Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
travel; these are available in one-day and seven-day versions. Or buy a
£
5
Oyster card
and top it up as needed to travel like a local for about
£
1-2 per ride.
The transit system has six zones. Since almost all of my recommended accommoda-
tions, restaurants, and sights are within Zones 1 and 2, those are the prices I've listed here;
you'll pay more to go farther afield. Specific fares and other details change constantly; for
a complete and updated list of prices, check
www.tfl.gov.uk
.
The Bottom Line
Wondering which pass works best for your trip? On a short visit (three days or fewer),
if you think you'll be zipping around a lot, consider a One-Day Travelcard for each day
you're here (or at least for your busiest days); if you'll be taking fewer rides, get an Oyster
card (described later) and pay as you go. If you're in London for four days or longer, the
Seven-Day Travelcard will likely pay for itself.
Individual Transit Tickets
Individual paper tickets are available, but they're so expensive (
£
4.70 per Tube ride) that
you shouldn't buy one, unless you're literally taking just one ride your entire time in the
city. Overall, a Travelcard or Oyster card offers far more value. If you do buy a single
ticket, you can avoid ticket-window lines in Tube stations by using the coin-op machines;
practice on the punchboard to see how the system works (hit “Adult Single” and your des-
tination). These tickets are valid only on the day of purchase.
Travelcards
Travelcards are valid on the Tube, buses, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), and Over-
ground. Travelcards let you ride as many times as you want within a one- or a seven-day
period, for one fixed price. Like individual tickets, Travelcards become valid on the day of
purchase (they should not be purchased in advance).
Before you buy a card, estimate where you'll be going; there's a card for Zones 1 and
2, and another for Zones 1-6 (which includes Heathrow Airport). If Heathrow is the only
ride you're taking outside Zones 1-2 (which is likely), you can pay a small supplement to
make the Zones 1-2 Travelcard stretch to cover that one ride.
The
One-Day Travelcard
gives you unlimited travel for a day (Zones 1-2:
£
9, off-
peak version
£
8.90; Zones 1-6:
£
17, off-peak version
£
8.90; off-peak cards are good for
travel after 9:30 on weekdays and anytime on weekends). This Travelcard works like a
traditional paper ticket: Buy it at any Tube station ticket window or machine, then feed it
into a turnstile (and retrieve it) to enter and exit the Tube. On a bus, just show it to the
driver when you get on.
