Explain the Tube for me as if I've just landed from Mars

[Littletreefrog]

I have tried googling and I am more confused than before.

2 adults and 1 1r year-old visiting London for 1 day. We would like to see some of the famous buildings i.e Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower of London etc.

Hop on hop off bus is many £££££ so thinking of the tube but how do we work it? How does the tap in and out thing work? Does 14 year old need own contactless debit card?

Help please

To benefit from a cheaper all-day pass, don't tap in before 9.30. You'll see people hovering at the gates at 9.29, 9.30 and you're good to go. (Only matters on weekdays. )

A quick Google came up with this:

https://fullsuitcase.com/london-one-day-itinerary/

I'm sure there'll be others.

Don't use your phone and the card - it won't recognise the daily cap. I got massively overcharged when I switched between the two.

Definitely don't give your 14yr old your debit card - it will charge him/her adult prices. 11-15s get 50% off adult fares so it's well worth it. Either buy a paper child ticket at the ticket machines in the Tube ticket halls (single, return or one day travelcard), or get a visitor oyster in advance: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/best-ways-for-visitors-to-pay

For buses I think you'll need a visitor oyster or you can buy a child ticket from the driver (for which you can use your debit card to buy).

Order them an Oyster card.

Buses are free for under 16s, and tube is discounted.

For yourself any contactless payment is fine

For one day use your contactless bank card - think your 14 yr old can get a one-day travelcard as they should pay less under 16. Your contactless will be capped after a certain amount.
You can easily walk around central London and you’ll see more sights that way!

Also this.

I once tapped in with my Apple Pay, and out with the card, and got a penalty.
It’s because the Apple Pay number and the actual card number are different.
Managed to sort it by calling them, but pretty sure my debit card is still blocked.
I just ordered a new one in the end

Tap in/out works for adults. Each person must use same card to tap in/out, by placing their card flat on the bright yellow reader at each tube station, which for ticket gates opens the gates.

Note - depending on where you are, the readers are mostly but not always linked to the gates. If you're at a stop without a gate, look for the standalone reader. Everyone else will be beeping in/out there so just people watch if you're not sure!

You can also tap in on buses, same yellow reader, no need to tap out.

Make sure you don't mix phone payment beep (e.g. Google pay) with your card, even if they are linked, because the system doesn't recognise them as the same card.

For the 14 year old, best option is to buy them a paper child travel card from station ticket machine. You can get child Oyster cards to tap in/out, but it's a faff and not worth it for brief trip. Paper travel cards are inserted horizontally into the ticket gates below the yellow reader, it gets read and opens the gate. Remember to take your ticket back, it pops up vertically above the yellow reader (see pic)! Just show it on buses.

I'm off to London on the 18th for All Points East & we were planning to use the tube to cram as much as we can into the 19th so thanks for starting the thread @Littletreefrog , it's been really useful!

She's only there for one day though. Adults will be capped at 8.50 (zones 1-2) A child on an oyster with the age limit applied will be 4.50 but an oyster costs 7 quid so it's not worth it unless she can borrow an oyster from a friend who has one in the drawer. Plus it's a faff tracking down a staff member.

Daily paper travel card for a child costs 7.90 I think.

If your child is 11-15 years old, you can ask a member of staff to set a Young Visitor discount on an Oyster or Visitor Oyster card. This allows them to get 50% off adult-rate pay as you go fares, for up to 14 days

Order visitor oyster card online and get member of staff at first stop to add his age so that he pays the least. If he uses a debit card it wont know his age and eill charge him adult rates

Oh no you can’t use the same debit card or phone if your teen is using the physical one. It will end up charging you extra i believe. Just use a seperate one or get the teen to use an oyster.

Oyster for the child will cost more than the saving.

Yes probably, sorry was skim reading, didn’t realise it was just a one day visit!

Also Google maps is amazing, I couldn’t be bothered with those tube maps, too complicated and awkward on a busy tube.

Also don't forget - stand to the right on escalators (unless you want to be shoved out of the way by a fast moving and possibly enraged Londoner), never take the stairs at Covent Garden tube and always let people get off the train first.

This. People standing on the left are very annoying.

Also make sure you have your cards / phones ready before you get to the gate so you can go straight through without faffing. I know it sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many people do it.

Husband and I just used our bank cards to go in and out. We were advised to get our then 14 year old a day ticket which we did at our first station. We walked a lot too in the end as well. Def go on one of the Thames boat trip if you can.

If you need a second bus (or third even), within a hour of using the first, you won't get charged again. You still have to tap in, but the journey will be free. All journeys by bus are only £1.75 however long.

And yes, most places in central London are walkable. The tube stations are closer together though you can't tell that from the underground map.

If it's a nice day and I'm not in a rush, I sometimes walk part way home from meeting someone in central London, and miss out 4 or 5 stations.

Ah, very good points re cost of a visitor oyster - it's £5 plus postage so definitely not worth it for one day. Get a paper ticket for the 14yr old in the ticket machines just by the tube ticket gates.

Deleted - second thoughts.

If you're travelling from a station outside of London, you can purchase a day travelcard for your son. It'll include the outbound/return journey home as well as travel on the tube. Much easier than the hassle of multiple cards being used for tapping in and out. You can do it for your husband and yourself too.

Hop-on-Hop-off buses are just tourists buses, use normal ones - but traffic may extend the travel time compared to the tube!

Most places you mentioned are within walking distance of each other.

For example, if you arrived at London Waterloo you could:

• walk to London Eye (5 mins)
• walk along river/over Westminster Bridge to Houses of Parliament/Big Ben/Westminster Abbey (5 mins from LE)
• Walk over to Trafalgar Square and go into the National Gallery (5 mins from BB)
• Turn almost back on yourself and along The Mall to Buckingham Palace (15 minute walk - very pretty!!!)
• Walk through Green Park to the Ritz (10 minutes)
• Walk down Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus (5 minutes)
• Walk through Leicester Square to Covent Garden (10 minutes).

You could do a similar loop if you arrived in Victoria station!

Re walking, all the zone 1 stations have street maps by the exit, so you will be able to quickly check them to check you head off in the right direction.

Great route, though your walking times are a bit optimistic. Big Ben to National gallery is a good 15 minutes for example - maybe more once you've dodged the hordes of tourists.

You can tap on and off at the turnstile/ much easier and you're not there long enough to warrant an oyster card. You can use your card on your phone, and physical card for the same account to tap on and off, but can't tap the same card/ device twice- so I recently went and used my HSBC card for one adult, and Apple Pay also into my HSBC account for the other adult and it worked absolutely fine. But if I'd tried to tap the card for 2 adults it wouldn't have worked.

You're probably right - I host a running club in that area so timings may be a bit skewed!! 😆