A guide to how to get around London on public transport
Going underground (...and overground)
Posted by: Josh, 3 September 2026
London is the one of the biggest cities in Europe, with nearly 10 million people calling it home.
Fortunately, it’s well served by various public transport networks that make getting from one part of the city to the other much easier than you might think.
Liz and I have lived in various parts of London for close to 25 years, between us, and neither of us drive. That means we have plenty of experience of using London’s public transport to share with any travellers looking to visit our hometown.
This is our complete guide to everything you need to know about travelling around London, covering the Underground, Overground, buses, cycling, walking, taxi services and more. There's even a section on London's cable car. You can use the contents menu to find the answers you need, and please use our contact form to ask us any questions that aren’t covered in the sections below.
There are a couple of terms that you should know to help understand this guide. TfL stands for Transport for London, who (you could never have guessed) are responsible for the running of most of London’s transport network. We'll also frequently refer to tapping in and out of stations - that just means using your contactless payment card at the ticket gates or card readers at station entrances and exits.
It's also handy to know that National Rail services are ordinary trains which serve regular train stations across the UK, like Kings Cross or Euston station. When I refer to "Overground" services, that is a particular type of train which only serves London and nearby areas.
Before I tell you more about each type of transport, we'll answer one of the more commonly asked questions: do you need an Oyster card to travel around London?
Contents
Should you buy an Oyster card?
You can top up Oyster Cards through the TfL Go app, at machines in London Underground stations, or at shops like this one which display the Oyster logo
Oyster cards are TfL’s prepay travel cards which can be used to tap in and out on public transport for your time in London.
Oyster cards cost £10.50 without any pre-loaded credit. Transport for London (TfL) slightly cheekily advertises a Visitor Oyster Card which comes “pre-loaded with credit” …but that credit is not included in the price. A Visitor Oyster Card costs the same £10.50, plus a minimum of £15 to add credit (so, a total spend of at least £25.50).
To add more credit to your Oyster card, you can use the machines located in London Underground stations. Over 4,000 shops across London also offer Oyster top-ups; just look out for the signs in shop windows or doors.
You cannot use one Oyster card for multiple people taking the same journey, so each person in your group needs their own card. However, you can share your Oyster card after using it – so if you know somebody who has visited London recently, you may want to ask if you can borrow their card.
Fare caps (find out more about these below) are the same for those using Oyster cards as for those using other methods of contactless payment, such as a contactless debit or credit card or Apple Pay.
It’s for that reason that I would not recommend that adults spend money on an Oyster Card. You do not save any money per journey compared to using your everyday bank card or phone payment system, but you do have to pay £10.50 for the physical Oyster Card.
However, if you have a child between the ages of 11 and 15 it may be worth purchasing an Oyster card for them. You can ask a member of TfL staff to add a Young Visitor discount to their card, entitling them to 50% off their fares.
Most international bank cards are accepted on the TfL network, so you can tap in and out of train and underground stations as you please. There are no stations in or outside of London where Oyster cards are accepted but contactless bank card payments are not, but there are a small number where contactless bank card payments are accepted but Oyster cards are not. Just keep in mind that any international transaction fees your card usually carries will apply to your travel fares too when paying with bank card.
If you are an adult, unless you are worried about taking your bank cards out in public to tap in and out, if you don’t have contactless payments on your phone, or you have one of the few bank cards not accepted on the TfL network, there is no need to buy an Oyster card.
Fare caps and free travel for children
There is a daily and weekly cap on travel fares in London, meaning if you take multiple journeys in one day or one week you’ll never pay more than the cap. For those staying in the most central zones, Zones 1 and 2, you’ll currently pay a maximum of £8.90 no matter how many public transport journeys you take (as long as you remember to use the same card each time).
You can find a London Underground zone map here.
Under-11s travel free on the TfL network if travelling with a fare-paying adult. Children between the ages of 11 and 15 can have a 50% discount Young Visitors’ Discount added to their Oyster cards. Discounts for older people only apply to those who live in a London borough; tourists are not eligible for them.
If you are travelling as part of a group of 10 people or more, you should look into whether Group Day Travelcards will save you money. These travelcards cost £11.00 per each adult for as many trips in Zones 1-6 as you like.
You must remember to tap in and out at each station you enter and exit, even those without ticket barriers. If you don’t tap in and out, TfL will charge you the maximum possible fare because it is not possible to work out where you travelled from. If there is a reason you could not tap out which was outside of your control, you can apply for a refund.
