2 days in London - what do we need to travel about?

[HazeyjaneIII]

It's been years since I lived in London and we're going up tomorrow for 2 days...5 of us (me, dh, DDS - 17 + 16 and ds who is 13 and has sn).
I am massively confused by Oyster cards, pay as you go, travelvards....what's the best way of travelling around?!
We're staying by Tower Bridge, hoping to go to Tate Modern, Covent Garden, Leicester Square and The South Bank.
Thankyou!

To get from Tower Bridge to the Tate and the South Bank Centre I’d probably walk along the river - it’s a really interesting area with lots to see and do along the way.
The river boat (Uber boat/Thames clipper) is another option and quite fun.
Re pricing I’m afraid I don’t know, I usually just use my debit card to tap in/out on any public transport. You don’t need to buy a separate Oyster card anymore. However there may be cheaper options for travelling as a family.

Ok I’ve just read up on this and I can see why you’re confused! I’m interested as well as my sister+family including teenagers is going to come and visit me in London soon.
So from the info on the tfl website I would still think it’s the most simple and probably cheapest option if everyone uses their own cards and does pay-as-you-go. An automatic cap is applied so you won’t spend more than the price of a daily travel card per person. Do your children have bank cards? If yes, use those. By far the easiest option as you don’t need to faff about with deposits and top-ups.

If not, buy an Oyster card for each of them. You’ll need to put a £5 deposit on them and probably another £10-15 for the two days.

In theory children can get a discount depending on their age but you need a photo card for that and it appears you need to apply for that a month in advance and pay an admin fee of £20. So too late and not worth it for two days anyway.

Final tip - I’d download the brilliant Citymapper app. For each journey it clearly shows all transport options in a way that’s easy to compare. Includes options for walking, and also displays the price.

For the youngest you can buy an Oyster card and load it with credit at a station, ask the staff to apply a child visitor discount.

For the rest of you, juts use debit card or phone contact less - a different card for each person and it will charge and cap you at the cheapest daily fare

Definitely don't use public transport between Covent Garden and Leicester Square - they're spitting distance apart - and the South Bank is easily reached from LS or CG on foot by crossing the Thames using either Hungerford Bridge or Waterloo Bridge. If you want to go directly to the SB from your hotel then probably District Line to Embankment is the easiest route.

The 24 bus is good to see lots of sights without paying for the official tourist bus. You can catch it near LS.

I went for the first time in April and felt like you too but was amazed how easy it was! Do your children have bank cards? If so they can literally just tap in and out everywhere with their bank cards/Apple Pay and it is capped at a daily rate. For your dc with sn have you got a second bank card they could use? If they don’t feel confident to do it by themselves you can use the bigger gates at the exit and entrance and they could tap in and out and wait just the other side for you? (Apologies if they can’t do this, if they are in a wheelchair for example) it is the same on buses too. I was amazed how easy it was after I had worried about it!

Use your contactless cards - you don’t need to buy anything in advance

if the weather is nice and you have the time you can easily walk between all those place - along the river for tate and the southbank, then over Waterloo bridge or hungerford bridge for Covent Garden etc.

have a lovely time!