London’s famous red buses form a big part of getting around London.
While the London Underground is the quickest and easiest option for newcomers to navigate the city, taking a bus is also worthwhile and offers a unique experience that you should enjoy at least once during your visit.
Unlike the London Underground, traveling on the upper deck of a bus provides a wonderful chance to enjoy the city’s famous landmarks and architecture.
The transport passes that nearly everyone uses, Oyster and Travelcard, allow you to travel seamlessly across all modes of transport, bus, Underground, train and DLR using the same ticket/pass.
Use the TfL (Transport for London) journey planner to plan your travel. Covering all London public transport including maps and guides.
For first-time visitors to London who can invest a little time pouring over the Central London Bus map, you can quite easily put together your own tour cheaply with just a few well chosen routes.
A simplified tourist bus map shows the key bus routes from a tourist perspective and the location of the main sights marked on the bus map.
Buses in London have a flat fare system, meaning you pay the same amount regardless of whether you travel just one stop or all the way to the end of the route.
Cash payments for bus fares are not accepted. Instead, you can use a Visitor Oyster card, an Oyster card, a Travelcard, a contactless payment card, or a bus pass to pay for your journey.
Simply tap your Oyster or Contactless payment card on the card reader when you board the bus. Most passengers currently using the bus are utilizing either Oyster cards or Contactless cards.
Make an adult journey using pay as you go (contactless or Oyster card) on a bus or tram, and you can make a second bus or tram journey for free within one hour of touching in on the first bus.
You must touch in using the same card on the second bus. The system will then apply the free fare automatically.
The scope of the bus hopper fare has been expanding since 2018 to permit multiple free transfers within an hour.
| Fares Available Paying By Oyster Card or Contactless Payment Card |
| Single Journey Fare (Hopper Fare) £1.75 |
| 1 Day Bus Pass £6.00 |
| 1 day bus only cap for Oyster & Contactless Payment Cards £5.25* |
| 7 Day Bus & Tram Pass £24.70 |
| 1 Month Bus & Tram Pass £94.90 |
| 7Annual Bus & Tram Pass £988.00 |
* Daily Oyster and contactless payment card cap – the maximum you pay in a calendar day no matter how many bus journeys you make. e.g. 4 journeys made in one day at £1.75 cost £5.25 (the daily cap) not £7.00.
If you need to change buses to make a journey. As long as you swipe your Oyster within 1 hour on the second bus from the first bus, the second journey is free. See Bus Hopper Fares section below.
The Oyster card is a permanent reusable electronic ticket which is topped up from time to time by its owner. Londoners also have their season tickets loaded onto Oyster cards as well and there are passes for 7 days, monthly and annual durations. All can be loaded onto the one electronic Oyster card.
Contactless cards are standard credit or debit cards that support the contactless payment technology. Total cost of all the journeys that you make in one day is calculated at the end of the day and a single charge is made to your Contactless payment card account.
Unlike the Oyster card the Contactless facility has a 7 day cap as well as the Oyster daily cap used by Oyster.
You can use Oyster cards and Contactless payment cards on all of London’s public transport, not just buses but the Underground, Overground, DLR, suburban rail services and some river services. Note Contactless cards cannot be used on the heritage Routemaster buses in London.
You can purchase and subsequently top up Oyster cards from Underground Stations and a wide variety of other outlets throughout London including neighbourhood stores.
If you don’t have enough credit for the bus fare on your Oyster card, you will be able to make one more bus journey to help you get to your next destination. You must then top up your credit before you can use your Oyster card again.
Visit our London Oyster Card and Contactless Card Payment pages for more information.
Make a journey using pay as you go (Contactless or Oyster) on a bus and you can make a second bus journey for free within one hour of touching in on the first bus.
You must touch in using the same card on the second bus, the free fare will then be applied automatically.
You can buy 1 and 7 day bus passes for unlimited travel on London’s red buses only. However it should be noted that the daily cap on Oyster card and Contactless payment cards are cheaper than a 1 day Bus Pass.
There are no seniors fares for visitors. If you reside in London and are of pensionable age you can get a Freedom pass giving free travel. If you are 60+ and live in London the Seniors Oyster ID Card that makes free bus travel available. You can apply online or get a form from your local Post Office.
Anybody with an English National Concessionary bus pass can use that on London’s red buses too and travel free of charge.
If you have a Senior Railcard you can get your 1/3 discount on off-peak Oyster fares. You have to ask a member of staff to load the concession onto a standard Oyster card (note, not a Visitors Oyster card) at an Underground Station after showing your Seniors Card.
