, click the links in the table below and within the text. They take you to the sales page where you can check the full list without any obligation to buy. 

One note before you choose. A pass covers entry, not access arrangements. Step-free access, lifts and queue arrangements vary from attraction to attraction, so if mobility is a consideration for anyone in your group, check the individual attraction pages before you decide how many places to fit into a day. 

Here are the main London attraction passes you can pick from. But first, our overall top pick. 

London Tourist Passes comparison chart

For quick reference, here’s an at-a-glance guide to the three main London attraction passes. Prices are the starting adult prices shown on each pass’s own site in September 2026 and change through the year, so treat them as a guide and check the live price when you buy. 

Name	Duration	Attractions	Adult prices	Child ages	Buy
The London Pass	1 to 10 days	110+	From £99	5 to 15	BUY HERE
Go City Explorer Pass	2 to 7 attractions in 30 days	76	From £64	5 to 15	BUY HERE
Merlin 5 Top Attractions Pass	5 attractions in 90 days	5	From £69	See site	BUY HERE

The 3 Top London Attraction Passes

The London Pass

Best overall

The London Pass is the most popular London attraction pass of all. It’s available for anything from one day to ten, and holders get entry to more than 110 attractions, so there’s no chance of running out of places to go. Even during wet weather, which happens fairly often in London.

Entry to so many of London’s biggest attractions is covered by the London Pass, and with that many places on the list there are quieter spots on it too. Use your pass to explore the Tower of London, for example, or to take a trip on Regent’s Canal. The current list is on the sales page and changes from time to time, so check it against your own must-sees before you buy. 

The pass lives on your smartphone through the Go City app, and it is delivered electronically as soon as you buy, so you can even buy a London Pass the morning you head out sightseeing. 

Pass pluses:

• 110+ attractions included
• Durations from 1 to 10 days
• The big-name sights and plenty of quieter ones

Pass minuses:

• Shorter durations aren’t as good value for money
• The days run consecutively, so it suits a packed few days rather than a slow fortnight

To find out more, read our complete London Pass guide here

Click to purchase your London Pass

How much money could a London Pass save you?

Here is a worked example. If you visited the following attractions over three days, all of them in central London and all on the London Pass, this is what you would pay at the gate against the price of a 3-day pass. Gate prices are the standard adult online prices at the time of writing; they move, so use this as the shape of the saving rather than the exact figure. 

Attraction	Adult price	With London Pass
Tower of London	£37	Included
The View from The Shard	£32	Included
Westminster Abbey	£31	Included
St Paul’s Cathedral	£27	Included
Hop-on, hop-off bus tour	£55.99	Included
Thames river cruise	£24.95	Included
Kensington Palace	£24.70	Included
Hampton Court Palace	£32	Included
TOTAL	£264.64	£179 for a 3-day pass

TOTAL SAVING £85.64

🎧 Podcasts about the London Pass

Go City Explorer Pass

Best for a slower trip

The first alternative to think about is the Go City Explorer Pass. This one works on how many attractions you want to visit rather than how many days you want it to last, so it is the London Pass the other way round. 

It suits you if you know where you want to go but not exactly when. You choose between two and seven attractions from a list of 76, and once you use it at the first one you have 30 days to use the rest. That gives you far more breathing space than a consecutive-day pass if you are spreading your sightseeing across a longer stay. 

After buying a Go City Explorer Pass you store it in the Go City app. It stays valid for a year from the date you buy it, then for 30 days from your first visit. Opening times and booking notes for each attraction are in the app’s guide. 

London Pass vs Go City Explorer

Both passes come from Go City, so the attraction lists overlap heavily. The difference is how you use them.

London Pass	Go City Explorer
1 to 10 consecutive days	2 to 7 attractions in 30 days
110+ attractions	76 attractions
From £99 adult	From £64 adult
Click here to find out more or buy	Click here to find out more or buy

The Go City Explorer is the better choice if you want to visit between two and seven attractions over a longer stay. It is the pass to pick when you want to see less, spread over more days. 

The London Pass is the pick when you want to fit in as many attractions as you can over a run of consecutive days, from one to ten. That makes it ideal for first-time visitors doing London in a few days or a week.  

In short, the choice between the two comes down to the timeframe you want to use your pass in, and how many attractions you really expect to visit. 