Some transport apps you should download
While you don't need any of the below apps, they might make travelling around London a little bit easier for you.
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The best two apps for navigating public transport within London are TfL Go and CityMapper. TfL Go includes some helpful accessibility filters to plan your route better if you have extra mobility requirements. You can also top up an Oyster card through the TfL Go app. CityMapper is more basic, but comes with the added benefit of showing ways to get to your destination by other modes of transport.
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If you want to get out of London for a day using National Rail services, I'd consider downloading the Trainline app. While it charges some extra fees, making it unpopular with locals like me, it allows you to buy tickets for trains run by all the different operating companies (skip ahead to our section on using National Rail services to find out more). As a tourist, I'd tolerate the small extra fees for the convenience of being able to buy all my train tickets on one app, without having to find and queue at ticket machines at stations.
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While I would typically choose to travel around London on its public transport network, it's not a bad idea to download Uber for your stay. There are a wide range of other apps offering the same services if you'd prefer to avoid Uber, including Gett, Freenow or - if you prefer to travel in greater luxury - Addison Lee.
Apps sorted, it's time to start travelling.
London Underground
The Underground. The Tube. The place where no Londoner really wants to be.
We use it all the time though, because the Underground is usually the quickest way to get from place to place.
You can pay with Oyster Cards, other forms of contactless payment like bank cards or Apple Pay, or by buying single-use, daily, weekly or even monthly physical tickets from the machines located in station entrances.
Trains are often busy, particularly at peak times and particularly in Zone 1. Between the hours of 8am and 9.30am and between 4.30pm and 6.30pm, there is a good chance you won’t be able to get a seat. If you are pregnant, elderly, or if you are travelling with a young child, someone will usually (though sadly not always) offer you a seat.
In summer months, some London Underground lines get very, very warm. Most lines are not air-conditioned, and London has recently seen summer temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celsius. With hundreds of people packed into tube carriages in that heat, you can imagine how sweaty it gets. The Central, Jubilee and Bakerloo lines were among the hottest this year, and the Victoria and Northern lines are tough to travel on in summer too. Bring water with you and get off the train if you are overheating – you’ll only have to wait a couple of minutes for the next service to arrive.
The Circle, District and Metropolitan lines are air-conditioned. If you are struggling with the heat, you might also want to find alternate routes using the Elizabeth Line, Overground lines, National Rail services, or new London buses (some routes still use older vehicles without air conditioning). You can use the CityMapper app (if you skipped our section on apps, click here to go back) to help you plan a route which uses air-conditioned forms of transport only.
Tube stations are well signposted and easy to navigate, with signs showing you the way to each line. There are usually also tube maps at the station entrance and on platforms. You should follow directions on platforms when changing to a different line or leaving the station; they may not always be the quickest route, but they are designed to manage the flow of people around the station as effectively and safely as possible.
You are unlikely to get lost on the Underground network. The most common mistakes you might make are taking the wrong branch of a line – I’ve managed to go the wrong way on the Northern and District lines more than once – or not checking the direction you’re travelling in.
One thing to be particularly aware of is that at many Circle and District line stations, trains go to different places from the same platform. Double check you’re getting on the right line when boarding – it should be written on the platform departure board and on the side of the train next to the doors. If all else fails, the colour of the handrails inside the train should match the colour of the line you’re trying to get on.
Trains can be a little dirty and graffitied. Delays and cancellations are more common than Londoners would like, but those born in London don’t always seem to know how good they have it compared to other places. If there is a delay or a line closure, there will usually be an alternate route that will get you to your destination with only a fairly minor delay.
London Overground
Image credit: Unsplash / Samuel Regan-Asante
London Overground lines were rebranded a couple of years back to make it easier for visitors like you to find your way around the city. For London residents used to the old system (finding an orange line and double-checking the destination on the front of the train looked right), the new system caused us confusion.
You don’t need to worry about that though. Overground lines now have six distinct names and colours, making it harder for you to catch the wrong train.
These lines typically connect areas in outer zones of London either unserved by the Underground network, or less well connected by it. As such, you probably won’t spend as long on these trains as a tourist as you will on the Tube.
