bakerstreet

On an upcoming trip to London my group will want to take tube and bus transportation as much as possible. We range in age from 10 to 70. We will be there for four and a half days. Is there one pass I can buy that will allow me unlimited rides on tubes, all zones, any bus, etc.?

I have seen references to Oystercards, paper Travelcards, free rides for children, passes that don't let you ride before 9:30 a.m., passes limited to certain zones of the city, etc.

Help! Can someone please clue me in? My goal: (1) buy something on the front end that will let me go anywhere, anytime dring the days it is effective, on the tube or bus, without having to buy a supplement, an upgrade, add money to a card, etc.. Is this possible?

yk

If you don't want to be bothered, the easiest would be a seven day travelcard, even though you need it for just 5 days. The 7 day travelcard is valid at all hours (including peak hours).

You do need to figure out how many zones you'll need. For the casual tourists, usually zones 1-2 is all that is necessary. For a 7 day travelcard covering zones 1-2, it costs £24.20.

Since you're only there for 5 days, it comes out to about £5 per day, which is a decent deal.

I can't help you with the children. You can read more about it here:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1063.aspx

Lastly, if you want to take advantage of any 2-for-1 offers, you'll have to buy your 7 day travelcard at a Railway station and ask for a PAPER travelcard. If you do so at a regular tube station, all you'll get is an Oyster card loaded with the 7 day travelcard on it.

flanneruk

"buy something on the front end that will let me go anywhere, anytime "

Why?

What on earth is the point of wasting money on a card that lets you go to parts of London no-one - not even people living in those parts - wants to go to, at 5.30 in the morning, when fares are higher and any sensible tourists is tucked up in bed.

There's a really good reason we have a complicated price structure: <b> human beings are all different </b>

Buy more than you need and you'll pay far far more than people who take the time to think about what they really want.

Go onto the tfl site, look at the options and stop asking for something you don't want.

dmlove

<i>stop asking for something you don't want.</i>

She does want it - as she said, her goal is something that will let her go anywhere at any time, etc. Nice of you to try to save her money, but what business is it of yours if she wants to spend a little extra to get ease of use, even if that means she'll get more than she needs?

rogeruktm

Being a bit harsh aren't you flanner?

becksldrt

when you get to london i'd go to a tube station and go to a ticket desk, don't use a machine. explain your situation and ask them to sell you the best thing.

i would get everyone an oyster card and put a bit of money on each one and keep checking how much you've spent and topping up the credit on them. they're clever enough to look at what journeys you've taken in a day and only take off the minimum amount of money for them (the equivilent of you buying a day travel card or just a couple of bus tickets, for example), you won't have to worry about when or where you travel (as long as you keep the cards topped up with credit) and if anyone loses the card on day 1 you won't have lost a week's worth of travel.
enjoy!

lennyba

Are we positive you have to have a paper travelcard to get 2 for 1? We had them loaded on Oysters on our last trip (admittedly in 2007) and had no problems using the twofers.

TimS

lennyba,

There used to be a few 2for1 offers associated with an Oyster card, but they have expired.