I've been trying to understand what we should buy for transportation for getting around London. Perhaps I am making it mre complicated than need be, but all the options have me confused as to what would be most cost effective for us to buy. We will be arriving by train from Edinburgh. We (2 adults) will be staying in the centre of London for 7 nights. We don't plan any trips out of London. We leave from Heathrow. We have Apple Pay. Help! Thank you

Buy paper 7day zone 1&2 travel cards (at Kings Cross when you arrive from Scotland). That will give all tube/bus travel for the week PLUS give you 2for1 discounts at many of the big London attractions.

https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london

Then either buy a single tube ticket for the trip to LHR or easier and only a little more expensive -- book a car service like justairports.com

I used them just yesterday from SW1 and it was £26

What does Apple Pay have to do with anything? Do what Janis said.

It also depends on how much transportation you expect to use. If you don't plan on using the Underground or buses a lot, then you could also get an Oyster card and top up (add money as you go). Keep in mind that London has a distance-based fare system with peak and off-peak rates similar to DC Metro.

Thanks, Janis & tp

BigRuss -- guess you're not up to date on things in London. ApplePay is an option of a way to pay. Its similar to pay as you go with a contactless payment card.

We spent a week in London last month and bought a 7 day paper travel card, used it continuously for tube and busses. I took the bus for one block when I was exhausted; I considered this a great bargain.

We had printed out a few of the 2-4-1 offers to use with our paper travel card and the savings were fairly remarkable.

We used the Transport for London website which was very helpful for route planning:

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

and we also downloaded a site called City Mapper before we left home. Sometimes CityMapper offered more convenient options for us. We used both.

https://citymapper.com/london

Now, the ultimate sin around here: We took the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington. I know Fodorites don't do this, but it was easy, it was fast, it was comfortable, and while we were in Paddington, we bought our 7 day travel cards.

We used justairports.com for the ride from our rental back to Heathrow.

I hope this helps.

tuscanlifeedit -- yes, very helpfu, thank you. Re the printing out of the voucher offers on the paper travel card. We won't have a printer with us. Did you print your vouchers at home? or where?

Yes -- look over the site now (helps you plan your days in London too) and print out every voucher you think you might be able to use (even if long shots) - only loss will be a few sheets of paper.

Okay - got it! Thanks for all your help. I havent even begun to think about how we will spend our time in London, so you're right it will help.

Don't forget passport photos for the paper travel card. They are required.

jamikins -- thanks for the info. Do we just need one each?

Yes, just one each.

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Thanks yestravel for this thread. I am also confused about the options for traveling around London. I googles day travel card and was led to this London Underground site:
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment...On-this-page-1

Is this what you are talking about? It says you can only get a paper ticket for 1 day - a 7 day would be on an Oyster Card.

TIA

Now, the ultimate sin around here: We took the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington. I know Fodorites don't do this, but it was easy, it was fast, it was comfortable, and while we were in Paddington, we bought our 7 day travel cards>

Yes what I always sin too- fastest way in but not cheap though on the official site they often have 2 for 1 tickets. Paddington however is rather remote from where many are staying.

AGM -- obviously I know nothing about this, but it does say:
"Travelcard Season tickets
Travelcard season tickets are available for 7 days, one month or for any longer period up to one year. They:

Are generally issued on Oyster cards except when bought from a National Rail station"

Honestly, why they make these cards so damn complicated is beyond me. I just returned from Australia and their OPAL card doesn't show prices for individual trips anywhere. We ended up topping a card because we thought we'd be caught short which we weren't, but nowhere to be find were their rates posted. Sorry for the rant!

yes travel - opal is only Sydney , MYKI (which is the Melbourne one ) shows fares for zones on its websites .

A 7 day travel card can either be added to an Oyster card through TfL at tube stations, or be purchased at a national rail station (train station) and be a paper card. Only the paper cards are eligible for 2for1 deals.

This is a promo to encourage people to travel by train from outside London to London to visit tourist attractions. It is not meant for London tourists, but you get to take advantage of it by buying the cards at a rail station.

We don't use Oyster cards anymore - and neither do many Londoners, from what I can tell. It's much easier and generally cheaper to use a contactless payment card.
The system automatically caps your expenditure by day or week, so that you will never pay more than a daily/weekly travel card.

In our family we use both UK issued cards and non-UK cards, debit and credit; all work.

Obviously, if you have a high transaction charge on your card you'd have to be aware of that.

It's a great system; always works, no more topping up of cards, and you always get the lowest fares.

Hi northie! Yes, I know Opal was in Sydney. Sorry to besmirch all of Australia. In Melbourne we only used the free tram and loved it. Sydney needs to do the same.

We plan to buy the paper 7day zone 1&2 travel cards at the Kings Cross Station when we arrive by train from Edinburgh. We'll have a photo with us and print some vouchers athome before we leave. I havent found a current price. I'm sure it's somewhere.

Thanks all for your help!