London is one of our favourite cities that we’ve travelled to! The easy-to-use public transport system really reinforces our love of the city. We’ve visited many cities with complicated or confusing public transport, so we love it when we find one that’s straight forward. We found that the public transport in London was pretty easy to figure out as tourists.

Once you know how the buses and trains work, you’ll find it a breeze to make your way around London. If you’re also after free activities to do during your visit, you can check out our guide here.

In this post:

1. Modes of transport
2. How to pay
3. Cost of travel
4. How to find timetables and routes
5. Important things to know

Let’s get into how to navigate the extensive public transport that London has to offer.

London has three main modes of public transport: trains, buses and light rails/trams.

London has a very extensive network of trains, both underground (AKA the Tube) and overground. Some London train stations also connect to the National Rail network, which can take you to other areas of England. If you want to know more about getting around outside of London, we have a post on using buses and trains around the UK. We’ll just focus on the Tube and the Overground for this post.

The Tube dates back to the 1860’s, making it one of the oldest public transit train systems in the world. It carries over 3 millions passengers a day (as of 2023). Despite it’s name, not all of the system is underground. As you get further out of the city centre, many of the lines move to the surface. Tube lines are named and colour coded on maps and signage, so you can easily identify the line you need.

Even though some Tube lines move above ground, this is not the same as the Overground (confusing, I know). It’s easy to identify which system you are on using the station signage and the Tube map. The Tube map is displayed on most trains and at stations. It shows each Tube line in a solid colour, while the Overground is shown as an orange outline.

Depending on where in the city you are staying, you may need to use the Overground. The Overground can come in handy if you are looking to bypass the city on a journey. For example, when we were staying with a friend in Watford and travelling to Richmond for the day, we were able to use the Overground to avoid travelling into the city and back out again.

The red buses of London are somewhat of an icon, and they travel many routes throughout the city. You will see buses everywhere all the time, and there are over 19,000 bus stops all around the city. Buses are numbered to identify different routes.

We used buses ocassionally during our time in London, however we found that they are not efficient in the city due to road traffic. Buses come in handy when you are outside the city centre and maybe not as close to a Tube station.

The tramlink in London is relatively new compared to the Tube, having opened in 2000. There are 3 main tram lines in South London. They travel between Wimbledon and New Addington, Therapia Lane to Elmers End, and a loop from Beckenham Junction through Croydon and back.

There is also the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) which began in 1987 and runs from Docklands to the city. The DLR differs from all other London transport in that the trains are driverless.

Similar to the Tube, the tram lines and the DLR also have their own colour code on maps and signage.

London also has a River Bus, which travels along part of the Thames. We didn’t use the River Bus at all during our time in London for two main reasons: cost and speed. The River Bus is easily the most expensive mode of transport in London for the distance covered. It takes longer too. As an example, travelling from Battersea Power Station to Waterloo on the Tube takes 12 minutes and costs £2.70 (or £2.80 during peak hour), while the River Bus takes 35 minutes and costs £8.60.

This is the cheapest way to see London from the Thames, but in terms of getting around London, it’s not an option we would really consider.

You have a few options of how to pay the fare for London public transport. Our favourite option is pay as you go with contactless, but one of the other options might suit you better. Let’s have look at your choices:

We would absolutely recommend a pay as you go method – either using an Oyster Card or your contactless bank card.

For both of the below methods, you can simply tap your card on the yellow reader at the station ticket gates or on board trams and buses. On buses and trams, you only need to tap on, as they are a flat fare. On trains you will also need to tap out at the end of your journey, as the fare is based on the distance you travel.

London’s Oyster cards are a prepaid card that you can tap to pay the fare on any public transport mode. The cards can be loaded at most Tube stations, a variety of shops around London, and at visitor centres. You can choose to load your card with £10, £15, £20, £25, £30, £35, £40 or £50. You can also top up an Oyster card if your balance runs out.

