Contactless payment is generally better and more convenient for most visitors to London due to its ease of use, zero upfront cost, and identical daily price capping to Oyster. However, a Visitor Oyster card is superior for children aged 11-15 (for discounted fares), travelers without international contactless cards, or those preferring a physical, pre-paid, souvenir ticket.
If you have a Railcard or other discount, it may be cheaper to use your Oyster or Smartcard as you cannot apply a discount to pay as you go with contactless. However, you can travel further beyond London using pay as you go with contactless than you can with an Oyster card.
Cons
Only monthly and annual ones for those who commute Monday-Friday are generally worth it, even then most instances Oyster/Contactless will be cheaper.
Get an 18+ Student Oyster photocard
You can save 30% on Travelcards and Bus & Tram Passes with our 18+ Student Oyster photocard. You can also use this Oyster card to pay as you go but you won't receive the 30% discount.
Buses and trams
London's buses and trams are also some of the cheapest ways to travel in London. A Hopper Fare allows you to take unlimited bus and tram journeys for £1.75 within one hour.
A Visitor Oyster card can be delivered to your home before your visit, or Oyster cards can be purchased at all London airports and stations. Visitor Oyster card holders also enjoy a range of special offers and discounts across the city.
How much credit will I need? For a single journey on either the Gatwick Express or Heathrow Express, the recommended amount is £25. A day of unlimited travel in central London within zones 1-2 is currently capped at £8.90. A £30 card will cover 3 days of travel in zones 1-2.
You can use a contactless card as many times as you like within a day so long as each purchase is under £100. Just bear in mind that you may be asked to use chip and PIN after using contactless a few times in a row. Don't worry, it's just an extra security measure to check it's you making any payments.
Using pay as you go (paying only for the journeys you make when you travel) is the easiest and cheapest way to pay for travel in London. You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance or buy tickets. You can pay as you go using: A contactless card or device (overseas charges may apply)
Yes, each person travelling needs their own Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment card. If you are coming to London in a group of 10 or more people who plan to travel around the capital together, you can buy a Group Day Travelcard.
Please wait at least 48 hours as you might receive an automatic refund: Oyster - we'll automatically add it to your card the next time you touch in or out. Contactless - the refund will show on your next card statement, or we will adjust the fares charged when you next travel.
The London bus 1-hour rule refers to the Hopper fare, allowing unlimited journeys on London buses and trams within one hour of the first tap-in, for a single £1.75 charge (as of early 2025). You must use the same Oyster or contactless card/device for all taps, and it works automatically, enabling free transfers between bus and tram services within that hour.
A single journey on the London Underground costs £2.90 (between zones 1 - 2) and a bus journey costs just £1.75 – but the real benefit of your Visitor Oyster card is that it comes with a daily cap so your journeys will be free after a certain point.
Your Visitor Oyster card can help with travel to and from London's main airports. You can use it on Tube, Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express services between the airports and central London. You can buy a Visitor Oyster card online from: TfL Visitor Shop.
Same station exits
If you touch in when you enter a station and then touch out to exit it within a short period of time, you'll be charged a same station exit charge. These are: Between 0 - 2 minutes: a maximum fare. If you re-enter the same or a different station within 45 minutes, you'll be refunded.
Yes, you can use your Oyster card on the Heathrow Express. Just like getting the tube or London Overground, you simply tap your Oyster on the ticket barriers as you enter and leave the station.
The price you're charged for travel with Oyster or a contactless card is the same - and in both cases the overall amount you can pay in a day or a week is capped. However, using Oyster or a contactless card is cheaper than buying paper tickets for your travel.
To pay the right fare, always touch in on a yellow card reader at the start of your journey and touch out at the end. On a bus or tram you only need to touch in. Because where you touch in and out tells us where you've travelled from and to, so we can charge you the right fare for your journey.
A Visitor Oyster card is a smartcard. It's a quick and easy way to pay for journeys on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line, River Bus and most National Rail services in London.
How to save money in London