What is the London Travelcard called?

A Visitor Oyster card is a quick and easy way to pay for travel on public transport in London. Buy your card before you leave home and save money with special offers.



In 2026, the traditional paper ticket is still officially called the London Travelcard, though its role has shifted significantly in the "Oyster-first" ecosystem. It is a multi-modal pass that allows unlimited travel on the Tube, buses, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth Line, and National Rail services within specific zones. While the physical paper version still exists for daily or weekly use—often purchased by tourists at National Rail stations to qualify for "2-for-1" attraction deals—most residents and savvy travelers use the digital version loaded onto an Oyster Card or simply rely on Contactless Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG). As of March 2026, Travelcard prices have been frozen until 2027 to encourage public transport use. For example, a Zone 1-2 daily Travelcard costs approximately £16.60, though the daily PAYG cap is often much cheaper (around £8.90), making the "Travelcard" name more of a legacy term for a pre-paid service rather than the most economical choice for every traveler.

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because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl. Its associations with London through Thames estuary oyster beds and the major relevance of the popular idiom the world is your oyster were also significant factors in its selection.

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In conclusion, the main difference between Standard and Visitor Oyster cards is that Standard Oyster cards are reusable, while Visitor Oyster cards are disposable. In addition, standard Oyster cards do not come with a daily price cap, while Visitor Oyster cards do.

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Travelcard prices start at £15.20 for a central London 1 day Travelcard (zones 1-4).

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Weekly and annual travelcards will still be issued but last year just 20,000 of the latter were sold, down from 185,000 in 2018. Travelcards offer unlimited travel on services within London, where fares rose an average of 5.9% in March.

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As a general rule a Travelcard is more expensive than an Oyster card or Contactless payment card. The exception is if you make 3 or more journeys for 6 days or more within a 7 day period. In this case a 7 day Travelcard works out cheaper than an Oyster or Contactless payment card.

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You can add money to an Oyster card or use contactless (card or device) straight away. You only pay for the journeys you make and it's cheaper than buying a paper single or return ticket (train companies may offer special deals on some journeys).

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Is it cheaper to use Oyster or contactless? As both cards use the same Pay As You Go system and are compatible with the TfL Oyster & Contactless app, the costs are comparable. As a tourist in London, it can be worth getting an Oyster Card as part of the London Pass.

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About a quarter of contactless payments are now made using either Apple or Google Pay, a figure that is ticking up all the time. In contrast, only 5.7m of the tens of millions of Oyster cards in circulation are still active. And as for paper tickets, in the past month just 1.7% of passengers bought them.

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The most convenient places to buy an Oyster card are Underground stations across London, including Heathrow airport. You can buy one using either cash or your credit/debit card. Although there are a few manned ticket offices in London, the likelihood is that you will buy an Oyster card from a ticket machine.

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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).

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Pay as you go You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance. You can pay as you go using contactless (card or device), an Oyster card or a Visitor Oyster card. It also offers great value as pay as you go is cheaper than buying single tickets and you get daily and weekly capping.

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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 your card was issued in the UK on Visa, MasterCard, Maestro or American Express and displays the contactless payment symbol, you should be able to use it to travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground and most National Rail services in London.

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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.

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Travel cards can pay off nicely for aspirational travelers who learn how best to utilize rewards. The primary function of a travel credit card should be to get outsized value in return for your spending. Redeeming points for an aspirational vacation, first-class ticket or five-star hotel is a sure way to do just that.

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Yes, so long as your Travelcard is valid on the day of travel and covers zones 1-6. Heathrow Airport is on the Piccadilly Line in London travel zone 6, so Travelcards covering only zones 1-2 will not be valid.

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The Travelcards, which offer unlimited journeys on the Tube and buses, are being withdrawn by Mayor Sadiq Khan from January in a bid to raise an extra £40m a year for Transport for London.

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The Visitor Oyster Card is a contactless smartcard that carries credit which you can use to pay for journeys on all public transport on the Transport for London (TfL) network. It is valid in all travel zones and automatically calculates the cheapest total fare for all the journeys you make in a single day.

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