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Hope you don't mind another TravelCard vs Oyster Card question

Posted by (Tuscaloosa, AL) on

We leave for London and Paris next week. I'm still trying to determine the best card to purchase for traveling around London.

Our hotel is in Westminster and over the 6 days in London, we will visit:
Westminster Abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral
Palace Theatre
Buckingham Palace
Tower of London
London Eye
Churchill War Rooms
Picadilly Circus
Harrod's
Notting Hill
We will also visit the Harry Potter Studios Tour, but that is a booked tour, leaving from Euston Station

Would the 6 day TravelCard for zone 1-2 be our best option?

Posted by
32746 posts

It depends on how much you will ride versus walk, and how many extra trips you will make.

There isn't a 6 day. It would be a week

Everything you list, including Euston and Notting Hill Gate are in Zones 1 and 2. Travel beyond Euston will presumably be paid by your tour.

If you plan on using the 2 for 1 plan offered by the railways for some of your attractions then a railway issued paper Weekly Zone 1 and Zone 2 - cost £35.10 per person plus a passport sized photo is a good idea.

If you don't plan on using the 2 for 1 savings then an Underground issued 7 Day Zone 1 and Zone 2 Travelcard added to your Oyster Card with some extra funds for any trips beyond Zones 1 and 2 - if you decided to go to Kew Gardens, say, or to or from an airport, - same price for the Travelcard, add for the additional Pay As You Go money - might be a good idea.

If you mostly intend to walk, or at least ride less than the daily caps, then just a PAYG Oyster with some funds on it, top up when it runs down, might be a good answer.

Even with you listing all your proposed destinations I expect that you will want to visit other ones and make trips to restaurants and other trips, and so much depends on your style of travel and desire for the 2 for 1 tickets.

Bet you wanted a clear cut answer, eh? Sorry.

Posted by
1322 posts

I think you are overthinking this, but as already said, it depends on how many trips you will take.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/caps-and-travelcard-prices?intcmp=54720 will tell you that the daily cap on an Oyster card is 7 GBP, i.e. you can max use 42 GBP in 6 days. The 7 day TravelCard is 35,10 GBP. The difference is 7 GBP.

There is also a weekly cap (Weekly (Mon to Sun, contactless only)) of 35,10 GBP, but that is only helpful if you are there within one calendar week (note: European weeks start Monday, not Sunday).

If you decide to travel less than the cap maximum (7 GBP / 2.40 GBP = 3 trips per day) you will pay less on an Oyster card, but the same with a TravelCard.

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