StuDudley

I could possibly read & read & read various web sites to find an answer to this question - but I'm sure some knowledgable London expert will know the answer.

The "official" web site says that bus "journeys" are 1.30 with an Oyster card. If I get on a bus, swipe my Oyster card, get off the bus, and immediately get on another bus - is this one "journey" (costing 1.30), or two "journeys" (costing 2.60)? In most cities where I travel, you have something like 1 1/2 hrs to transfer to another bus without an additional cost.

We leave for London on 9/7 at 4:00PM PDT US

Stu Dudley

BigRuss

Who's we? If you have more than one of you, why not just get a paper travelcard and avail yourself of the 2for1 offers on daysoutguide.co.uk? Then, you don't have to worry about single fare costs.

P.S., you do know there's a 4 quid cap per day on the buses, right?

nancicita

Hi Stu,

It's £1.30 per bus trip but if you ride multiple buses in one day, they can only charge you up to £4.00. I mostly only take the Tube, but I don't remember the bus drivers giving me anything like a transfer ticket or anything.

Have fun and I hope that public transit is working when you come!

StuDudley

What is a quid??

According to the "official" web site, there is a daily Oyster Card "off peak" limit for zones 1 & 2 of 6.60. Peak limit is 8.00. This is for any mode of transportation - bus or tube. There is no mention of limits for only buses only.

So - with an Oyster Card, if I take an early tube (during peak hours) from Notting Hill (zone 2) anywhere east I'm likely to go, it will be 2.50. If I then take a combination of 2 buses back to the Notting Hill area, it is either 1.30 or 2.60. Total cost of the day is 3.80 or 5.10. I will not hit the daily cap. If this is a typical day, then the cost for 7 days is either 26.60 or 35.70. The 7 day Travelcard is 27.60 for an unlimited amount of travel in zones 1 & 2. I like the idea of unlimited travel - that's what we do in Paris, so I am leaning towards purchasing a 7 day Travelcard (we will be in London for 2 1/2 week). During our "typical" week, we may spend no time taking buses or tubes - so the Oyster cost may only be 19 - making it the cheapest choice - unless we take 3-5 buses on a "journey" in a day. Thus my question about transfers.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

>>but I don't remember the bus drivers giving me anything like a transfer ticket or anything. <,

I believe in Paris & Antwerp, when you "swipe" whatever "card" you have, they subtract the fare & record a "timestamp" on your card. If you then swipe it again within a certain amount of time (1 1/2 hrs), a fare will not be charged.

Both of you have mentioned the 4 daily limit for buses. I did not find this mentioned anywhere on www.londontoolkit.com

Stu Dudley

dutyfree

There are no transfers for buses in London. Once you get off you are charged for your next ride so plan accordingly. There is a limit for the daily charge on the Oyster card which just went up so I cannot quote the exact fee but I want to say something like $6.
My kids live there and I "layover" alot there for my airline job. I have an Oyster card and think that it is a wonderful thing to have as it is so easy to load and use.However, when I was moving my son in last summer and we were all over looking for apartments I just got the week travelcard for unlimited which was something like 24 for the whole week/7 days.Look into that if you are traveling around alot. Have fun!

xyz123

I think Notting Hill is on the boundary between zones 1 & 2 so if you head east, it's considered zone 1 on the tube for that journey....zones are not relevant for the buses.

With Oyster PAYG, buses will cap at £4 (or in the vernacular 4 quid....then if you also take the tube, you will cap at the appropriate price of a one day travelcard for the time and places you travel. There are no transfers on London buses...each touch in is a separate fare even if you go only 1 stop. Also there is no longer a one day bus pass...either you have a travelcard of some sort (the one you can buy is for example the one day zone 1 & 2 which is £6.70 I think off peak (first trip not before 0930 on a weekday)....supposedly the tfl computer keeps track of these things and at the end of the day settles on the cheapest combination of fares you use that day if you're using PAYG...then there are the 2 4 1 discounts which is a completely different kettle of fish and present other complications to get the bvest deal possible.

