The London Underground is part of a fare zone system that extends to Zone 9. You can check stations and zones in our London Underground map section. Zones 1 and 2 cover many central sights, but also check where you are staying and which journeys you will make from the airport. Heathrow is in Zone 6. Now let’s look at how to use the Underground.
You can pay as you go with an Oyster card or contactless, buy a Travelcard, or purchase a paper single ticket. The basic distinction is this: Oyster is a card that can hold credit or a travel pass; Travelcard is the pass; contactless lets you pay with your bank card or a compatible device. Let’s explain how each works.
Benefits of using passes
Using Oyster, contactless or a Travelcard saves you from buying a ticket for every journey. With pay as you go, eligible journeys count towards the relevant spending caps. With a pass, you know its price and coverage in advance. You do not need cash to travel with a compatible bank card, although you should check your bank’s charges.
A Travelcard gives you unlimited journeys within the zones, services and dates it covers. With Oyster pay as you go, each journey deducts credit and the relevant spending caps, known as capping, apply. This does not mean that every airport journey or special service is included.
Both Oyster and Travelcard work on the Underground, DLR and London Overground, subject to their coverage conditions. You can also use them on Elizabeth line and certain National Rail services. Before travelling beyond your usual zones, check whether your route accepts Oyster, contactless or the pass you have bought.
Oyster Card
It is a contactless smartcard that you can top up with prepaid credit. It works on the Underground, buses, DLR, trams, Overground, Elizabeth line and certain National Rail services. Its coverage is not identical to contactless: for example, Oyster is not accepted at Elizabeth line stations between Reading and Iver. Paying as you go usually costs less than buying paper single tickets.
Oyster pay as you go credit does not expire. A Travelcard, however, has a validity period: daily, seven-day, monthly or annual, depending on the product. Once it expires, you can keep using your Oyster with credit or load another compatible pass.
You can buy a standard Oyster card at Underground stations and other authorised outlets. TfL’s online sales of standard Oyster cards are for UK residents. If you want a card delivered before you travel, check the Visitor Oyster card options, delivery to your country and the cost. Make sure you know which of the two products you are buying.
How to use the Oyster Card
Pay as you go. A new standard Oyster card costs £10.50, according to TfL’s information checked on 15 October 2026. This is the cost of the card, not travel credit, and it is not a refundable deposit. You then add the credit you need. Refund conditions for older cards depend on when they were bought and should not be confused with the conditions for a new card.
With Oyster pay as you go, you do not choose a pass for specific zones in advance: the system calculates your fare from your route and touch-ins and touch-outs, within its coverage. This does not mean you can use it at every station. With a Travelcard, you must cover all the zones you need; if you travel beyond them, check how to pay for the extra part before setting off. Travelling without a valid ticket can have consequences beyond a simple fare adjustment.
More information about the Oyster Card.
Travel Card
A Travelcard is a pass for travel on the services and in the zones included during its validity period. The one-day version is sold on paper; seven-day and longer passes are loaded onto Oyster or a train operator’s smartcard, depending on where you buy them. It includes Underground, DLR, Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services covered by its conditions, as well as buses. For trams, it must include at least one of Zones 3, 4, 5 or 6. Do not assume every airport train is included: Heathrow Express, for example, is excluded.
A paper Day Travelcard does not require you to buy an Oyster card. If you choose a pass loaded onto a new Oyster, allow for the cost of that card. For children and young people, photo or identification requirements depend on the product and discount: check our guide to travelling with children rather than assuming they are never needed.
When you buy a seven-day Travelcard from TfL, you can load it onto a compatible Oyster; it is not a product entirely separate from the card. Other sales channels may use the train operator’s smartcard.
Single Tickets
Paper single tickets are sold at station ticket machines and railway ticket offices that offer them. For many Underground journeys they cost more than Oyster or contactless. In 2026, an adult paper single costs £7 in Zones 1–6 where TfL fares apply. Check the price of your particular journey, especially if it combines railway services.
Where to buy tickets?
You can buy Oyster and tickets at outlets that sell the relevant product. Not every Underground station has a ticket office: use the machines or ask staff for help. Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail ticket offices offer different products. If you use a compatible contactless payment method, you do not need to buy a transport card or top it up before entering.
To validate Oyster or contactless, touch the yellow reader when entering and leaving the Underground, even if the gates are open. Insert paper tickets into the slot where appropriate; keep your ticket during the journey and follow the gate instructions. If your Travelcard is loaded onto Oyster, use the yellow reader, not the slot.
Each person who needs to pay must use their own payment method. Do not switch between your physical card, phone and watch during your journeys: even if they are linked to the same account, they are recorded separately. On buses and trams, only touch in when boarding; the Underground requires you to touch out as well.
Which card to buy? Oyster Card vs Travelcard
For a short stay, start by comparing pay as you go with contactless or Oyster. If your bank card is compatible and its charges suit you, contactless avoids buying another card. Oyster may suit you if you already have one or need to load a compatible discount. Visitor Oyster has different conditions from standard Oyster.
The daily cap limits spending on eligible journeys that day; it is not a pass you buy in advance. You do not always reach it after the same number of journeys: that depends on fares and zones. Touch in and out correctly and use the same payment method for journeys to count together. If you travel less, you pay for the journeys you make, not necessarily the daily maximum.
