london public transportation

you can buy an Oyster if you want, but if you scroll back the England Forum a few pages you will see lots of similar questions and answers.

BUt if you buy an Oyster you have spent £7 for the privilege, money you will never see again. The Oyster is nothing more than a money storage device which works with the TfL system and charges you from when you tap in until you tap out, and instantly removes the correct amount of money from the card. It also has a daily and weekly cap - once you reach that in a day it won't charge more for the rest of the day, and once you reach the weekly cap it won't charge more than the weekly cap. Cool, huh?

But - you can save that £7 to buy the Oyster by using a tap and pay card or device - a card in your wallet or an Apple or Android watch or phone which you use for purchases at home. Works exactly the same way.

When you look at recent similar questions you'll see that some prefer one, some prefer the other. Your choice.

Just always use the same method or the caps don't happen.

And if you pay cash for paper tickets prepare to be taken to the cleaners. They are much more expensive.

No. Unfortunately a London version of the Paris Navigo doesn't exist.

The easiest way to pay for London transit is with your phone or credit card. Tap in and out for the tube, tap when boarding a bus. Use the exact same form of payment all day and all week. The TFL will calculate your fares so you won't be charged more than the daily and weekly caps

If you have an iPhone, you can set up your credit card as a Transit Card in your Apple Wallet so you don't even have to open your phone. Google may have something similar for Android phones.

Jeanm is wrong. The London travel card still exists, which is the effective equivalent of the Navigo. However it is not the cheapest method if merely staying in Central London, not visiting the likes of Kew, Greenwich or Hampton Court. That is because it only now exists in the Zone 1 to 6 form. Previously it could be bought for any combination of zones.
There is no London ticket that you can buy now which covers Canterbury, Cambridge and York
If you decide to visit all three of those destinations and are travelling as a couple, or are under 31 or over 60 you can buy the relevant railcard at St Pancras on demand and save 1/3 off the train fares. As a couple the railcard would be worth it for any two of those destinations.

Sorry for misleading you. I was basing my answer on your limited time in central London. I did not find the same value with the London Travel Card.

The post above explains it better than I did.

thank you all for your replies! very helpful. i did read a thread that was mainly about the pros and cons of the oyster card. i decided to go with it because i would rather not be pulling out my credit card to tap in and out every time i take the subway. i have downloaded the app and will link the oyster and a credit card when i need to top up. regarding the day trips, i know i will need to buy regular rail tickets. while i am a solo traveler, i will certainly look into the over-60 discount as i will never be 59 again!
Regards!

i have downloaded the app and will link the oyster and a credit card when i need to top

FYI--no need to do that. You can top up the Oyster Card at any tube station. The ticket machines will also let you top up your Oyster Card.

It is a matter of personal preference, but the City Mapper App is my favorite in London.

Just in case you were not aware Indian and food from the sub continents found in the UK has been very much developed for the British palate, with a number of dishes that have been developed in Blighty like tika masala, phal and the balti. Though not developed in the UK Madras was an invention for the British palate during the colonial period of the British Raj. As such curries in the UK can be quite different that what is found further east.

@Laughing Spam Fritter. haha! i am fully aware. i am indian and tell my 'western' friends/colleagues that a lot of the restaurant items they think are authentic indian are actually british inventions. as a matter of fact, the word curry itself is british as well. at most, there are kharee leaves that are used in some south Indian and other southeast asian cuisine. i will be heading for east london and seeking out indian, bangladeshi and pakistani restaurants where i will order in bangla, hindi, and urdu!

i will be heading for east london and seeking out indian, bangladeshi and pakistani restaurants where i will order in bangla, hindi, and urdu!

Perhaps you will have time to share your findings here with a trip report covering authentic cuisine,

I don't have any particular recommendations as I'm no expert, but looking at options in Southall, Hounslow, Wembley and Tooting in addition to east London may pay dividends. Closer to town, Drummond Street in Euston has several rated Indian restaurants.

I agree with Mark. I'd be interested in what you find too.