yk

Just to reiterate what xyz123 says,

If you take the bus ONLY throughout the day (no tube, no DLR), your daily cap price is £4. Here's the official page on TFL bus fares:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14415.aspx

If you use buses AND tube or DLR, the daily cap is higher, and varies depends on whether you travel during peak or off-peak. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

BigRuss

First, you need to double check your research - TFL's website is clear that there is a 4 GBP per day limit for bus only travel. Why you want to travel by bus so much in a city as ridiculously congested as London, where the average speed is about 10 mph in Zone 1, is open to question, but that's your choice. If I were staying in Notting Hill, I would make sure to travel as much as possible by Tube, not bus. Travel by Central Line from Notting Hill Gate to Oxford Circus will take about 10 minutes. Same route by bus: probably double that.

Second, a quid is a pound. This is one of the easiest Britishisms to pick up and if that throws you for a loop, you're in trouble. This can help: http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

Third, I note again that you said "we." If there is more than one of you, you need to get the paper travel card and use the 2for1 offers from Days Out Guide and save a whole lot more than nickel-and-dime about bus/Tube considerations.

flanneruk

What is the point of your question?

You say you're leaving on July 9. So presumably you've been and gone.

StuDudley

>> I just got the week travelcard for unlimited which was something like 24 for the whole week/7 days.Look into that if you are traveling around alot. <<

yep - that's what we (2 of us) will probably get. At least we'll try it out for the first 7 days and then change if we find ourselves not taking the bus/tube as much as we anticipate.

>>Why you want to travel by bus so much in a city as ridiculously congested as London, where the average speed is about 10 mph in Zone 1, is open to question, but that's your choice<<

We love 10 mph. We can't see much "street life" traveling on the Tube. Better above ground - just like in Paris. We would much rathar take a 30 min bus ride than a 10 min tube. We'll often figure out a circular bus route through the streets of London (or Paris), and then spend 3 hrs traveling around & visiting various neighborhoods on the way. Kinda like a hop on/hop off tourist bus.

>>Third, I note again that you said "we." If there is more than one of you, you need to get the paper travel card and use the 2for1 offers from Days Out Guide and save a whole lot more than nickel-and-dime about bus/Tube considerations.<<

Thanks - I'll look in to that. We've spent perhaps 5 weeks in London on prior trips - so we've already visited the major sites. For this trip, we want to explore the smaller venues.

Stu Dudley

joannay

I believe he means 7th of September at 1600, Pacific Daylight Time.

janisj

"<i>Better above ground - just like in Paris.</i>"

London is MUCH more spread out than Paris. For some journeys a bus is absolutely fine. But for some trips, the tube is MUCH more practical.

Notting Hillgate > Oxford Circus = 8 mins by tube

Notting Hillgate > Oxford Circus = 30 mins by bus

Notting Hillgate > Tower of London = 30 mins by tube

Notting Hillgate > Tower of London = 1 hour 18 mins by bus

Notting Hillgate > Sloane Sq. = 10 mins by tube

Notting Hillgate > Sloane Sq. = 34 mins by bus

Notting Hillgate > Holborn = 12 mins by tube

Notting Hillgate > Holborn = 61 mins by bus

flanneruk

"I believe he means 7th of September at 1600, Pacific Daylight Time."

Can't possibly.

This poster's travelled often enough, and to enough places, to know how to express dates in an unambiguous form to an international audience.

alanRow

Just to add that with a Travelcard you can travel on the buses throughout the whole of London not just the zones it's eligible for - the zones only refer to Tube & train travel within London.

But as others have pointed out, buses are a poor way of getting around London - often it's quicker to walk.

For a few links on the various options see http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefin...ard_oyster.htm and the links from it.

But surely you should have been asking these questions more than 12 hours before flying - or read the bit in yur guidebook about getting around London which will almost certainly say all of this

StuDudley

>>You say you're leaving on July 9. So presumably you've been and gone<<

Oops - sorry. We leave today.