An example using 2026 fares:
An adult spends three days sightseeing and all their journeys qualify for the Zones 1–2 daily cap of £8.90. If they reach it each day, the combined cost of those journeys will be at most 3 × £8.90 = £26.70. Three Day Travelcards at £16.60 would cost £49.80. The difference between those amounts is £23.10.
That calculation compares journeys with passes, rather than every possible expense. If you need to buy a new standard Oyster card, its £10.50 cost would bring the example’s total to £37.20; if you already have one, you do not pay to have it issued again. With contactless, you do not buy Oyster, but you should account for your bank’s charges. The example excludes airports outside those zones, excluded services and child discounts. If you make fewer journeys, pay as you go may cost less than £26.70.
You can check the amounts in the official caps and Travelcard fares table.
For a longer stay, counting days is not enough. The pay as you go weekly cap runs from Monday to Sunday; a seven-day Travelcard can start on another day of the week. In Zones 1–2, both adult amounts are £44.70 in 2026, but they may cover different periods. If you arrive on a Thursday, compare your itinerary through the following Tuesday rather than assuming the weekly cap runs for seven days from arrival. For monthly or annual stays, check the passes against how often you will actually travel.
We outline the differences below:
Reloads:
- Oyster Card: A rechargeable card for pay as you go or for loading compatible seven-day, monthly or annual Travelcards.
- Travelcard: A daily, seven-day, monthly or annual pass allowing unlimited travel within its coverage and validity period.
Flexibility of use
- Oyster Card: Can hold both pay as you go credit and compatible passes. It is the card, not a single fare.
- Travelcard: Covers unlimited journeys on the dates and within the zones and services included. It does not replace payment for journeys outside that coverage.
Discounts and promotions
- Oyster Card: Pay as you go usually costs less than a paper single ticket. Certain transport discounts can be loaded onto it; attraction offers depend on the product and provider, so do not assume they come with every Oyster.
- Travelcard: Do not assume that every Travelcard qualifies for 2-for-1 offers. Check which tickets are accepted and the current conditions of each Days Out Guide offer before buying for that reason.
Refund of balance
- Oyster Card: You can request a refund of unused credit if you meet TfL’s conditions. This does not mean recovering the issue cost of a new card.
- Travelcard: It is not a wallet holding leftover credit. Refunds may be available for unused tickets or passes before they expire, subject to conditions; check TfL’s procedure rather than assuming refunds are never possible.
Oyster holds credit or passes; contactless lets you pay as you go without buying that card; and Travelcard specifies a coverage area and validity period. To choose, compare days, zones, ages, discounts and bank charges. Check attraction offers separately from that comparison.
Other payment methods in the London Underground
Alongside Oyster and Travelcard, it is worth understanding contactless payment and how an attractions pass differs from a transport pass:
Contactless Debit/Credit Card
- Lets you pay by touching a compatible bank card or device on yellow readers, without buying Oyster or topping up credit.
- Offers daily caps and Monday-to-Sunday weekly caps on eligible journeys. Always use the same payment method so they count together.
- Convenient if your bank supports these payments and its charges suit you. Child or Railcard discounts are not automatically applied to your bank card.
See our contactless payment guide for the conditions and our frequently asked questions if you spot an incorrect charge.
London Pass
- If you plan to visit several attractions, London Pass could help you save compared with buying admission tickets separately. Compare the included visits with your itinerary and check which require reservations.
- The day-based option is available for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 10 consecutive days, according to the provider’s current offer.
- It is an attractions pass, not an Underground travel pass: it does not include Visitor Oyster. Any transport experiences it includes have their own conditions.
See our London Pass guide to choose the option that best suits your trip and check the current inclusions before buying.
London Underground Fares
The price depends on the route, zones travelled through, service used and time you touch in. Airport trains do not all share the same fares, and stations do not all accept the same payment methods. Check your journey in TfL’s fare finder.
The general pay as you go peak periods are 06:30–09:30 and 16:00–19:00, Monday to Friday except public holidays. The time you touch in counts, and exceptions apply: certain afternoon journeys from outside Zone 1 into Zone 1 are off-peak; Tube or Elizabeth line journeys to Heathrow that start, finish or pass through Zone 1 are charged at peak rates. Check the official conditions.
Children under 11 can travel free on the Underground with a fare-paying adult, up to four children per adult under TfL’s conditions. For age groups, National Rail and other situations, see our guide to travelling with children: do not automatically assume free travel applies to every train.
Reference adult fares for 2026: spending caps and Travelcard prices. Check the current version if you are travelling at another time.
Tips for Using the London Underground
Just as on the escalators where everyone keeps to the right to allow those in a hurry to pass, in the Underground, it is common to move to the center of the carriage to clear the entry/exit areas for passengers. Always let people get off before you board the train.
If you are not a London commuter, taking the Underground during peak hours can be quite chaotic due to the number of people using it. If you can avoid it…
This tip applies to almost any metro system with trains running in both directions. Look at the destination sign in the front carriage to check if you are heading in the right direction on your map.
Do not leave your backpack or luggage unattended. If you see an abandoned item that concerns you, tell station staff and follow their instructions.
If you need to avoid stairs, do not simply choose the nearest station: check the whole route in our step-free London Underground guide.
And always, always… Mind the gap!
Last updated: 15 October 2026
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