Now, here’s why we don’t think Oyster cards are your best option: purchasing the actual Oyster card costs money. You can either purchase a visitor Oyster card online prior to leaving on your trip for £5 plus postage, or can purchase a standard Oyster card once you arrive in the city for £7. You cannot get a visitor Oyster card in London, so you will have to receive it before leaving.

Another downside to the Oyster card is that it’s hard to use the exact amount you’ve loaded. This is because most journeys are not in exact pounds, so it would take quite a bit of luck to use up everything on the card.

There are also a few places that you can’t use Oyster, but can use contactless. The last 8 stops on the Elizabeth line are outside the Oyster fare zone, but still accept contactless.

However, the one time that we do think an Oyster card would be the best option is if you’re travelling with someone under the age of 15. Children aged 11-15 are eligible for half price fares, and kids under 11 travel for free on most transport when they are with an adult who is paying full-fare (up to 4 children per adult). If you prepurchase the visitor Oyster card, you can have the 11-15 discount applied to the card by a member of staff at Tube stations or visitor centres.

Depending on how long you’re planning to be in London, it may be worth paying for the Oyster card and delivery. But chances are, paying for the card will outweigh the minimal benefits. Instead, let’s look at what we believe is the best option for paying the fare.

This was our method of payment for public transport in London, and it was perfect for us! You can pay by tapping your contactless bank card or Apple/ Google pay on the same readers used for Oyster. You don’t need to do anything special, any contactless card will be ready to go. When you pay with contactless, you will pay the same fare as you would through using an Oyster card.

There are many benefits to this method. You won’t need to pay the fee to buy the Oyster card. There’s no need to spend time finding somewhere to top up your card if it runs low. You won’t have an awkward amount left on your Oyster card at the end of your trip and you won’t need to keep track of another card.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is whether or not your bank charges international transaction fees if you are from outside the UK. Because our bank does not charge these fees and offers a pretty standard exchange rate, we loved paying with contactless.

We can’t stress enough how much easier pay as you go methods are. But if you don’t think that’s right for you, using travel cards will be your next best option. Keep in mind, though, that travel cards will cost you more than using pay as you go. In fact, even if you reach the pay as you go cap for the zones you’re travelling in, it will still be cheaper than buying the equivalent travel card.

Travel cards are tickets that can be bought at Tube stations that are valid for a certain amount of time. Usually as a tourist, you would either purchase a 24 hour travel card or a week long travel card. The other options are 1 month or 1 year.

Travel cards are valid on any tube service in the zones you’ve selected and on all buses. They are also valid on trams unless you have chosen only zones 1-2.

Paper tickets should be a last resort, to be completely honest. They are only used for the Tube, and are significantly more expensive than pay as you go or travel cards. You can buy paper tickets for single or return journeys at Tube stations.

The price of public transport in London depends on the mode of transport, how you pay, and sometimes on the distance travelled. As we mentioned earlier, the cheapest payment method is pay as you go. We would highly recommend you use one of these methods of payment, and these are the costs we’ll be sharing below. The cost for both contactless and Oyster is the same. Keep in mind that if you choose to buy paper tickets or travel cards, your costs will be higher.

Let’s have a look based on the different transport modes:

Buses and trams in London cost a flat fare of £1.75, regardless of how far you travel. You can also transfer between these two modes of transport as many times as you want within one hour of your first tap on for free, as long as you use the same card/ device to do so.

Buses and trams have a daily cap of £5.25, so once you’ve taken 3 journeys in one day, the subsequent ones will be free.

The Tube is much more complicated in how fares are calculated. The fare is based on the zones you travel through, and whether you are travelling during peak or off-peak times.

The Tube is divided into 9 zones that start with zone 1 in the city centre, and increase out in concentric circles. These zones are marked on the Tube map, and are also usually shown on the on board maps.

Peak and off-peak travel times can make a huge difference to the price you pay for your fare. The peak fares apply from 6:30am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 7:00pm Monday to Friday (except for public holidays). Off-peak fares apply at all other times. The fare will apply based on the time you touch into a station. We had a couple of times where we forgot, and touched into a station around 9:25am, which was such a pain as it can cost almost double for a peak journey! If you’re trying to keep costs down, it’s best to avoid travelling on the tube in peak times whenever possible.