>>But surely you should have been asking these questions more than 12 hours before flying - or read the bit in yur guidebook about getting around London which will almost certainly say all of this<<

Yep - I've read about the various travel cards. However, I didn't find any recommendation/information about buses vs tube travel times/street congestion. In Paris, after about 20 years of using the metro - for the last 7-8 years we have only used it for long hauls or late at night.

On the web site I used the most to find out about travel options, they said that the "Oyster card is the benchmark" and "the vast majority of Londoners use an Oyster Card". However, it seemed like the Travelcard would be best for us. Perhaps Londoners just take the tube to & from work 5 days a week - so the cost & conveience of an Oyster Card is better for them. We'll likely take 3-4 trips a day for sightseeing & perhaps dinner out - 7 days a week. I asked about the cost of buses because when we were in London about 5-6 years ago, we had a Travelcard and used buses for most of our travel. We stayed near Sloane Sq. If we wanted to go as far east as the Tower of London - we would use the tube.

This year we're staying in Notting Hill, so we're even farther away from the majority of sites. We may find out very soon that buses are not the best option for travel from Notting Hill. Often, if we are walking back to the apt late in the day after a long day of siteseeing - we'll hop on the bus to get "home" even if "home" is only 7 blocks away.

Thanks for all the help !!! I understand the playing field a lot better now.

Stu Dudley

BigRuss

Amazing that you've spent 5 weeks in London on prior trips and (1) don't know what a quid is, (2) don't realize the slow bus/not so slow Tube dynamic.

Don't apologize for saying 9/7. Flanner is being an arse - he knows good and well that Americans put the month first and could have inferred your meaning quickly enough.

janisj

"<i>"Oyster card is the benchmark" and "the vast majority of Londoners use an Oyster Card". However, it seemed like the Travelcard would be best for us</i>"

OK -- now I understand your confusion. We need a clarification of terms. It isn't travelcard vs. Oyster.

A travel card is just one type of fare structure (another being Pay as you go - PAYG) Both can be loaded on an Oyster. The oyster is simply the mechanism to hold the transport ££. In fact for you, a weekly zone 1-2 travel card and some PAYG money loaded on the card up front is probably the way to start. the PAYG would be for any tube journeys outside of zones 1-2.

Then you can top up/add more to the Oyster later in your stay. Either another weekly travelcard, more PAYG, or both . . .

yk

I'll admit that I love taking the buses in London - but only when I'm not in a hurry. If I need to travel a far distance in a rush, I will no doubt head for the tube. However, on leisurely days, I much prefer taking the bus (and saving some money). On roads such as Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, no doubt walking will be faster than the bus. But if I'm tired and not in a hurry, I don't mind sitting on the bus to rest my feet while the bus crawls slowly ahead.

StuDudley

>> In fact for you, a weekly zone 1-2 travel card and some PAYG money loaded on the card up front is probably the way to start. the PAYG would be for any tube journeys outside of zones 1-2.<<

I was going to ask the tube agent this - but someone here might know the answers.

1. On Thursday, can I load the 7 day zone 1 & 2 travelcard on an Oyster, but actually "start" the 7 day count on Friday (last day of travel being the following Thursday). We arrive on Thurs, during a "quiet" time of day, but want to first travel on Friday during "peak" hours when the agent is likely to be too busy.

2. During this 7 day travelecard period for zones 1 & 2, if I want to go to Kew Gardens can I also have some PAYG money loaded on the card to pay for the "out of zone". If yes - will it subtract what the londontoolkit.com calls an "extension fare" or will I be charged the full fare from zone 2 (Notting Hill) to Kew?

yk
That's what we do also. We will be in London for 2 1/2 weeks, but only have an itinerary that includes stuff that most people can accomplish in 1 week. That's the way we travel - 2 months in Europe every year at a slow & laid-back pace. We LOVE those 3/4 to 1 hr "rides" on the bus - watching the beautiful architecture & the street life. We hate traveling underground. BTW, we had dinner in San Francisco with your brother a few years ago.

BigRus
sorry - I really didn't know what a quid was. Also, I'm aware of the travel times for bus vs tube - that's why we want to take the bus as much as possible. See above.

Stu Dudley