London travelcards?

[Ohthepressure]

We're visiting London for 2 days in August, coming by train. We'll just be in Zone 1 - Covent Garden, Oxford/Regent Street, Knightsbridge, Westminster, Globe and Tate Modern. A 1-6 zone travelcard is about 12 quid for adults and 6 for DS (who is 14 - will he need proof of age?).

Are paper travelcards a pain in the neck - would we be better off getting Oyster cards instead? We're currently living overseas but have UK bank accounts so presumably Oyster cards are ok. And what about DS with Oystercards, doesn't he travel free?

It can't be that hard, but having tried and failed to buy a +Zone 1 option onto our Rail tickets (from the North of England, not from anywhere near London), I am starting to lose the will to live...

You can just use any bank card that has contactless technology, tap in and out like you would with an oyster. It charges the same.

You need a paper travel card for your son to get the discount: he may be asked for proof of age if there's a ticket inspector but won't need to show it when going through ticket barriers

Paper ticket for your ds (he isn't entitled to free transport sorry!) as tapping in with contactless charges the adult fare. But contactless fine for you.

You would be better off walking a lot around zone one, see more, quicker, more pleasant and cheaper.

You can buy oyster cards when you arrive, I think they are £5 each though, or maybe it is £10 - I can't remember, so paper tickets will probably work out cheaper.

OR use a contactless bank card, you will need one for each adult, and 14 year old will still need a paper ticket, or to be holding contactless card of his own, and paying adult rate.

Agree with user (unusually...) about walking though!

And what about DS with Oystercards, doesn't he travel free?

no, children resident in London get free bus travel, with an oyster photo ID card, and reduced train and tube travel, but you have to be resident, and be able to proof it, with proof of school attendance, etc.

Contactless bank card for tube travel - what witchcraft is this?
Now I have to check our cards - is it a )))) sign on them? Although DH refuses to use paypass, preferring to slot in his card and tap in his PIN, sigh...

Thanks for the child fare info, I wasn't sure how it all stacked up re. visitors, residents etc.

If you are staying in z1 you would be better off walking to most places.

If you are visiting London with an under 16 year old you can get their Oyster card validated with a temporary child visitor by staff at tube stations. Though I must admit the times I've done this is doesn't seem to have worked properly.

And you don't need a zone 1-6 travel card, just 1-2, or, better just shove a tenner on an oyster and let it do its thing.

We'll try, but from experience I recall Covent Garden and Knightsbridge are a fair way apart, and I don't know the South Bank very well. I guess with a contactless/Oyster option at least we won't be paying for trips we don't make, as we would with a 12 quid Travelcard.

I might get DS an Oystercard so at least we can all sail through the gates at the same time. Would it be ok for the card to come out of my contactless bank account?

you can use contactless payment for trains, tube, bus & DLR, for more info: tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/best-ways-for-visitors-to-pay.

Your 14 year old can get a temporary Young Visitor oyster card.

But, as others have said, you may as well walk.

There's a tourist Oyster card that you can buy in advance with money loaded depending on how much you want to spend.

You'll probably be better off just paying for individual journeys or using Uber. The only bit that's a longer walk is Knightsbridge, the rest is all quite close together.

For example, last year I got an Uber from Knightsbridge to Tower Hamlets and it was only £12.

Covent Garden and Knightsbridge are a fair way apart, less than 2 miles, so under half and hours walk, but also it is a direct tube journey, so only 10-15 mins or so, once you are on the tube, include getting in and out of the station, waiting etc, not a lot in it.

As others have said, no point buying 1-6, zone 1 only or 1-2 would be fine. There's loads of information on the TFL website:

tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/best-ways-for-visitors-to-pay

You can buy Visitor oystercards pre-loaded with pay as you go credit, which will automatically cap at the travelcard rate for the day, no matter how many journeys you make. If you're overseas, there is a shipping cost:
visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/london-visitor-oyster-card/

More information about Visitor Oyster cards
tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

Visitor Centres can help with travel queries, but queues are often quite long!
tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/visitor-centres

The one Uber journey referred to above by Skyllo30 would have almost covered 2 of you for the whole day doing as many bus/tube journeys in zone 1 as you want!

Don't listen to them - if you're doing a lot of short journeys over a couple of days, having a travelcard means you can jump on a bus or tube for one or two stops without racking up single fare after single fare after single fare.

Thanks so much everyone - and Cinnamoncookie that Best ways for visitors to pay page is great, especially the Young Visitors discount, why couldn't I have found that before?

Awesome, thanks, London here we come!

We visited London 2 weeks ago and picked up a young visitor oyster card in Victoria station. Cost £5 and I asked teller to load enough credit for 4 days in zone 1. It worked every time and was so easy!

Paper tickets for under sixteens you have to queue and buy from a window - I guess to stop adults exploiting them - but fine once you have them.

I now use a contactless card for tube travel. Just remember to keep using the same card all day as there is a daily ceiling on what they will charge; same price as a travel card).

I have old oyster cards and on recent trips a TFL staff member has just changed them over to charging child rate for x number of days (I just tell them we are here for 3 days or whatever). They have an option to do this on the machines, obviously not accessible to the public. DD uses that and again oyster will stop taking more cash once you hit the cost of a travel card for the day.

If you are doing a lot in zone 1 it can get tiring doing it all on foot in my experience so I think though no one single walk justifies the tube the cumulative effect often does!