If you purchase a standard Oyster card, you can add travelcards to your Oyster card if you would like to pre-pay for your travels. The most common reason a visitor would use this option is to add a 7 Day Travelcard.
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If you want to buy a 7 Day Travelcard, this ticket is only available on an Oyster card, not as a paper ticket. This means you will need to buy an Oyster card and get a 7 Day Travelcard loaded onto it. If you live in the UK, you can buy an Oyster card before you arrive in London.
A Travelcard (in the zones it's valid for) gives you unlimited travel at any time on bus, Tube, Tram, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail services in London. You can use it on all buses, and if valid in zones 3, 4, 5 or 6, on all trams.
The cheapest ways to get around London include walking, getting an Oyster card, avoiding travel at peak hours, cycling, taking the bus for long-distance, cruising the Thames Clipper, and taking the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
You can use Oyster Pay As You Go in London on all suburban trains stopping in Zones 1 – 9 and journeys to: Broxbourne, Rye House, St. Margarets, Ware and Hertford East. Gatwick Airport.
You will have been charged an extension fare, taken from your pay as you go balance. If you didn't have any pay as you go credit on your Oyster card, your balance will be negative and you will need to top up your card before you can travel again - even if you have a valid Travelcard.
You can secure an Off-Peak Family Travelcard on selected Chiltern Railways, c2c, West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway routes at Trainline.
Supports cash: If you want to pay for your transport in London using cash, you can buy and top up an Oyster card with cash. This is normally a lot more cost effective than paying for a cash ticket, with the rare exception of a one-off single journey as you have to consider the cost of the Oyster card.