Everyone asks what a tube journey costs and almost nobody needs the answer, because the number that governs what you actually spend in London is not the fare. It is the cap.
You cannot spend more than £8.90 on pay as you go travel inside Zone 1 in a single day, however many times you touch in. Once you have hit it, everything else that day is free. Peak and off peak are the same figure in Zone 1, which is unusual and worth knowing.
That changes the question from “can I afford this journey” to “have I hit the cap yet”, and it is why Londoners do not think about fares at all.
How much the tube costs in London
| What | Price | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 daily cap | £8.90 | Peak and off peak are the same here |
| Bus or tram, single | £1.75 | Flat fare, no zones on buses |
| Bus or tram daily cap | £5.25 | Three journeys and the rest of the day is free |
| Hopper | Included | Unlimited buses within one hour of touching in |
| Tube single | Varies | By route, direction, time of day and day of week |
The Hopper is the most underused thing in London transport. In TfL’s own words, pay as you go at adult rate on buses and trams gives you unlimited journeys made within one hour of touching in, for £1.75. Three buses across town inside an hour is one fare, not three, and you do not have to do anything to claim it beyond using the same card every time.
Why nobody can tell you the single fare
TfL’s own position is that fares between two stations vary by the line used, the direction of travel, the time of day and the day of the week. There is no single Zone 1 tube fare to quote, which is why every guide that gives you one is either rounding or out of date.
It does not matter, because of the cap. If you are making more than two or three journeys, you will hit £8.90 and stop paying. If you are making one, the fare is small enough that the exact figure was never going to change your day.
Use one card and only one card
Touch in and out with the same card or device every time. This is the single rule that matters, and breaking it is the commonest way visitors overpay in London.
Capping works by recognising your card. If you pay for one journey with a phone, the next with a watch and the third with the plastic card in your wallet, the system sees three separate travellers and none of them reaches the cap. The same applies to the Hopper: TfL is explicit that you must touch in using the same card or device on all journeys.
Contactless bank cards and Oyster both work and both cap. If you are here for a few days, a contactless card or phone is simpler, because there is nothing to buy, nothing to top up and nothing to return.
Christmas Day is the exception to everything
There is no Tube, no bus, no DLR, no Overground and no Tramlink on Christmas Day. Not a reduced service: none. Taxis, private hire and Santander Cycles run, and that is essentially the list.
Anyone planning to move across London on 25 December needs to plan it as a taxi journey or a walk. The Christmas guide covers what is actually open that day.
Practical notes
Touch out, every time, on rail. An incomplete journey is charged at the maximum fare for that route, which is the one genuinely expensive mistake available to you. Buses are touch in only, so there is nothing to forget.
Do not buy a Travelcard without doing the arithmetic. For most visitors staying inside Zone 1 for a few days, the daily cap does the same job with no commitment and no upfront payment.
Walk the short ones. Covent Garden to Leicester Square is one stop on the Piccadilly line and about three minutes on foot, and the same is true of a dozen other pairs in the middle of town. Central London is far smaller than the tube map makes it look.
Everything here was taken from Transport for London’s own published information and rechecked in full on 28 September 2026. Fares and caps are reviewed annually and usually change in March. Confirm before you travel.
Where to go next
The Night Tube covers which lines run through the night and how to get home when they do not, and the guide for American visitors covers the rest of the practical differences.
Gatwick to London covers the journey that happens before any of this, and why no tube line reaches that airport at all, while the airports guide covers the other five. Stansted to London is the one where your Oyster card is not valid at all, and Heathrow Express is the one where the Piccadilly line does the same journey for £5.90.
The London Travelcard is the paper alternative to everything on this page, and the arithmetic is unkind to it: £16.60 a day against the £8.90 cap, and £44.70 a week against a £44.70 cap.
Airport drop-off charges covers the other driving cost visitors meet first, at the terminal door.
The Congestion Charge is what the same day costs by car, at £18 before the ULEZ charge and £180 if you forget to pay it.
Santander Cycles is the alternative to all of it for short central journeys, at £120 a year against £240 for the same thing bought monthly.
Things to do in central London covers how little of it actually needs a train.
Questions we get asked
How much is the tube in London?
There is no single answer to the fare, because TfL prices journeys by the line used, the direction of travel, the time of day and the day of the week. The number that matters is the cap: £8.90 for a day of pay as you go travel inside Zone 1, the same figure at peak and off peak. Once you reach it, the rest of the day's travel costs nothing.
How much is a day of travel in London?
£8.90 at most inside Zone 1, however many journeys you make, because that is the daily pay as you go cap. Buses cap separately and lower at £5.25, and a single bus or tram journey is £1.75 flat with no zones. Touch in and out with the same card each time or the capping will not recognise you.
How much is a bus in London?
£1.75 for a single journey, flat, with no zones anywhere in the city. The daily bus and tram cap is £5.25, so the fourth journey of the day onwards is free. Better still, the Hopper gives you unlimited bus and tram journeys made within one hour of touching in for that same £1.75.
What is the Hopper fare in London?
Unlimited bus and tram journeys within one hour of touching in, for a single £1.75 fare. It applies automatically as long as you touch in with the same card or device every time. If your Oyster runs out of money after the first journey, the Hopper will not apply until you top up inside that hour.
Is contactless cheaper than Oyster in London?
No, they cost the same and both cap. For a visit of a few days a contactless bank card or a phone is simply more convenient: nothing to buy, nothing to top up and nothing to hand back. The one rule either way is to use the same card or device for every journey, because capping works by recognising the card rather than the person.
How do you pay for the tube in London?
Touch a contactless bank card, phone or watch on the yellow reader going in and coming out, or use an Oyster card the same way. There is no ticket to buy and no app you need. Use the same card or device for every journey of the day, because that is what the daily cap is counting.
Does the tube run on Christmas Day?
No. There is no Tube, no bus, no DLR, no Overground and no Tramlink on Christmas Day, and that is a full stop rather than a reduced timetable. Taxis, private hire and Santander Cycles operate. If you need to cross London on 25 December, plan it as a taxi or a walk.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 68 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