If you have a journey where you change trains and do not travel through zone 1, you can have a slightly reduced fare. This is a unique situation, but it can help save you some money. If you change trains at one of the train stations listed here, you can tap your payment card (Oyster or contactless) on one of the pink card readers (NOT the yellow ones you use to start and end a journey) in the station. This will show that you did not travel through zone 1 on your route, so you will not be charged for having travelled through the extra zone.

Similar to buses and trams, the Tube also has daily and weekly fare cap systems. If you make sure to travel with the same card or device for your entire stay, you will automatically have these fare caps applied to your travel. Unlike buses and trams, the caps for Tube travel are based on zones and peak times. You can find out the cap for your journeys here.

You can use the Transport for London fare finder to calculate the cost of any journey between two stations.

One of the best things about the London public transport system is that it is fully integrated into Google Maps and City Mapper. Both apps will give you upcoming departure times, route options, approximate costs and information on delays.

We used Google Maps for each of our stays in London as we already had the app on our phones, so it was nice and easy. We have heard great things about City Mapper for London though, as it also accounts for time walking inside the Tube stations to the right platform, so there’s no guesswork as to how long it will take you to get to your train.

There is also a Transport for London app, and you can use their online journey planner to plan out trips as well.

As far as finding out how to get around, you can’t really go wrong with any of these options, just use whichever one is the most convenient for you!

If you are after timetables for your stay in London, you can find them for the overground and the bus and tube system on the Transport for London website.

Along with all of the practical information we’ve gone through, there are several other things that we’ve learnt about the London transport system during our time in the city.

• Cancellations and strikes can be common on trains. Make sure you keep an eye on the app you’re using the plan journeys, as it will also give you alternatives if the trains are down or delayed.
• If there are strikes or track work that will impact any lines, most stations will have a sign out letting you know which lines will be affected on which days.
• Different Tube lines can come through the same platform. Before you get on a train, make sure it is the right line and the right end destination, as it’s not a guarantee that every train on the platform will be going to your destination.
• Some Tube lines split into different lines (as a side note, this drives me absolutely bonkers, because if it splits in two doesn’t that inherently make it a different line??) so again, keep an eye out for the correct end destination.
• Pickpockets can be common on all transport, but especially trains. Keep all of your belongings close.
• The Tube can get insanely hot in summer, so make sure you have water and be prepared for heat.
• Some Tube stops do not have step free access, so can be inaccessible to those with mobility issues. The Tube map has a key for whether or not stations are accessible.
• All buses and trams are fully accessible, and trams are also free for wheelchair users, even if you aren’t from London.
• Some train stations have both overground and underground components. This makes it easy for transferring, however it can also be confusing as they may repeat platform numbers. For example, Euston underground station has platforms 1-6, and Euston overground stations has platforms 1-16, so it has two sets of platforms 1-6. While the stations have different names (Euston Underground and London Euston), they are on the same site. This can get confusing, so make sure you’re double checking which station and train system you need so you can find the right platform.
• Some Tube stations have similar names, so once again you need to double check you’re aiming for the right one. For example, Euston and Euston Square are two different stations that are about a 10 minute walk from one another. There are also two instances where stations share the same name, but are not the same station. The first is Edgware Road, with one on the Bakerloo line, and another on Circle, District, and Hammersmith and City. The second is Hammersmith, which is the end of the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines, and also separately a stop on the District and Piccadilly lines.

While it may seem like the London transport system is difficult to navigate, it’s pretty easy once you’re actually on the ground and can get a feel for how everything works. On paper, it can be quite confusing to explain the fare system and the way zones work, but in practice, it is so easy to tap in and out of stations and quickly make your way around the city.

Please let us know if you have any questions about the London transport system – it’s not nearly as scary as it seems, and it’s easily our favourite way to get around in one of our favourite cities.

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