Going to London with my 7-year-old and will be using the Tube. Will be getting Oyster card (travelcard) for myself, and I understand my child would be free with me. This may be a stupid question, but how does she get into the Tube station? I assume there is a turnstile, and I understand I have to scan my Oyster card on the yellow scanner before I can go through the turnstile. Should I just have my child walk with me through the turnstile? Or does she just duck under it? Or do I have to go to some special turnstile/gate and ask someone to open it up?
I've been on the NYC Subway and the Paris Metro with her before, and I think we just had her walk closely in front of me and then we both squeezed through the turnstile together. But I just want to know if there is an official way of doing it on the Tube. Thanks.
At most (all?) stations there is usually a gate that is manned by a subway employee. You can touch your Oyster card to get through that gate and your child can walk through with you. This gate is necessary for passengers with limited mobility as well as for wheeling through luggage.
You can have her walk in front of you. I did this with my daughters and had no problems. Have fun!!!