There are some exceptions though. If you like independent shops, cafés and places to eat, you might take the Windrush Line to Shoreditch High Street, while The Mildmay Line goes through a few places of interest, including leafy, celebrity-riddled Hampstead Heath and Camden Road (for Camden Market).
London Overground lines are air-conditioned and generally less busy than London Underground trains.
The Elizabeth Line
The Elizabeth Line, which finally opened in May 2022, is the busiest train service in the UK with 800,000 passengers per day using it. Despite how well-used it is, it’s a reliable service to get you to several central London stations and to other areas further outside the city, the most important of which being Heathrow airport.
While Londoners can have some complaints about the service – from small ones such as the seats being hard and uncomfortable, to much larger ones such as the fact it somehow cost £18bn to build – the Elizabeth Line is the best way to get from Heathrow Airport to central London.
Generally, Elizabeth Line fares match London Underground Fares. For the journey to and from Heathrow, you pay a bit more (£15.50 for a one-way trip, compared to £5.90 on the Picadilly Underground Line). If you want to know the best way to get from London’s many different airports to the city centre, click here to skip ahead to our airport travel section.
As with the London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, we’d recommend using a contactless method of payment. You can also buy physical tickets from ticket machines.
Docklands Light Railway (DLR)
Image credit: Unsplash / Chris Kursikowski
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a driverless train system that connects areas around East and South-East London, with only two stations in central London Zone 1 – Bank, and Tower Hill (next to the Tower of London).
Fares are the same as on the London Underground network. Many stations do not have ticket barriers so take extra care to remember to tap in and out on entry and exit to avoid being overcharged for your journey.
The main reasons you might take the DLR are to reach Cutty Sark for Maritime Greenwich station, if you’d like to visit Greenwich’s many museums including the Royal Observatory, or if you are travelling to Custom House station to see an exhibition at the ExCel centre.
London buses
They’re big, they’re red, and they’re mostly reliable. They’re also a little slow.
Yes, it’s time to talk about London’s buses. If you can’t find a route on the Tube to your destination, I guarantee that there will be a bus route that takes you there instead. There are 675 bus routes in London which are used for 1.8billion (not a typo) bus journeys a year.
As with Underground services, children under 11 travel free on buses. For adults, single journeys cost £1.75 – and you can hop on and off as many buses as you need in one hour after tapping on with your contactless or Oyster card, without paying any more. On weekdays, there is a £5.25 daily fare cap; on weekends, fares for the whole day are capped at the same price as a single journey – just £1.75.
You cannot pay your bus fare in cash. You must use a contactless payment method.
At night, a number of night buses operate. These are not as frequent as the day services, and might not drop you off as close to your stop, but they are a helpful and cost-effective way of getting home after a late night out.
Although TfL is upgrading its fleet of buses, most are still not air-conditioned. In summer, older buses can be very, very warm – particularly during peak work travel hours, when they are at their busiest.
Taxis, Ubers and other private hire cars
You might want to take a journey in one of London’s famous black taxis while you’re visiting. I would recommend that your journey is a shorter one, as black taxis will usually charge you much more money than you will pay for the same journey in an Uber, Bolt or other private-hire vehicle, all of which are also available in London.
Black cabs are great, though, for any wheelchair users. All black cabs are fully wheelchair accessible, but there is no such requirement for private-hire vehicle operators.
You can find typical black cab fares on the TfL website. Generally speaking, travelling by London Underground will be cheaper and quicker.
Cycling and e-scooters
There has been an explosion in the number of e-bike rental operators in London in recent years. Depending on which part of London you are in, you might find Lime, Forest, or Voi e-bikes, or Santander pedal (non-electric) bikes, and several companies offering e-scooters which can be used in cycle lanes and on roads. You can download apps to unlock the bikes and pay your fares.
London has become more cycling-friendly in recent years, with a huge expansion in the number of cycle lanes since Sadiq Khan became Mayor. Unsurprisingly, riding a bike around London is now much safer than it was even just a few years ago. Only six cyclists were killed on London's roads last year, and fewer people are being injured too (relative to the number of journeys being taken by bike). If you're a confident cyclist, renting an e-bike is a convenient and cost-effective way to get around the city. You will need to download an app for the company you want to hire a bike from; the apps will direct you to the nearest available bike.
