Getting around London

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Coming from a different country into Gatwick to London for a few days . I am near tubes for travel when there. What is my best way of getting from airport to hotel in central London then few days round London - is there a railcard that I top up??

Get an app called Citymapper it will tell you your route on all public transport in London if you tap details in.

You can use contactless bank card on all buses and tubes. Further out of London you need to buy proper train tickets

Is it just you? Contactless card is the easiest - there is a daily (and weekly I think) cap.

Download city mapper to tell you the best ways of getting to and from your different destinations.

From Gatwick there are a couple of train and coach options to take you into central but central London is a big place itself. Most go to Victoria from Gatwick with onward travel from there.

Contactless bank card.

if you really want to you can buy an Oyster card and top up at most tube stations

You can just use your contactless card to travel on tfl. From Gatwick you can get the train. Gatwick express will take you to London Victoria or a local stopping train (which is a bit cheaper). Alternatively Thames link will take in to London. It depends a bit on where you are staying. You will need to buy a ticket for the train.

You can’t use contactless/Oyster from Gatwick, you’ll need to buy a paper ticket. But that’s the only journey, so just buy either a single or open return into central London and then use contactless. Two singles are often cheaper than an open return due to our weird ticket pricing system.

Where is your hotel? Gatwick has trains to Victoria and also into Blackfriars/St Pancras.

Where abouts are you staying? Suggest getting a slower train into London than GE, many will stop only twice and cost less. There is a ticket machine at LGW, ticket to London terminals will get you to Victoria, London Bridge, Blackfriars. Then tube/bus should be an option depending where the hotel is.

This is not true, you can use contactless to Gatwick.

I definitely used contactless from Gatwick into Victoria! Never bought a ticket the entire weekend and tootling in n around London. Just tap on n off with contactless.

As others have said this is incorrect. Gatwick to London can be done via tapping a card.

Using a card, phone or smartwatch to tap in and out on trains and tubes and in on buses (no need to tap out) is the easiest way to get around. There is a daily cap so always use the same payment method to ensure this is applied.