Location Transport

Oyster card or Travelcard?

Hi, I'm planning to go to London next month, and I'll be using a lot of public transport, so I was wondering, if I buy an Oyster card or a Travelcard will I be able to use it in all of the destinations..?? or both of the card are useful for all the routes?? I do understand that I can use both cards for tubes, buses, and overland rail. but I dont know if the divided zones are just for meant for routes, or does it mean that I have to have an Oyster card or Travelcard for each zone?? I think I didn't explain myself well.... I don't know if I'm asking too much ....which card will allow me to all the zones?? I don't know if this is any helpful but I'll in London for 5 weeks

Public Comments

1. Unfortunately you don't mention the kinds of destinations you need to visit. There is very little cost difference, as Oyster has a daily cap - so you will never spend more in a day on Oyster than you would on the equivalent day Travelcard. The advantage of a Travelcard is that it will cover you on Railway services within Zones 1-6 whereas Oyster will only cover you on Tube, Bus, Tram and some rail routes. Also, depending on your length of stay a weekly Travelcard offers better value than a day travelcard or Oyster. You can buy Travelcards to cover multiple zones, for example: Zones 1-2; Zones 1-4; Zones 1-6 or Zones 2-6. Oyster is stored value system, where the card is topped up and each time you travel the journey cost is deducted from your balance.
2. a lot depends on what destinations you want to go to ... if they are all places in central London then you could buy a travelcard ... you can get travelcards for different zones, for instance zones 1+2, zones 1 to 4, zones 1 to 6 ... most of the London tourist attractions are in Zone 1 ... obviously the cost of a travelcard increases with the wider area covered ... no you don't need a new travelcard or Oyster card for each zone ... here's a good web page with lots of information on it http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard.htm
3. Pay As You Go Oyster Cards are not valid on most of the overland suburban trains, so if you are going to be using these a Travelcard would be better. Pay as You Go Oyster is valid on the Underground/buses/DLR/trams only