If you are a novice cyclist, I wouldn't recommend using a bike to get around London. Although there are many more miles of cycling lanes than before, many of them are unprotected (that is, there isn’t a physical barrier between the cycle lane and lanes for cars). Driving standards in the UK are generally good, but some drivers still turn across bike lanes without warning. I do not cycle in London – not because it’s overly unsafe, but because as an anxiety-prone person it’s still not safe enough for me to feel confident on a bike.
There have been an increasing number of people involved in road accidents while using E-scooters. You cannot use e-scooters on pavements, in order to keep pedestrians safe.
If you decide to rent an e-bike, or an e-scooter, please make sure to return them to their designated zones rather than abandoning them on the street. Carelessly dumped bikes and scooters cause real problems for pedestrians, particularly those in wheelchairs and those with impaired sight. Though far too many people ignore this fact, it is illegal to cycle through a red traffic light in the UK.
Walking
This isn’t a post about the best places to go walking or hiking around London – check our main London page for more guides about that – but it’s worth quickly talking about how easy it is to get around on foot.
London is a very walkable city. Pavements are generally kept in good condition, and other than the occasional e-bike dropped in the wrong place there is nothing to stop you enjoying walking from place to place.
As I wrote in this guide for anxious travellers thinking about visiting London, the city is generally very safe. You should have no trouble walking from point A to point B, if you'd like to take a break from busy Underground trains and buses.
River boats
Thames Clippers are river boats which run from Putney in West London all the way to Barking Riverside in East London. As a tourist, you need never visit either of those two places.
However, you might enjoy taking a short boat journey along the River Thames between some of the stations in the Central Zone, including the London Eye, Westminster, London Bridge, the Tower of London, or even further East to Canary Wharf or North Greenwich for the O2 arena.
Tickets cost £9.40 for a single journey, or £29.30 for a day pass. Young children do not travel for free, unlike on Tube and bus services, but you might be able to save money with a family pass. Find out more about fares on Thames Clippers’ website.
You cannot sit or stand outside on the boat. You can see some quite nice views from inside the boats, though if you’re stuck in a middle seat you might be disappointed with what you get for the price you paid.
Should you take a boat on the Thames? You don’t have to. But it’s kind of a fun way to travel, as a one-off. I took the boat a couple of times last year during a London Underground strike, and it was a much nicer way to get home than being on the Tube. Plus, I was lucky enough to spot one of the Thames’ grey seals bobbing around in the water while waiting on the dock.
The London Cable Car
Image credit: Unsplash / Gemma C
I promised a complete guide, so I can’t forget to mention the London Cable Car. It goes from North Greenwich station, which is on the Jubilee underground line and is the best stop for anyone going to a gig at the O2 arena, to Royal Victoria, a couple of minutes’ walk from a DLR station.
There is nothing much to see at Royal Victoria, which is in London’s dockland area close to London City Airport. The only reason you might want to visit this area is if there is a conference or event that you are attending at the ExCel centre. City Hall is opposite the cable car station and is an interesting building from the outside, but an uninteresting one on the inside.
There’s not enough to see at the O2 arena either to make travelling all the way out to this part of London just to take the cable car worthwhile. I’ve only used the cable car once, and I worked opposite one of the stations for 18 months; the views of London’s docks and the O2 arena from above are nice enough, but not worth a long journey to get there for most people. Tickets cost £7 for a one-way trip and £13 for a round trip.
If you already have plans at the O2, it might be worth a slight detour to take the cable car from Royal Victoria docks to North Greenwich. Otherwise, I’d recommend saving your time and money for other things.
National rail services
So, you want to get out of London for a while? After so long living here, I know the feeling.
If you want to visit other towns and cities like Cambridge or Brighton, or perhaps go hiking in the Goring Gap, up Box Hill, or at Seven Sisters – keep checking our London travel page for guides to all of these places and more, coming soon – then a National Rail service will be the best way to get there.
Use apps like CityMapper or Google Maps to plan your route. Depending on how far outside of London you go, you may be able to tap in and out with your Oyster card or contactless card, or you may have to buy a ticket. You can buy tickets at train stations or by using an app (if you skipped it earlier, click here to go back to our section on recommended apps).
Train travel in Britain is expensive. One study in 2024 found that tickets cost two times more in Britain than the average price for a comparable trip elsewhere in the EU.
