Traveling in London

I was in London for a week in May 2006 and purchased a weekly pass on Oyster Card. It was great to hop on public transit whenever I wanted. Also saved considerable time waiting in long lines to purchase tickets. I bought a zone 1-2 pass, but never got outside of zone 1 (except for train to Windsor - not covered by weekly pass). If traveling outside your zone on Underground (e.g. to/from Heathrow), you can purchase a supplement for the difference. Think I saved a bundle by buying the weekly pass and the Oyster Card was very easy to use - just touch it to the turnstyle and you're on your way.

It really depends. If you're fine with walking most places and don't plan to spend a lot of time outside the inner zones, then I'd only buy a tube ticket when I needed. If you tend to want to explore beyond walking distances often, the pass may be the way to go. We spent 5 nights in London, based near the Pimlico tube station, and we only rode it once. And that was because it was around 7:00PM and we were out by the Tower of London and it was quite a ways back to the hotel (in March when it was already long since dark).

If you intend to take the Tube a lot, then load a seven-day, zone 1-2 Travelcard on an Oyster card. You won't have to pay the Oyster card deposit.

If you're going to walk a lot or if you'll be riding the bus more than the Tube, buy an Oyster card, pay the deposit, load it with £20, and use it as a pay-as-you-go card. Single rides are cheaper using Oyster--and thanks to the computer, on any days you take a lot of rides you will never pay more than 50p less than a one-day travelcard for the zones in which you travel. When you're ready to leave London, you can get a refund of any unspent money plus your deposit. Or keep the card for your next trip to London.

it depends on where you will be going. I walk alot and so much is really walkable if you plan well.
London is a very walkable city. the more times I go the leaa I use the tube and more the bus if any.

I always use my Oyster card. Personally, I think a zone 1-2 week card on your Oyster is definitely worth it for a 1 week trip and I don't think that you will regret buying it if you are there for a week. If you take between 2 and 3 single trips in a day you have more than gotten your money's worth. If you travel outside of zone 2, you can load some additional pay as you go money. For pure convenience, get the card. You can hop on the bus or the tube any time that you want and not worry about paying anything extra.

London is a big city. Sites are spread out all over the city.