I go with a friend to London this summer for two weeks and I would like to know of I need an Oyster Card or something like that? What is the best for tourists? What are the prices? I don't really understand how it works (Sorry if I made mistakes Im not a native english speaker)
You will want to get around on the public transport, and Oyster is the cheapest way to pay. It works on everything - bus, tube (Underground), DLR, trams, and trains inside Greater London. London buses do not take cash, so to travel on those, you NEED an Oystercard, or a Travelcard for the day. I do not recommend 1 day Travelcards. In central London, which is probably all you will want to see, a Travelcard is ￡12 but the daily cap on Oyster is ￡6.40 - once you have spent ￡6.40, the rest of the day is free. A single fare on the tube (Underground) in Zone 1 is ￡2.30 using Oyster, ￡4.80 if you pay cash for a ticket - so Oyster is obviously better! This is to encourage people to use it. All bus journeys are one price, ￡1.50. The whole table of fares (not for buses) is http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/doc...
Oyster is an electronic smartcard so it can store information about how much money you have put on the card, where you have been so it knows when you have hit the cap for the day, and can automatically work out what to charge you for using the tube or trains. It knows where you got on the train and where you got off, so you don't have to think. It works out the right fare for you and takes it off the card. All you have to do is add more money to the card at a ticket machine when there is none left.
Now that is using Oyster for "pay as you go". Oyster can also store a Travelcard for a week or more. One thing to consider as you are in London for two weeks is buying a Travelcard for a week, and then another for the second week. This is ￡32.10 for Zones 1-2 and if you buy it in London, it will be sold to you on an Oystercard. If you want to do this, it's best to have it on an Oystercard because if one day you want to travel outside Zone 2, you will need to pay more for the extra zones. Oyster is the easiest way - add some money for "pay as you go", it will know you have paid for Zones 1 and 2 and just take off the fare for the extra zones. Except for that, you KNOW you have paid for the whole week and won't need to add any extra money.
You have a choice - buy a Visitor Oystercard before you come http://www.tfl.gov.uk/travel-information... and that will cost ￡3 on top of any money you put on it to spend, or wait until you arrive in London and buy one from a machine or a ticket office. This will cost ￡5 but you can get that back if you return the card to a ticket office before you leave London. If you want a Travelcard for a week, don't buy a card before you get to London as you won't be able to get it on Oyster, and you will need to ask for that at a ticket office. And with two of you, you will need an Oystercard each.
Now you have your Oystercards with money on them, how do you use them? Round yellow readers! In a tube station, you touch the card on the reader at the ticket barrier and the gate opens. It works by weak radio so there is no need to put it in anything, just touching works. Do the same again when you get off the train and leave the station. Oyster works out the fare and takes it off the card, or recognises you have a Travelcard, and that's it! On a bus, touch the card on the reader when you get on the bus and because all bus fares are the same, you don't have to do that again when you get off the bus. To add more money at a ticket machine, touch the reader and follow the instructions on the screen, and when you have put the money into the machine, touch the reader again.
If a ticket barrier won't open, look at the screen above the reader. If it's showing a red cross and not a green arrow, you're going the wrong way! This gate is for people coming the other way. (Yes, I've seen people do this and wonder what's wrong!) Find one with a green arrow. Or if there is no money left, it won't let you through.
Just watch what other people do and you see how easy it is. It really speeds things up - touch and you're on.
You dont NEED an oyster, but it's well worth getting one. Don't buy a tourist oyster though, just buy one from the machine when you arrive in London (no activation fee's).
They are basically just preloaded cards. You buy one for 5 pounds, you put extra into the machine for credit on the card, and then you scan it at the ticket barrier when getting on and off public transport. An oyster is great because they are charge capped at 7 pounds a day, so any travel after you reach your 7 pound cap is free. When you leave London, take it to the ticket office, you'll get your 5 pounds + any remaining credit back.
I live in London and if you don't have a car, you will be travelling on public transport a lot. Therfore, you will definetely need an Oyster card. They're not very expensive and you can easily top up on them. They are a lot cheaper then buying tickets every time you go somewhere and when you are finished with your Oyster card you can hand it in and get a refund.
An Oyster card is your best mode of paying for your travel. It is valid on the Underground, buses, railways, Light rail and trams in the Greater London area. Full information on www.tfl.gov.uk