With a Senior Railcard you can also buy 1 day off-peak zone 1-6 Travelcards at with the discount applied.
This is a very complex subject and is covered in detail below. Generally, a child is defined as under 16 years old, but in the last couple of years it has been possible to get child fares after jumping through a few hoops up to the age of 17.
On the buses children broadly enjoy a 50% discount with child Oyster and Travelcard tickets, if there is no free travel available.
Children under 11 can travel free on the London Underground, DLR and buses without a ticket. If a child is between 11 and 15 years old, you require an Oyster 11-15 Photocard (which has a fee, see below). This allows 11 to 15 year olds to travel at child fares on the Underground, DLR, Overground and some trains, free on the buses.
If you are a short-term visitor (in London for up to 14 days) with children between 11-15 you can take advantage of the Young Visitor Discount. This means you can get half price fares on an Oyster card on a temporary basis for your child without going through the hoops and expense of getting an Oyster ID card. You do need to read carefully the rules of this scheme though.
When you board the bus with an Oyster card or contactless payment card you will see a yellow pad like the one pictured.
Swipe your Oyster over the pad and the machine will confirm your fare has been taken. That’s it, you don’t get a ticket and you don’t swipe it again on exiting the bus.
Travelcards are unlimited journey passes where as long as your Travelcard is valid the day of travel you do not need to swipe.
Children under five can travel free at any time on the Tube, DLR, buses and trams as long as they are accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket. You do not need a ticket for free travel. Children in this category do not need Oyster ID Cards*.
Under-11s can travel free at any time on buses and trams without the need for a Oyster ID Card*. You do not need a ticket for free travel.
They can also travel free at any time on the Tube, DLR , Overground and any TfL train service when they are travelling with an adult who has a valid ticket. Up to 4 children under 11 years old accompanied by a paying adult travel free.
Travel on the national railways which operate suburban commuter trains in London only have free travel for those under 5. In the last year or so many train routes in London have switched from the railways to TfL Rail.
Confusingly a few national railways routes where both rail and TfL rail operate on the same tracks children under 11 can travel free on the railways trains – this includes the popular route for visitors between Euston and Watford Junction (for Harry Potter Studio Tour).
Unaccompanied children between 5 and 10 must have a valid Oyster ID Card*.
Children aged 11 to 15 years must get an 11-15 Oyster ID Card* to travel free on buses and trams and at child-rate on Tube, DLR and London Overground services. You do not need a ticket for free travel, just the ID Card.
You cannot get a standard child rate Oyster card without an Oyster ID Card.
Young Visitor Discount (for visitors to London staying up to 2 weeks)
If you are a short-term visitor to London you can get child fares on a special child Oyster card that expires after 14 days. There are restrictions. You can only get these Oyster cards credited with a Young Persons Discount at Underground stations, TfL Rail stations, Visitor or Travel Information Centres and Victoria National Rail station ticket office.
Alternatives to Oyster cards for children
You can get around the Oyster ID card requirement by purchasing a 1 day Travelcard for the child (longer length Travelcards do require an Oyster ID Card), paying the cash fare or purchasing your Child Travelcard online in advance from the TfL Visitor Shop.
You can buy 7 day child Travelcards at railway stations (not Underground or Overground) with a railway ticket office. The railways will issue a railways photocard free of charge if you bring along a passport size photo of your child. You can only use this for buying tickets from the railways which in practise for visitors means Travelcards.
All 16 to 17-year-olds can travel at child-rate on bus, Tube, tram, DLR and London Overground services with a 16+ Oyster ID Card*.
However, you can only use this concession on Oyster cards and 7 Day Travelcards or longer, not 1 day Travelcards.
If you are 18 or over and enrolled with a participating education establishment registered on the TfL scheme and are resident in London while studying there is an Oyster ID card that gives a 30% discount on adult-rate Travelcards and Bus & Tram Pass season tickets.
Apply for a child’s Oyster ID card
Advance application for Child Oyster ID Card
*Oyster ID Cards
Visitors to London from overseas can order an Oyster Photocard in advance for their children and collect on arrival at a travel centre. There is a Travel Centre at Heathrow Airport as well as in Central London. If you are resident in the UK but live outside London you can again order online but the Oyster ID Card is sent to your home address.
Note: you need to apply (online) at least 4 weeks prior to arrival. Additionally, there is a non-refundable £10-£20 administration fee for each Oyster ID Card.