You could find yourself paying even more if you buy the wrong ticket for your journey. You cannot use tickets bought from one train operator on a different operator’s service. So you could not, for example, buy a London Thameslink ticket to Cambridge from King’s Cross, then get on a Greater Northern train taking the same route. When booking, read the details carefully - you'll generally see something like "valid on all services" or "valid only on [specific train operator]'s services". If you get on the wrong train, you may be asked by staff to get off the train, to pay a fine, or both. Exceptions may occasionally be made in the event of cancellations.
If you're unsure which ticket to buy, speak to staff at the station.
The best ways to get to and from London airports
Image credit: Unsplash / John Cameron
From Heathrow, you can take the Heathrow Express to London Paddington station for £10 if you book far enough in advance. If you’re too late to get the discounted advance ticket, take the Elizabeth line costing £15.50 for a one-way journey. The Elizabeth Line train stops at several central London stations, including Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, and Canary Wharf. The Piccadilly underground line is a cheaper option but slower option to get into the city centre.
From Gatwick, take a National Rail service towards London Bridge or London Victoria and change to the tube line of your choice. London Bridge station has transfers to the Jubilee and Northern underground lines, while Victoria Underground station has Circle, District, and Victoria line connections.
From Stansted, book the Stansted Express train to London Liverpool Street as far in advance as you can. If you reserve your ticket more than three months before travelling, tickets are less than £10 for an adult. With less than three months’ advance booking, prices gradually increase all the way up to £23 for same-day bookings.
If you’re flying into London Luton, take a National Rail service to London St Pancras (a central station next to London Kings Cross, with loads of Underground line connections). Get on at Luton Airport DART station, then change trains at Luton Airport Parkway to go to St Pancras. The whole journey takes between 35 and 45 minutes.
It’s unlikely you’ll be flying to London City airport. But if you are, take the DLR before changing at Custom House for Elizabeth Line trains, or at Canning Town for Jubilee Underground line services.
Lastly, if your flight lands or departs in the early hours of the morning, you might want to book a seat on a National Express coach. The coaches are comfortable, have space for your suitcases and depart regularly from stops across London even throughout the night. Check National Express' website for times and prices.
Why you shouldn't hire a pedicab in London
Speaking of saving money, you probably shouldn’t be fooled into taking one of the brightly lit, music-pumping pedicabs that you’ll find parked up near many of London’s big attractions – particularly in the West End theatre district.
TfL is at long last taking action to regulate the industry, which is infamous for charging vastly inflated fares for short journeys around the city. Pedicab operators will be required to have licences, be subject to safety checks, be banned from playing loud music, and just generally be required to behave themselves a bit better.
However, drivers and firms aren’t required to have a licence until 30 October 2026, when maximum price caps also come into force. Until then, you don’t have any real protection from rogue pedicab firms and drivers… which most Londoners would agree is most of them. Enforcing new rules is always difficult so, for now, I’d recommend avoiding pedicabs entirely and so you don’t risk getting ripped off.
Why you don’t need to drive in London
Why have I saved driving until the very end? Well, two reasons. One, I don’t drive. But two, I don’t drive **because driving is one of the slowest ways to get around central London**.
This has been true for a long time. All the way back in 2007, the BBC show Top Gear showed an episode in which the presenters raced across London on a bike, speedboat, public transport and in a car. The car came last.
London’s roads are still congested, even with the introduction of restrictions on what types of vehicles can enter the city. Bus lanes and bike lanes allow cyclists and public transport users to move quicker along roads than car drivers, while the Underground, Overground, DLR and Elizabeth Lines will nearly always get you to within 10 or 15 minutes’ walk from your destination, at most.
If you do drive into the city centre, you may need to pay a Congestion Charge and / or an Ultra Low Emissions Zone charge, depending on the kind of vehicle you’re driving. These fees are well-enforced and keep increasing the longer they are unpaid.
If you’re thinking of driving a rental car, make sure you check before your journey which fees apply and, ideally, pay them in advance. Otherwise, you may be faced with a costly bill sent to you via the rental car company down the line.
Renting a car is expensive and, unless you have mobility requirements or plan to drive further out of the city, unnecessary. Put the money towards a good meal, an afternoon tea, or great seats at a musical instead.
That is quite enough words from me. Over to Liz for the final thoughts.
Final thoughts
London is fantastically well-equipped with public transport, with plenty of options to help you get from place to place. The London Underground is likely to be your best friend and is our top pick for how to get around London while you’re here.
Just remember the golden rules: always tap in and out with the same payment card in order to avoid being overcharged, and mind the gap between the platform and the train.
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