Doc Holiday: Trick to seeing London in 2 days

London is one of the best tourist cities in the world, but can you really “see it all” in 48 hours?

Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related questions.

What’s the best plan of attack to see London in a couple of days?

I remember asking myself the same question many years ago while I was trying to see as much of London as I could with two young children in tow. 

Very quickly, I realised the genius of the Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour, which allowed us to see all the city’s top attractions (more than 60 of them) in relative comfort and with live commentary. 

The ticket also includes a Thames River tour if you’d like to see the likes of Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament from the water.

Buses run every 15 to 30 minutes, giving you plenty of time to hop off and see the attractions that most interest you. Just remember your ticket doesn’t include entry to attractions, but a great way to bypass the queues (and get a discount) is by buying a London Pass, which has more than 90 attractions, tours and experiences to choose from, including the Hop-on Hop-off Bus. Which option you go for depends on your budget. A two-day London Pass is £115 ($223), while a two-day Hop-On Hop-Off ticket with cruise is priced at £53 (about $100).

You can also buy point-to-point tickets in advance online and find significant discounts. Picture: iStock.

Does Italy have a train travel pass we could buy or are we better off getting a Eurail Pass? We’re looking at taking six to seven train trips there.

Yes, the Trenitalia Pass is available in Italy, which allows you to travel on Frecce, Intercity Notte, EuroCity Italy-Switzerland trains (on internal Italian routes) and FrecciaLink. Prices vary, but the one most likely to suit your needs, the “7 trips in 15 days”, starts from €269 (about $445). Exy? Yes, but unlike the Eurail Pass, there’s no need to pay additional reservation fees for each leg (and you will need reservations in Italy, particularly if travelling in peak season).

If you wanted to go with a Eurail Italy Pass, you could go for a “Six days travel within a month” which is priced from $US272 (about $414), but it’s important to note that you’ll have to pay extra for seat reservations, which are about €10 per leg. What’s interesting is that the Trenitalia Pass doesn’t cover as many classes of trains, so you may find Eurail more convenient and easy to use in the long run.

You can, of course, also buy point-to-point tickets, which can save you a tidy sum but rather than use the ticket machines at train stations, buy them in advance online at trenitalia.com where significant discounts can be found.

When it comes to travel insurance, you can never be too careful. Picture: iStock.

My wife and I (both 64) have been advised our pre-existing medical conditions will be covered (for an extra $90) by the travel insurance provided by our credit card. Am I missing something here?

With travel insurance being what it is, paying an additional $90 to cover two 64-year-olds – each with their own respective set of pre-existing medical conditions – is a bargain in any language. That said, I understand why you’d feel nervous about anything that seems too good to be true.

Depending on the provider, credit card insurance can be as good or even better than stand-alone providers, but since many won’t automatically cover pre-existing conditions, nor let customers pay an additional premium to make exceptions, you’ll need to scour their Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) with a fine-tooth comb.

Those who cover pre-existing conditions will usually list them within the PDS, but even if you have been advised that your conditions are covered, I would contact them once more to double-check and ask them to confirm your coverage in writing. When it comes to travel insurance, you can never be too careful.

The excess charge of credit card travel insurance policies can often be significantly higher than stand-alone policies. Picture: iStock.

What you will also need to check is that you meet all the requirements to be covered for the trip. Some policies, for example, will only activate if you paid for the trip on your credit card, while some banks require notification before you travel in order to activate the policy.

It’s important to know that domestic travel isn’t covered by credit card insurance policies, and that some providers may restrict coverage only to the cardholder, so you’ll need to check that your wife would also definitely be covered.

Be aware too, that the excess charge of credit card travel insurance policies can often be significantly higher than stand-alone policies, and that benefit limits may not be enough for countries such as the United States or Japan where medical care is eye-wateringly expensive

I have had a look through the policy for your card and it looks pretty good (and certainly suitable for a trip to the Pacific Islands), but I urge you to double-check the pre-existing conditions just the same.

Originally published as Doc Holiday: Trick to seeing London in 2 days