I'd love a trip report

For Indian food our daughter's family loved Dishoom on their recent trip. There are several locations in London including Dishoom Kings Cross which would be near where you are staying. You can read about it on tripadvisor.com. It would be good to get a reservation. Wishing you a wonderful time!

I just messaged my neighbour for his recommendation. He's Guajarati. Little bit far out from central, but he suggested Saffron Kitchen in Lea Bridge Road. Mixed reviews on Google but he recommends and I remember his son talking about going there in the past too.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/fZdtmwwrZbYYkDQc9

For Indian food you could try the student ymca - open to the public. Been a while since I was there, but it was pretty good
www.indianymca.org/our-restaurant

Or, if you are in the area, try Drummond street, behind Euston. I think there has been a lot of demolition there to make way for the train line, so not sure what's left. Drummond street used to have heaps of good Indian restaurants, but not sure what the pandemic and HS2 have done to it.

EDIT. As noted above a review would be great, especially if you get to try lots of Indian restaurants - always good to get opinions on what's out there.

I was just Googling for Guajarati places and there's a ton in Harrow. The oldest Guajarati restaurant in London is seemingly Rani in Finchley - https://www.rani.uk.com/index.html

All these neighbourhoods that I mention out west are the best for an authentic experience; Indians cooking for other Indians. I think you need to do your homework before going down to Brick Lane and not be swayed too much by the barkers outside the restaurants inviting you in :) I'm sure there must still be some gems in Whitechapel and Brick Lane if you're talking east though.

The most well known South Asian restaurants in the Whitechapel area are Tayyabs and the Lahore Chop House, but I suspect that there will be many more good places in that area as well as further east.

Whitechapel has three that are quite well known- Tayyab's, which has been around the longest and is always extremely busy, and then Lahori Kebab House and Needo's which if I remember correctly were both started by former chefs at Tayyab's, so the food is very similar but much easier to get a table. None of these places serve alcohol but you can BYOB if you would like.

As mentioned above, there has been a lot of construction around Drummond Street in preparation for HS2 but there are still many places there, including Roti King, which is Indian Malaysian, and extremely popular. They have other locations, too, including Waterloo where it is much easier to get a table. Also close to Drummond Street is Greatest Nepalese which has been a longtime favourite of mine- of course it is Nepalese, not Indian.

Two new Indian restaurants that have been getting a lot of attention lately are Tamil Crown and Tamil Prince, both in Islington and run by the same people. They're both set in former pubs. I really enjoyed Tamil Crown tho was just seeing the reviews complaining of small portion sizes and I do have to concede the portions weren't very large.

Ealing Road in Wembley has a lot of good options. One that's been recommended to me (tho I haven't been yet) is Asher's Africana. The area around Wembley has a large population from Gujarat (often via east Africa) and that is reflected in the dining options. If you are looking to buy kurtas, saris, etc there are also lots of places on this street (Venison's is the big one with several different shops all with different types of dress).

For dosas, East Ham has long been known as the place to go tho it's been a while since I've been out there so can't recommend anywhere specific. For Sri Lankan food, Tooting is one of the main areas- I went somewhere really great there once tho can't remember the name.

I agree with the recommendation for Indian YMCA, I used to eat lunch there all the time. It's very much a cafeteria and I'm not sure it's even open for dinner unless you're staying there, but really really great place for lunch though no longer as inexpensive as it used to be.

wow! a floodgate of information! thank you for your responses to my comment. i'll be hard pressed to investigate all but i'll try my best.

OP merely adding a well done in choosing an Oyster card. I always use one when I’m in London as getting out the wallet to tap in n out is a PIA. Instead have the Oyster in a lovely “ carrier “ purchased ages ago at the British Library. When I arrive at Paddington or Victoria I tap up the card and off I go. Have a coat with a zipper pocket inside and that’s where it resides during my London visits.

For me easy peasy. Each to their own.

Enjoy your stay and would love to know where you ate and what you saw. A Trip Report would be lovely.