Old Moaner Travel
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list
London: Getting Around
Central London, where most of the major attractions can be found, is relatively compact so a reasonably fit person could easily get around on foot.
However there are times when it is a need to use public transport.
Travel on the Underground, DLR, Overground and Buses is charged using a zone system.
I’m not going to attempt to cover the full pricing system here as it is complex and pricing depends on how you choose to pay, plus I'll lose the will to live and it would probably make your eyes bleed.
The most expensive way of paying is by cash for a single journey, which has a minimum fare of £4.90, even if you only want to travel one stop.
Once you have passed through the barrier at a station you can change trains at interchange stations without having to purchase another ticket, provided you stay in the correct zones.
Stations / bust stops on Zone boundaries are considered to be in both Zones with the cheaper zone applying to your journey. So, for example, North Acton is on the Zone 2 & 3 border. If travelling from a station in Zone 1 or 2 it is considered to be in Zone 2. However, if travelling to another Zone 3 station, Hanger Lane for example, it’s considered to be in Zone 3 and is only a single Zone journey.
If you’re going to be in London for a while, consider a pre-paid Oyster card and the fare drops to £2.40.
Alternatively, you can use a contactless debit or credit card to touch in and out at stations and this also has the £2.40 fare, just remember to use the same card for touching in and touching out - yes I know it's stating the bleeding obvious but you'll be surprised how many people cock this one up.
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Using Oyster / or contactless cards there is a daily cap on how much you will be charged. For example, staying in Zones 1 & 2 the daily cap is £7.20. If you use a contactless card there is an additional weekly cap of £36.10 for Zones 1 & 2.