Merlin 5 Top Attractions Pass

Best for family attractions

This is Merlin’s pass, sold on GetYourGuide as the London 5 Top Attractions Pass with Madame Tussauds, and it was previously known as the Big City Saver and before that as Merlin’s Magical London Pass. It covers five attractions: Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE London Aquarium, the London Eye, the London Dungeon and Shrek’s Adventure. It is valid for 90 days from your first visit, so even longer than the Go City option. 

The catch is that you book a time slot for your first attraction, Madame Tussauds, when you buy, rather than simply activating the pass on first use like the others. It is also a pass for family attractions rather than for places like the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey, which it does not include. 

If those five are the places your family wants to go anyway, it could well be the best-value London pass for you when you buy the Merlin pass. 

Pass pluses:

• Includes the London Eye and Madame Tussauds
• 90 days to use it
• Good for the attractions children ask for

Pass minuses:

• You choose a time slot for your first attraction when you buy
• Only 5 attractions, none of them the historic sights

Bonus pick – Royal Museums Greenwich Day Pass

Best for a day in Greenwich

Though it’s not comparable to the three London tourist passes above, we couldn’t leave out one for a favourite part of the city. If you’re planning a day in Greenwich during your time in London, the Royal Museums Greenwich Day Pass is worth having. 

This pass gains you entry to two of the area’s biggest sights, the Cutty Sark tea clipper and the Royal Observatory. The Observatory sets the time for the entire planet, and you can see the Meridian Line here and stand with one foot in each hemisphere. Note that the Observatory sits at the top of a steep hill in Greenwich Park, so allow time for the climb, and check the Royal Museums Greenwich access page if steps or gradients are a concern.

Buy the Royal Museums Greenwich Day Pass and you can also visit the National Maritime Museum and Queen’s House. Other things to do in Greenwich include the market, the O2, deer-spotting in Greenwich Park and a riverboat back into town, so it is a part of London well worth a day.

Other London Travel Passes

While looking for London passes you may come across mentions of other types. We’ve done the homework here so you don’t have to, and the three passes above are the main ones to know about. 

You may also see the iVenture Card for London mentioned here and there. It is no longer offered for London, though iVenture passes still cover other cities in Europe, the US, Asia, Africa and Australia. You may also see references to a London Pass Plus; at the time of writing it is not on sale on the London Pass site, so if you find one being offered, check who is selling it and what it covers before you buy.

London City Pass FAQs

Is there a London attraction pass?

There are three main London attraction passes to choose from.

The London Pass gives you entry to 110+ attractions over a run of consecutive days, from 1 to 10.

A Go City London Explorer Pass lasts for 30 days after your first visit and gets you into between 2 and 7 of 76 attractions.

The Merlin 5 Top Attractions Pass covers Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE, the London Eye, the London Dungeon and Shrek’s Adventure, and lasts for 90 days.

Is there a day pass in London? 

If you want a city card for London that gives you access to attractions, you can buy a London Pass for one day.

A Go City London Explorer Pass or the Merlin pass could also be used if you want to visit two or more of their sites in one day.

Otherwise, you can buy day travelcards for London transport, but they don’t get you into any attractions. 

What is the difference between a London Pass and an Oyster Card?

An Oyster Card is purely for transport, while a London Pass is a sightseeing pass.

The Oyster Card will not get you into any attractions, and a London Pass does not cover your travel around the city.

Buy a London Pass to pre-pay for visiting top London tourist attractions, and use an Oyster card or your own contactless card to pay for public transport. Our guide to contactless versus Oyster explains which to use. 

Which London Sightseeing Pass is Right for You?

With only a few major players in the market, choosing the right London tourist pass for your visit is not too tricky.

Buying any of these three in advance covers the price of the attractions included, so it’s a good way to budget before spending time in an expensive city. 

We recommend the London Pass from our own experience, but the right pass for you may differ. The Merlin pass suits families whose list is Madame Tussauds, the London Eye and the aquarium; it has only five attractions, and none of the historic ones.

The other main option is the Go City Explorer Pass, which shares most of its attractions with the London Pass. It gives you 30 days rather than a run of consecutive days, so it suits a slower trip. You will have to plan a little more with this one, to make sure you buy a pass for the number of attractions you will actually visit.

Whichever you go for, buying London attraction tickets this way can save you money, help with budgeting before you travel, and save you time once you arrive.

Plan your trip to London

• The London Pass: is it worth it? Our complete guide
• Visiting the Tower of London
• Visiting Westminster Abbey
• Things to do in London
• Things to do in London at night