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Day trips to London for the family.

Purchase a "Friend and Family Railcard" which gives you a 34% discount off the adult fares and 60% off the child fares; it requires adult and child to travel together and costs £30 for a year.  See https://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk

Ask for / book an "Off Peak Day Travelcard" ( £46.75 in my example) and "say" you have the Friend and Family railcard. The ticket issued will work the underground barriers in zones 1 to 6 and you can just show it to the driver as you board and Transport for London bus.  Here (I used http://www.gwr.com ) are the various tickets / prices for 1 adult and 1 child from Stowmarket to London (*)

The off peak travel card is valid on any train on a Saturday or Sunday ... on other days you won't be able to arrive in London until after the morning peak, and may have restrictions on late afternoon / early evening return journeys

* - Written for Stowmarket to answer an out-or-area query, but pretty similar to places like Didcot!

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/stwcard.jpg)

Complications - to be completed later (and not applicable to the initial request I got!)

1. Multiple day trips

2. Long distance day trips

3. Adult only groups / larger groups

4. Rail strike days

5. Peak travel

1. The travelcard element of the ticket only works for one day (day of arrival in London) if you have a period return

2. If you are traveling on a longer route into London where there are no day returns but just going for the day, you may find it cheaper to buy a day return from your starting station to a halfway point, then a day travelcard from that point into London.

3. Look also at 2 together railcards if it's multiple adults, and groupsaves (not available on all train opertors) for larger groups.

4. Beware - there are multiple days of rail strikes this summer, and I believe there's another day with an underground strike too

5. Peak travel can be very expensive - see the example.  Check carefully return rules if you're looking to leave London between 16:30 and 19:30.

From Paddington some of the restrictions apply between 15:00 and 19:00.  Even off peaks may not be valid until after 18:35 - taking Swindon as an example. 

Re item 1, I’m not sure you can get period travelcards. I think they are only available for day returns.