Over the summer, we visited London, Berlin and Munich. Traveling to two different countries and three cities meant learning about three transit systems. For something seemingly so easy (jumping on and off the metro or a tram), it was surprisingly complicated. Here’s an overview of London’s transit system.
London
London’s transit system works like what I’ve experienced in the States. You purchase a card (Oyster card), tap it to open the gate to get to the train, then tap it to leave the station when you’re done. Signage in London is excellent – we never got lost and could easily find our way to the correct platform or out of the stations.
London offers a lot of ticket options. With my family arriving on a Wednesday and leaving the following Monday for Stansted Airport (to catch an early Tuesday flight), we needed six days of transit.
Ticket (or no-ticket) options
For a ride on the London Underground (or Tube), you can buy a single journey ticket, an Oyster card, a Visitor’s Oyster card, a Travelcard, or go contactless (pay for the trip using your mobile phone or credit card).
- The single journey ticket costs approximately twice as much as the same ride using other options (see pricing below).
- The normal Oyster card is what the majority of Londoners use (although contactless is gaining quickly). You buy the card in the station, put some money on it and go. When you’re ready to head back to the States, you can get a refund of any remaining money and the £5 deposit.
- You can purchase the Visitor Oyster card in London or order it online to be delivered to your home before you leave the States. Other than convenience, the main differences are there are some discounts available with the Visitor card, and you do not get the £5 activation fee back when you’re done with it.
- Contactless: You can choose to activate your contactless credit card as a pay-as-you-go option or can use mobile payments on your cell phone. There’s more information on these options on the Transport for London website.
- Finally, there’s the London Travelcard, with unlimited rides for a set number of days.
Note that there may be long-term ticket options for commuters or other discount plans available. If you want more information visit the Transport for London website.
How pricing works
In 2019 when we were in London, the adult fare for a Zone 1 trip using a single journey ticket was £4.90. If you have an Oyster card or contactless payment, it drops to £2.40 for the same trip. Similarly, for other zones it’s roughly half the price using the card/contactless vs. a single trip ticket. Needless to say, it makes very little sense to buy a single ticket.
You may have noticed the word zone. In London, there are 9 geographic zones. Most historic sites are in Zone 1. However Heathrow Airport is in Zone 6. Pricing for the various ticket options changes depending on the number of zones you travel to.
The London Underground also has a daily cap for Oyster cards and contactless payment. What this means is if you take more than three trips in the same zone you spend no more money for the day. For example, if you take three trips within Zones 1 and 2, your cost is £7. Normally it would be £7.20. And every trip within these two zones is free for the rest of the day.
There are a lot of variables to consider. Let me throw in one more.
Discounts available through the Travelcard
London railways offer 2/1 admission vouchers to many of London’s top attractions for people who have a valid railway ticket. This was first designed for English travelers who might come to London via train for the weekend or as a day trip. However, even a tourist traveling only in London can take advantage of this by purchasing a PAPER Travelcard. All you need to do is show your Travelcard and the voucher at the specific attraction’s ticket office for the 2/1 deal (vouchers are available online – you can print these before you leave home).
Notice the highlighted word PAPER. If you get a Travelcard loaded onto your Oyster card, you cannot take advantage of the 2/1 offer. You must have the paper Travelcard.
Additionally, you have to buy the Travelcard from a railway station in London. We bought ours at Paddington Station.
As you can tell, there are a lot of hoops to jump through with the 2/1 discount. The London Toolkit website was invaluable in helping me figure out the Tube system and how to get around for the least money.
So here’s what we did
After a ton of research, we decided to do a combo. We knew we were going to visit the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Kensington Palace so we were very interested in the 7-day Zone 1 and 2 Travelcard. Additionally, we knew we had to get from Heathrow to Bayswater Station upon arrival and would need to go from Euston Station to Watford Junction for our trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Since those required us leaving Zones 1 and 2, we would need another ticket. We chose an Oyster card for those trips and the Travelcard for our daily sightseeing.
For the trip from Heathrow, we purchased Oyster cards with £20 when we arrived, and made sure to get the youth discount for my son who was 14 at the time. After we dropped off our luggage, we went to Paddington Station to the National Rail office and purchased 7-day Travelcards, which we used for unlimited rides on the Tube. On the day we visited the Harry Potter Studios, we used the Travelcard to get to Euston and then the Oyster card for the trip to Watford Junction.
Yes, this took a decent amount of research. However, the savings from the 2/1 offer made it worth it. From just the three attractions (Tower of London, Westminster and Kensington) we saved almost £54. And there was no difference in our ride experience. Instead of tapping an Oyster card we simply fed the paper Travelcard into a slot and out it popped. Not including the savings from the 2/1 offer, we spent £6,50 per day per person for transit.
This may or may not be the best option for you. There’s a breakpoint where the 7-day Travelcard makes more sense than an Oyster card. You also may be able to take advantage of other discounts (senior or student rates for example). Take some time and figure out what you want to do while in London, then determine what transit option works best for you.
Perceptions of the Tube
London’s underground was the best way for us to get around London. Everything was easy. Well, let me rephrase that. I made the mistake of getting out at the wrong station when we first arrived in London. I thought a connecting train would come along but I had gotten my family off two stations too soon. We sat for a while then got back on and went to the right station and found the correct train.
Other than operator error (mine), it’s a breeze. Efficient, always on time, frequently crowded but never so much that we waited for another train. Even with luggage it wasn’t a headache.
To make it easier, use one of the city transit apps. My daughter was in charge of getting us from place to place and it seemed every time we got to the platform the train was just pulling in. Plus when there was a work slowdown one day, we knew of it in advance and had planned our route through another nearby station.
Mind the gap and have a great time in London.
Underground photo by Nick Fewings
Ticket photos by Marley